CFD ANALYSIS OF TEMPERATURE FIELD IN PELLET STOVE AS A GENERATOR OF AN ABSORPTION HEAT PUMP

The paper presents an initial CFD study on adopting the biomass-pellet usage in a generator of an absorption heat pump by obtaining the temperature field inside the biomass furnace. Contemporary absorption technologies are mostly based on the use of gas and other waste heat as a driving force in the Generator, where the two-component working fluid splits into the refrigerant and the absorbent. There are few or no absorption heat pumps that work directly on biomass - pellets. In the Balkans, biomass - pellets are a frequent and renewable source of thermal energy. The aim of this paper is to initially research the possibility of an absorption generator to work directly on available pellets. Following this idea, a comprehensive overview of contemporary absorption technology is given with a physical and mathematical model of the small pellet stove in FLUENT, which will be modified to adapt the generator. In the beginning, temperature fields are obtained by simulation inside the furnace and on its surfaces. Work showed that the temperature field has enough potential for triggering the absorption process as temperatures in the upper part of the stove are above 400°C at the heating capacity of around 13 kW up to 20 kW. The implemented work and the obtained results could serve as a useful reference for further design and optimization of the generator of AHP for direct Biomass utilization for a middle size system.