Performance Evaluation of a Single Mixed Refrigerant System for LNG Liquefaction cascaded with Absorption Refrigeration System for Waste Heat Recovery
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Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering(MPE), Islamic University of Technology(IUT), Board Bazar, Gazipur-1704, Bangladesh
Abstract
Effective recovery of waste heat converts energy that would otherwise be lost into useful work, promoting
energy efficiency and environmental sustainability while reducing fuel consumption, helping to alleviate
economic burdens and mitigate environmental emissions. Natural gas liquefaction processes, for
transportation purposes, employ Single Mixed Refrigerant (SMR) system with multiple intercoolers in
their multistage compression, which carry out a significant amount of low-grade heat that can be further
utilized to meet refrigeration or power demands. This study focuses on the efficient harnessing of waste
heat from the intercoolers of multistage compressors in the SMR process to drive an Absorption
Refrigeration System (ARS). This cascading of ARS with SMR-LNG process using intercooler waste
heat has rarely been explored in existing literature, representing a novel approach to enhance cryogenic
process sustainability. The developed modeling framework contributes to understanding of waste heat
utilization in natural gas liquefaction systems and supports the development of low-carbon cascaded low
fuel technologies. The mathematical framework of cascaded ARS with the SMR process was modeled
using Python, EES, and NIST REFPROP libraries, with validation against existing literature.
Improvements in combined performance, cooling effect, and energy and exergy efficiencies were
observed, including approximately a 14.47% increase in cooling effect and performance, a 2.51%
increase in exergy efficiency, an 8.75% reduction in exergy destruction, with about 30% utilization of
waste heat. A parametric analysis was performed on five key parameters affecting both the SMR and
ARS systems: mixed refrigerant flowrate, feed flowrate, cooling water inlet temperature, compression
ratio, and intercooler temperatures. The results demonstrate that the proposed cascaded system
significantly improves refrigeration performance and efficiency.
Description
Supervised by
Prof. Dr. Mohammad Monjurul Ehsan,
Department of Mechanical and Production Engineering(MPE),
Islamic University of Technology (IUT)
Board Bazar, Gazipur-1704, Bangladesh
This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Mechanical and Production Engineering, 2025
Citation
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