Feasibility study on ammonia water absorption refrigeration cycle without distillation column

•An ammonia-water absorption refrigerator without distillation column is proposed.•Such cycle can be applied under a very small temperature lift applications.•COP of such cycle is enhanced by 42.6% through heat exchanger network analysis.•The improvement in COP is the combination of different internal heat recoveries.•The payback period of the cycle with optimum COP is 4.28 years.