Performance analysis and validation on transportation of heat energy over long distance by ammonia-water absorption cycle

International audience; This paper presents the thermodynamic and hydrodynamic feasibility of the application of the ammonia-water absorption system for heat or cold transportation over long distance. A model of a long-distance heat energy transportation system is built and analyzed, and it shows satisfactory and attractive results. When a steam heat source at the temperature of 120°C is available, the user site can get hot water output at about 55°C with the thermal COP of about 0.6 and the electric COP of about 100 in winter, and cold water output at about 8°C with the thermal COP of about 0.5 and the electric COP of 50 in summer. A small-size prototype is built to verify the performance analysis. Basically the experimental data show good accordance with the analysis results. The ammonia-water absorption system is a potential prospective solution for the heat or cold transportation over long distance. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.