Screening of novel water/ionic liquid working fluids for absorption thermal energy storage in cooling systems

Absorption thermal energy storage (ATES) is significant for renewable/waste energy utilization in buildings. The ATES systems using ionic liquids (ILs) are explored to avoid crystallization and enhance the performance. Property model and cycle model have been established with verified accuracies. Based on the preliminary screening, seven ILs are found feasible to be ATES working fluids, while four ILs ([DMIM][DMP], [EMIM][Ac], [EMIM][DEP], and [EMIM][EtSO₄]) have been selected for detailed comparisons. The coefficient of performance (COP) and energy storage density (ESD) of the ATES using different H₂O/ILs are compared with H₂O/LiBr. Results show that the operating temperatures of LiBr are constrained by crystallization, limiting the COPs and ESDs under higher generation temperatures and lower condensation temperatures. With varying T_g, [DMIM][DMP] yields higher COPs with T_g above 100°C and [EMIM][Ac] yields comparable ESDs (67.7 vs 67.1 kWh/m³) with T_g around 120°C, as compared with LiBr. The maximum COP is 0.745 for [DMIM][DMP]. With varying T_c, [DMIM][DMP] yields higher COPs with T_c below 38°C and [EMIM][Ac] yields higher ESDs with T_c below 33°C, as compared with LiBr. The maximum ESD is 87.5 kWh/m³ for [EMIM][Ac]. With varying T_e, [DMIM][DMP] yields higher COPs with T_e above 8°C, as compared with LiBr. The maximum ESD of ILs is 104.0 kWh/m³ for [EMIM][EtSO4]. Comparing with the volume-based ESDs, the differences between ILs and LiBr are smaller for the mass-based ESDs. This work can provide suggestions for the selection of novel working fluids for ATES for performance and reliability enhancement.