Eureka! The Solar Driven, "Water-Fired" Chiller-Heater

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This hybrid HVAC tech is so cool and so hot - including the possibility of using direct solar collectors to cool and heat our buildings- we're surprised it hasn't had very much media coverage of late. From the Yazaki Energy Systems, Inc. web site (Plano Texas, USA) Yazaki water fired SINGLE-EFFECT chillers or chiller-heaters have cooling capacities of 10, 20 and 30 tons of refrigeration and produce chilled water for cooling or hot water for heating in comfort air conditioning applications. The absorption cycle is energized by a heat medium (hot water) at 158°F to 203°F from an industrial process, co-generation system, solar energy or other heat source and the condenser is water cooled through a cooling tower. Absorption Principle:- The Yazaki absorption chiller or chiller-heater uses a solution of lithium bromide and water, under a vacuum, as the working fluid. Water is the refrigerant and lithium bromide, a nontoxic salt, is the absorbent. Refrigerant, liberated by heat from the solution, produces a refrigerating effect in the evaporator when cooling water is circulated through the condenser and absorber.

A web post barely scratches the surface of all that needs to be discussed. But, we hasten to point out several things. One is that waste heat from other commercial machinery can be added to the solar heat input. Another is that LiBr refrigerant recycling is commercially possible. TreeHugger strongly suggests spending some time reading about the existing installations pictured here.

Nothing is without risk. Proper caution will be necessary on encountering anhydrous LiBr because skin contact may lead to burns as a result of substantial dehydration.