Performance analysis of an absorption-compression heat pump integrated with various steam production approaches for food processing applications and the impact of temperature glide matching

Achieving climate neutrality in the food sector requires the rapid adoption of environmentally friendly steam generation technologies. The absorption-compression heat pump (ACHP), using an ammonia–water mixture, offers a promising solution by delivering high sink temperatures at relatively low discharge pressures, with favorable temperature glide characteristics in absorption and desorption. This study numerically investigates the potential implementation strategies of ACHPs for steam production. A validated simulation model was applied to evaluate four steam generation approaches for a 100 kW system producing steam at 3 bar: Approach A—direct steam generation; Approach B—low-pressure evaporation with mechanical vapor recompression (MVR); Approach C—flashing of pressurized hot water with MVR; and Approach D—ACHP sensible heating combined with a vapor compression heat pump (VCHP) for latent heating. Approach B demonstrated the highest thermal efficiency, achieving system coefficients of performance (COPs) of 3.0 and 1.87 at source inlet temperatures of 90 °C and 50 °C, respectively. Furthermore, the impact of the sink temperature glide on ACHP performance was investigated through exergy analysis. For hot water production, the ACHP demonstrated superior performance at higher sink temperature glides compared to a VCHP due to more effective glide matching, indicating that incorporating an ACHP instead of a VCHP to heat pressurized water in Approaches C and D contributes to performance gains. For steam generation, the influence of sink temperature glide on both ACHP and VCHP performance was minimal, suggesting that the performance of Approaches A and B is not expected to be adversely affected by temperature glide mismatching.