Energy and environmental study for the textile industry based on absorption heat transformer

ABSTRACT

Many of the gases released by industrial processes pollute the environment and are largely responsible for climate change. Also, large amounts of low-temperature waste heat are generated by the industrial sector in different production processes. The waste heat can be recovered and reincorporated into the industrial process by means of an Absorption Heat Transformer (AHT), to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, reduce the consumption of fossil fuels, and increase energy savings. Therefore, three important aspects of the AHT are emphasized in this paper: first, the thermodynamics parameters of the AHT that influencing in its performance, second, heat recovery study and third CO₂ emissions avoided analysis. For this purpose, a thermodynamic model was implemented for AHT using two working mixtures, namely, LiBr- H₂O and Carrol-H₂O. Besides, a heat recovery study was carried out considering the Mexican textile industry as a case study, to determine the stages of the textile process in which it is possible to return the recovered heat, as well as the best location to install an AHT. The results show that the Coefficient of Performance values increase when the absorber thermal levels range from 100 to 150°C, source temperatures from 80 to 90°C and condensation temperature from 25 to 30°C. The study of heat recovery in the textile industry describes that it is possible to install an AHT at five states in Mexico, with the potential to recover and return heat in 6 of the 7 stages of the textile process, it was also determined that with the Carrol-water mixture it is possible to obtain higher thermal levels in the absorber and recover more heat than with the water/lithium bromide mixture. The emissions analysis showed that the technology is environmentally sustainable by avoiding up to 119 tonnes of CO_2eq per year into the atmosphere.

KEYWORDS:

• Absorption heat transformer (AHT)
• Heat recovery analysis
• Carrol-H₂O mixture
• Textile industry
• CO₂ emissions avoided

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Morales-Gómez L. I.

Morales-Gómez is a Chemical Engineer graduated from Facultad de Ciencias Químicas e Ingeniería of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (UAEM) and obtained a master’s degree and Doctorate in engineering and applied sciences with Terminal Option in Chemical Technology, both at the Centro de Investigación en Ingeniería y Ciencias Aplicadas (CIICAp) of UAEM. Morales-Gomez currently serves as Professor-Researcher at the Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Engineering of the UAEM. Her research interests include absorption heat transformers, heat transfer, applied thermodynamics and industrial heat recovery.

Romero R. J.

Rosenberg J. Romero Domínguez is a Chemical Engineer from the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla (BUAP), Master in Solar Energy, and Doctor in Energy Engineering from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM); where he was decorated with the ”Alfonso Caso” Medal for the most distinguished doctoral candidate of his generation. Doctor Romero is a Full-Time Research Professor at the Institute of Basic and Applied Sciences, his academic unit is at the Center for Research in Engineering and Applied Sciences of the Autonomous University of the State of Morelos (UAEM); where he is the leader of the Applied Thermal Energy Laboratory.

Vázquez-Aveledo S.

Suset Vázquez Aveledo is graduated in Control and Automation Engineering at the Instituto Superior Politécnico José Antonio Echeverria (ISPJAE), Habana, Cuba. Later, she obtained a master's degree in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Technologies at the Faculty of Chemical Sciences and Engineering of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos. Since 2020, she is pursuing a doctorate in science, in the area computational modelling and scientific computation, at the same university, collaborating on an intelligent control project in a thermal energy revaluation process.

Montiel-González M.

Moisés Montiel González is a Doctor in Energy Engineering from the Instituto de Energías Renovables of Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM) and is currently a full-time Research Professor at the Facultad de Ciencias Químicas e Ingeniería of the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (UAEM) and member of the Basic Academy in the master’s and doctoral program in Environmental Engineering and Sustainable Technologies. His lines of research focus on CFD applied to energy efficiency in buildings, design, construction, and theoretical-experimental evaluation of solar systems: thermal and photovoltaic, as well as the design, development, and evaluation of sustainable energy systems.

Best R.

Roberto Best Brown is a Chemical Engineer graduated from the Faculty of Chemistry of the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). He completed his undergraduate thesis at the Centro de Investigaciones en Materiales (CIM) from UNAM, now IIM-UNAM. He completed a master's degree in mechanical engineering in the United Kingdom at Cranfield Institute of Technology in energy conservation and the environment. That same year he joined the CIM as a research associate That same year, he joined the CIM as a research associate. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Salford in the United Kingdom. The main lines of research in which Ph. D. Best carries out most of his work are the study of thermodynamic data of new mixtures and working fluids for heat pumps for heating and cooling, the development of refrigeration and air conditioning components and systems operating with solar energy, energy analysis in industrial processes, and the drying of products with heat pumps and solar energy.