For absorption refrigeration, it has been shown that ionic liquids have the potential to replace conventional working pairs. Due to the huge number of possibilities, conducting lab experiments to find the optimal ionic liquid is infeasible. Here, we provide a proof-of-principle study of an alternative computational approach. The required thermodynamic properties, i.e., solubility, heat capacity, and heat of absorption, are determined via molecular simulations. These properties are used in a model of the absorption refrigeration cycle to estimate the circulation ratio and the coefficient of performance. We selected two ionic liquids as absorbents: [emim][Tf₂N], and [emim][SCN]. As refrigerant NH₃ was chosen due to its favorable operating range. The results are compared to the traditional approach in which parameters of a thermodynamic model are fitted to reproduce experimental data. The work shows that simulations can be used to predict the required thermodynamic properties to estimate the performance of absorption refrigeration cycles. However, high-quality force fields are required to accurately predict the cycle performance.

Force Field based Monte Carlo (MC) simulations are conducted to predict the performance of an absorption heat pump cycle involving NH3/ionic liquid (IL) (refrigerant/absorbent) as working pair. To investigate the thermodynamic performance of the cycle, various properties such as the enthalpy of absorption, heat capacity, and solubility of refrigerant in the absorbent are required. As an alternative to experiments, MC simulations are used to predict the required properties. The simulations are performed at temperatures ranging from 303 K to 373 K and pressures ranging from 4 to 16 bar. The thermodynamic performance parameters such as the coefficient of performance, COP, and the circulation ratio, f, of NH3 paired with [emim][Tf2N] are investigated using MC simulations and compared to results obtained from correlated experimental data, showing a reasonable agreement. MC simulations could be used as an inexpensive alternative for preliminary design considerations involving potential working pairs for absorption heat pump cycles in the absence of available experimental data.