How to Install Mini Split AC in Las Vegas? What Is an Absorption System?

An absorption system is a means of refrigeration or air conditioning where cooling is achieved using a fluid or gas combination and a heat source. Unlike conventional compressor driven systems, absorption cooling utilizes a secondary absorbent fluid and heat from a propane or kerosene flame to create the pressure differential necessary to circulate the refrigerant. The rest of the basic refrigerant cooling cycle is shared by both systems, however. 

Absorption systems consist of five basic stages: generator, separator, condenser, evaporator, and absorber. The refrigeration process starts in the generator where heat is applied to the refrigerant/absorbent mixture. Here the refrigerant is boiled off to form a gas and flows, with the absorbent, to the separator. The two elements are then removed from each other, and the refrigerant cycles through to the condenser. In the condenser, the refrigerant gas sheds through condensation and its heat regains its liquid state.

The liquid refrigerant then flows into the evaporator located in the room or refrigerator interior. Here it mixes with a pressurized charge of hydrogen gas which causes the refrigerant to absorb heat from the inside of the space and rapidly evaporate. From the evaporator, the refrigerant and hydrogen gas flow to the absorber where the absorbent that was originally separated is remixed with them. The absorbent forms a solution, and the refrigerant and the shed hydrogen gas travels back to the evaporator. It is this stage of the cycle which gives the absorption system its name.