What is it about?
This paper is the second installment in a series exploring ways to supercharge a special heat pump that cleans dirty or salty water using leftover industrial heat, without increasing the starting temperature. In the first part, efficiency got a lift by recycling steam heat to warm the incoming waste heat slightly. Here, the trick is recycling that same steam condensation heat directly back into the system's evaporator and generator, slashing the total heat input needed while keeping the source at the same temp (68-75°C). Computer models using a lithium bromide-water mix show this new approach can pump up the efficiency score (a fresh "COP_WP" that factors in recycling) by up to 1.6 times—like turning a 0.44 rating into 0.71 under ideal conditions. It's perfect for dry areas struggling with water shortages, like border regions, by making purification more energy-smart, affordable, and planet-friendly for drinking, farming, or industry without extra fuel.
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Why is it important?
This sequel innovates by redefining COP to include recycled heat, delivering efficiency jumps of 60% or more without changes to source temperature—unlike Part I's method—making it adaptable to existing setups with any fluids. Amidst escalating water and energy crises, it's pivotal for low-cost, low-emission desalination, which could potentially transform access in vulnerable areas and advance green engineering.
Perspectives
Thermodynamically, the work introduces an advanced Coefficient of performance: COP for Water Purification COP_WP= COP / (1 - γ COP) with γ=0.877 for latent/sensible heat ratio, enabling up to 1.6x enhancement; steady-state LiBr-H2O simulations at ambient temperature close to 30°C, evaporator and generator with energy added from 68 to 75°C, yield energy to distilled water from 104 to 121°C, COP_WP goes from 0.204 to 0.711 (dimensionless) compared with the previous COP with values from 0.173 to 0.438 (dimensionless), occasionally surpassing Carnot (0.550-0.607) via reduced input, applicable universally beyond specific pairs in absorption heat transformers.
Professor Rosenberg J Romero
Universidad Autonoma del Estado de Morelos
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Increase of COP for heat transformer in water purification systems. Part II – Without increasing heat source temperature, Applied Thermal Engineering, April 2007, Elsevier,
DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2006.07.041.
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