Empirical Modelling of Einstein Absorption Refrigeration System

Abstract

A single pressure absorption refrigeration system was invented by Albert Einstein and Leo Szilard nearly ninety-year-old. The system is attractive as it has no mechanical moving parts and can be driven by heat alone. However, the related literature and work done on this refrigeration system is scarce. Previous researchers analysed the refrigeration system theoretically, both the system pressure and component temperatures were fixed merely by assumption of ideal condition. These values somehow have never been verified by experimental result. In this paper, empirical models were proposed and developed to estimate the system pressure, the generator temperature and the partial pressure of butane in the evaporator. These values are important to predict the system operation and the evaporator temperature. The empirical models were verified by experimental results of five experimental settings where the power input to generator and bubble pump were varied. The error for the estimation of the system pressure, generator temperature and partial pressure of butane in evaporator are ranged 0.89-6.76%, 0.23-2.68% and 0.28-2.30%, respectively. In addition, all the estimated generator temperatures and partial pressures of butane are within the error bar range that derived from the standard deviation of the experimental results.