The temperature in TFA are outside the range of most commercial absorption chillers, so this is more about making cheap electricity. I would imagine absorption would be more applicable if the same tech was used to generate lower-quality heat that's not suitable for a combined-cycle generator.
> outside the range of most commercial absorption chillers
"Off the shelf" isn't a constraint here, sort of the opposite: I'm trying to imagine the space of things that are physically possible but not yet commercially mature. Theoretically, higher temperatures mean more possible efficiency. That's the one ray of hope in otherwise dismal efficiency figures that are currently only viable, as you point out, if the heat is ~free.
>Theoretically, higher temperatures mean more possible efficiency.
I think you might be conflating a few things here. For a cycle to produce electricity, that's correct. But the mechanism of absorption chillers is fundamentally different. The chemistry of the materials and their phase change temperatures are definitely a constraining factor. Could you, in theory, develop some other absorbent/refrigerant that works at those higher temperatures? I suppose, but I would suspect there are much easier ways to get efficiency gains.
