Recent developments and future prospects of sorption heat pump systems

Heat transformation with sorption systems has received increased attention in recent years. The intention of this review article is to discuss current as well as forthcoming applications along with the respective appropriate technology. This includes chillers and refrigerators which may be direct fired or waste heat driven. Emphasis is given to the improvement of efficiency on the one hand, as well as to adaptation to low temperature waste heat use on the other hand - two very different developments. The use of solar energy as heat source also belongs to this area. The second area of application is heat pumping for heating purposes. Systems with large capacity are being installed every once in a while, but the small-scale domestic marker is not yet really covered with appropriate technology. Finally, industrial hear pumping involves the reverse cycle (heat transformer). This market has declined after a climax in the seventies. Nevertheless the heat transformer offers opportunities for enhanced process integration and will probably attract renewed interest in the future. (C) Elsevier, Paris.