As already discussed in Chapter 1, energy is a finite resource and its rational use implies an increase in energy efficiency. The electric generation efficiency is always less than 100% due to resistive, transmission and distribution losses, which can be quantified as heat sent to the environment. This waste heat determines the quantity of energy that can be used by other systems in order to improve the process efficiency.
A comfortable climate is required in offices, houses, and sport facilities. Therefore, cooling and heating requirements increase proportionally to the world population growth. According to the above idea, the suitability to satisfy these comfort requirements is in the use of waste energy to activate air conditioning machines. In this sense, fuel cells are a very attractive source of waste heat and therefore this possibility should be explored.
This chapter describes the mathematical models and assumptions considered for coupling a fuel cell with air conditioning systems, specifically absorption heat pumps (AHP). Three absorption refrigeration systems, operating with different mixtures or working fluids for its operation, are simulated. The results for each case studied and a comparison in terms of efficiency is presented next.