Abstract
Electric heat pumps have been utilized as main residential air conditioners, especially in Japan. They cause a surge in electric power demand during summer and winter. Moreover, the use of HCFCs and HFCs causes serious problems to the global environment ; global warming and ozone sphere destruction. Then we decided it was a top priority task to develop a compact absorption air conditioner for residential use operated by natural gas and without using HCFCs and HFCs. In commercial use, gas-fired absorption air conditioners have a great share. But small ones are very few. The goal was to accomplish the 5 kW (cooling capacity) LiBr/H2O absorption air conditioner within the size of 795H-785W-350D(mm). We had made a lot of breakthroughs with various components, control methods, and materials. We finished the field trials of prototypes successfully and made sure of high performance, reliability, and maintainability. As a result we started to mass-production and released the air-conditioner, "Eco-Life Multi" on June 20th, 1997. Up to Autumn, 1999, over 900 outdoor units of "Eco-Life Multi" had been sold and installed successfully.
