SHERHPA : Components for small ammonia heat pump systems

Summary :
Ammonia has been used continuously as refrigerant for about one hundred years. Apart from being used in vapor compression cycles it is also used in absorption refrigeration systems. During this time a lot of experience has been collected concerning the use of ammonia as refrigerant. It would seem plausible that finding components for designing refrigeration systems with ammonia would not be a problem. However, ammonia has since long been used mainly in large commercial and industrial applications. One of the few exceptions is the small- to medium sized absorption type refrigerators based on the Platen-Munters principle, operating without moving parts and utilizing an inert gas (hydrogen) to maintain a partial pressure difference between the evaporator and the condenser.