6. Conclusion

Water-lithium bromide absorption chillers have achieved a high level of reliability, guaranteeing them a service life well in excess of 20 years (some units have reached 70 years!). Their performance is reproducible without deteriorating over time, with COPs of between 0.7 and 0.8 for single-acting systems, around 1.3 for double-acting systems and between 1.7 and 1.8 for triple-acting systems.

Against a backdrop of environmental concerns, absorption machines offer a number of significant advantages:

• the global warming potential GWP of water is zero;

• The noise level and vibration nuisance of these units are low compared to GRL units with mechanical vapour compression;

• manufacturers offer multi-energy units that produce chilled water, domestic hot water...