Adopting steam-driven absorption cooling

Considerations about energy and efficiency and the use of chlorofluorocarbons have led to the greater use of absorption machines for cooling applications. These machines are used for two main reasons: first, the machines, which use a lithium-bromide brine as working fluid, use water as a refrigerant, which is environmentally safer than other refrigerants. Second, they are driven by thermal energy, which reduces peak demand for electric power. They are also increasingly employed in cogeneration applications. In the most advance cogeneration schemes in use today, high coefficient of performance are possible by cascading thermal energy from Brayton to Rankine cycles to absorption machines.