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Performance analysis of a hybrid absorption-compression heat transformer for steam generation and domestic heating. 

Author(s) : ZHOU J., LIU F., SUI J.

Type of article: IJR article

Summary

Absorption heat transformers are effective for recovering low-grade waste heat at temperatures below 100 ◦ C. However, conventional systems often exhibit low energy utilization efficiency and limited temperature lift ca pabilities. Therefore, this study proposes a novel hybrid absorption-compression heat transformer that integrates both thermal and mechanical compression to simultaneously generate saturated steam and domestic hot water. In the base case, utilizing a 95 ◦ ◦ C heat source, the system generates 158.9 ◦ C saturated steam from the high- pressure absorber. Moreover, heat from the low-pressure absorber and condenser is sequentially recovered to produce 60.5 ◦ C hot water. This configuration yields high energy utilization and exergy efficiencies of 0.98 and 0.52, respectively. The system performance is further analyzed through energy, exergy, and parametric studies. Results show the compressor critically elevates the system’s output temperature, achieving a temperature lift exceeding 80 C. Injecting refrigerant liquid into the compressor chamber aids in maintaining a low outlet temperature of the compressor. Moreover, parametric analysis indicates that >50% of the total heat output is used for domestic hot water production. Significant exergy losses are identified in the compressor and two ab sorbers. Finally, the techno-economic analysis shows that the proposed system requires a lower initial investment than the reference system. Furthermore, its operational power consumption is only 51.5% of that required by the reference system. Therefore, the proposed system offers superior techno-economic advantages compared to conventional high-temperature heat pumps.

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Details

  • Original title: Performance analysis of a hybrid absorption-compression heat transformer for steam generation and domestic heating. 
  • Record ID : 30034923
  • Languages: English
  • Subject: Technology
  • Source: International Journal of Refrigeration - Revue Internationale du Froid - vol. 187
  • Publication date: 2026/07
  • DOI: http://dx.doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijrefrig.2026.106951

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