Absorption cooling system with falling film and/or agitated thin film evaporator

1. An absorption cooling system, comprising:

a plurality of solar collectors configured to obtain energy and transfer that energy as heat to a heating fluid, wherein the plurality of solar collectors comprise at least one solar collector selected from the group consisting of a flat-plate collector, an evacuated tube collector and a concentrating collector;

a generator comprising a dilute absorbent-refrigerant solution comprising an absorbent dissolved in a first amount of a refrigerant, wherein the generator is configured to receive the heating fluid from the solar collectors and release a vapor refrigerant from the dilute absorbent-refrigerant solution;

a condenser configured to receive and condense the vapor refrigerant from the generator to form a liquid refrigerant;

an evaporator configured to receive the liquid refrigerant from the condenser and provide refrigerant and a cooling fluid, wherein the cooling fluid cools at least one load, wherein the evaporator is selected from the group consisting of a falling film evaporator and an agitated thin film evaporator;

an absorber configured to receive the refrigerant from the evaporator and a concentrated absorbent-refrigerant solution comprising the absorbent dissolved in a second amount of the refrigerant from the generator to reform the dilute absorbent-refrigerant solution;

a heat exchanger located between the generator and the absorber, wherein heat is exchanged between the concentrated absorbent-refrigerant solution flowing from the generator to the absorber and the dilute absorbent-refrigerant solution flowing from the absorber to the generator;

a first storage tank located downstream of the solar collectors and upstream of the generator, which is configured to store the heating fluid;

a second storage tank located downstream of the condenser and upstream of the evaporator, which is configured to store the liquid refrigerant;

a third storage tank located downstream of the evaporator, which is configured to store the cooling fluid;

a first temperature control valve located between the solar collectors and the first storage tank having an open and a closed mode;

a second temperature control valve located between the first storage tank and the generator having an open and a closed mode; and

a plurality of additional valves;

wherein the solar collectors, the first storage tank, the generator, the condenser, the second storage tank, the evaporator, the third storage tank, the absorber, and the heat exchanger are fluidly connected to one another and the generator and first storage tank are connected in parallel to the solar collectors;

wherein the first amount of the refrigerant is greater than the second amount of the refrigerant; and

wherein the first temperature control valve and the second temperature control valve are configured to regulate a flow of the heating fluid into the generator by automatically toggling between the open mode or the closed mode in response to a controller signal indicating a presence or an absence of a set point of a solid absorbent content in the dilute absorbent-refrigerant solution of the generator.

2. The absorption cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the absorbent is lithium bromide (LiBr) and the refrigerant is water.

3. The absorption cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the first temperature control valve, the second temperature control valve, or the plurality of additional valves are configured to regulate the consumption of energy obtained by the solar collectors to maintain continuous cooling of at least one load during times of low solar heat input or nighttime operation of the absorption cooling system.

4. The absorption cooling system of claim 1 , wherein a coefficient of performance for the absorption cooling system during times of low solar heat input or nighttime operation is greater than or equal to a coefficient of performance for the absorption cooling system during times of standard solar heat input or daytime operation.

5. The absorption cooling system of claim 1 , wherein

the heating fluid flows from the solar collectors to the generator and does not flow into or out of the first storage tank when the first temperature control valve is in the closed mode and the second temperature control valve is in the closed mode;

the heating fluid flows from the solar collectors to the first storage tank and does not flow into the generator or out of the first storage tank when the first temperature control valve is in the open mode and the second temperature control valve is in the closed mode; and

the heating fluid flows from the first storage tank to the generator and from the solar collectors to the generator and does not flow into the first storage tank when the first temperature control valve is in the closed mode and the second temperature control valve is in the open mode.

6. The absorption cooling system of claim 5 , wherein the controller signal is a mass fraction of the absorbent relative to the total weight of the dilute absorbent-refrigerant solution of the generator.

7. The absorption cooling system of claim 5 , wherein the controller signal is a temperature of the heating fluid entering the generator.

8. The absorption cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the first temperature control valve and the second temperature control valve cannot be in the open mode at the same time.

9. The absorption cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the operating temperature in the generator is less than 115° C.

10. The absorption cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the first storage tank is further configured to provide heating fluid to an attached building water heater.

11. The absorption cooling system of claim 1 , wherein one or more of the plurality of additional valves are open during times of standard solar heat input or daytime operation of the absorption cooling system.

12. The absorption cooling system of claim 1 , wherein the third storage tank is further configured to provide cooling fluid for direct cooling at least one load via one or more of the plurality of the additional valves during times of low solar heat input or nighttime operation of the absorption cooling system.

13. The absorption cooling system of claim 1 , further comprising a solution pump located between the absorber and the generator and configured to transfer the dilute absorbent-refrigerant solution from the absorber to the generator via the heat exchanger.

14. The absorption cooling system of claim 13 , wherein the solution pump consumes electric power that is less than 0.5% of the total energy consumed by the absorption cooling system.