Irreversible three-heat-source refrigerator with heat transfer law of Qαδ(T -1) and its performance optimization based on ECOP criterion

The new thermo-ecological optimization of an absorption system for cooling applications operating between three temperature levels with the linear phenomenological heat transfer law of Qαδ(T -1) has been performed by taking account the losses of heat resistance, internal irreversibility and leakage. The considered objective function is the ecological coefficient of performance (ECOP) and is defined as the cooling load per unit loss rate of availability. The comparative analysis with the ecological optimization criterion (E) defined in the literature and also with the cooling load optimization criterion (R) has been carried out to prove the utility of the new thermo-ecological optimization criterion (ECOP) for three-heat-source refrigerators with linear phenomenological heat transfer law. The results show that the three-heatsource refrigeration cycle working at maximum ECOP conditions has a significant advantage in terms of entropy production rate and coefficient of performance over the maximum E and maximum R conditions. The obtained results may provide a general theoretical tool for the thermo-ecological design of absorption refrigerator. © The Author(s) 2011.