IOSR Journal of Mechanical and Civil Engineering (IOSR-JMCE) e-ISSN: 2278-1684,p-ISSN: 2320-334X, Volume 13, Issue 1 Ver. IV(Jan. - Feb. 2016), PP 01-12 www.iosrjournals.org DOI: 10.9790/1684-13140112 www.iosrjournals.org 1 | Page "Theoretical and ExperimentalAnalysis forPerformance Evaluation of anActualOperating Absorption Unit" M. Khalil Bassiouny 1 , A. A. Hussien 1 , Mostafa El Shafie 2 , Noriyuki Kobayashi 3 1 Mechanical Power Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Minoufiya University,Minoufiya,Egypt. 2 Mechanical Maintenance Section Manager,Toshiba El-Araby for Lighting Technology, Quesna, Egypt. 3 Department of chemical Engineering, Nagoya University, Nagoya 464-8603, Japan. AbstractThis paper presents a theoretical and experimental analysis for evaluation of an actual lithium- bromide/water direct-fired double effect absorption chiller in parallel flow configuration. The absorption chilleranalyzed in this work is used for air conditioning system and is allocated at El-Araby Company for Lighting Technology-Egypt. This unit is capable of providing a cooling capacity [500 R.T], [1750 kW]. A set of thermocouples used to allow the measurements of the working temperature through all operating chiller components. The measurements have been obtained at different times in July 2013 and in July 2014. A set of mathematical equations have been developed, allowing the estimation of the chiller coefficient of performance and heat transfer rates for each component. Theoretical analysis shows that increasing of thelow and high temperature HEXs effectiveness and decreasing the circulation ratio improved the COP. The experimental analysis presents that the COP value in July 2014 is obviouslylower than valuescalculated in July 2013. Theoretical and experimental analyses have been developed to study the effect of inlet cooling water temperature on the cycle COP. From the experimentalmeasurements, the inlet cooling water is adjusted to be within range [26℃– 33℃] which gives the best working condition of the absorption unit and this is clear from the COP data. Also, the effectiveness of low and high temperature HEXs obtained in July 2013 is higher than the values obtained in July 2014. This indicates that the effectiveness of HEXs is changed with the time of operation from year to year which means that the COP is sensitive to heat exchangers effectiveness. Additionally, this studywill help to identify themaintenance time of the absorption chiller components. Keywords:Double-effect cycle, Absorption chiller, Li-Br/water, Coefficient of performance, Air conditioning. Nomenclature a circulation ratio [-] cw cooling water COP coefficient of performance [-] e evaporator C p specific heat capacity at constant pressure [kJ/kg.K] H.H.E high temperature heat exchanger h enthalpy [kJ/kg] H.G high pressure generator h` saturated liquid enthalpy [kJ/kg] h concentrate solution m˙ mass flow rate [kg.s -1 ] i inlet Q thermal power [kW] L weak solution T temperature [K] L.G low pressure generator X solution concentration [-] L.H.E low temperature heat exchanger ε heat exchanger effectiveness [-] max maximum Subscripts min minimum abs absorber ref refrigerant ch chilled water w water con condenser I. Introduction In the hot regions around the world, the heating and cooling demand became important needs. Lithium bromide [Li-Br/H 2 O] double-effect absorption system is the most suitable cooling system can be used for large zones. The absorption chiller can be powered relatively by low grade energy source such as natural gas, solar, coal, co-generation, or industrial waste stream source. The absorption chiller unit should be enhanced with the performance evaluation of each cycle component periodically. Florides et al. [1] have been investigated a method to evaluate the characteristics and performance of a single stage lithium bromide water absorption machine. It was shown that the COP of the unit was lowered when the generator temperature was increasedandthe generator pressure was increased.