Thermo-economic analysis, energy modeling and reconstructing of components of a single effect solar–absorption lithium bromide chiller for energy performance enhancement

•In a solar thermal LiBr absorption chiller, changing the absorber solution concentration from 55 % to 60%, the COP will decrease to 0.67.•The COP is affected by increasing the temperature, pressure and concentration.•At the point, that the fuel cost is lower than 0.07 $ m−3, the project implementation is cost-effective.•The implementation is highly-intensive to fuel price. Considering the subsidized and FOB price of gas equal to 0.04 $ m−3 and 0.16 $ m−3, the simple payback period would be 9 and 2 years, respectively. This research includes a thermodynamic analysis of a solar absorption chiller due to design temperatures and pressures. Integration of solar energy and absorption chiller in low capacities is done by: static relations (including point-to-point system behavior variations) ruling absorption chillers, calculating the amount of required heat for the generator of the chiller and how it is supplied with, coding and determining optimal chiller coefficient of performance (COP) in Engineering Equation Solver (EES) software, evaluating the affecting factors on the COP by system analysis method. According to the system analysis of a combined solar-chiller system, the best COP is determined to be 0.77; which is a technically acceptable amount in small-size chillers. Also, the computational model for the economic evaluation of energy and energy-saving from receiving solar heat by using a suitable collector shows a 9-year payback period (considering the subsidized price: 0.01$ (2,500 Rails) per cubic meter of natural gas) and a 2-year payback period (considering FOB price equals 0.16$ per cubic meter natural gas). Therefore, it is proven that the economic feasibility of integrating absorption chillers and solar energy is affected by the price of energy carriers in real or subsidiary form and the bank interest rate.