Simulation of operating characteristics of the silica gel–water adsorption chiller powered by solar energy

A lumped parameter model of a silica gel–water adsorption chiller driven by solar energy was introduced for the operating characteristics investigation. Matlab–Simulink, as a high-performance computing and programming tool, was used to simulate the operating characteristics of the chiller. Effects of the hot water tank capacity, the cycle time and the initial hot water temperature on the performance of the chiller were analyzed when the chiller was driven by a stable heat source and solar energy respectively. The simulation results indicated that when the chiller was driven by solar energy, the open circulation of the hot water with a short cycle time and the closed circulation of hot water with a longer cycle time were better. A proposal was also provided for the chiller driven by solar energy to work under the optimum working conditions, such as hot water circulation mode, cycle time and initial temperature.

► A lumped parameter model of the solar powered adsorption chiller was introduced.
► Matlab–Simulink was used to simulate the operating characteristics of the chiller.
► Effects of some parameters on the performance of the chiller were analyzed.
► Shorter cycle time is good for open circulation of hot water but not for closed one.
► A good proposal was provided for the chiller driven by solar energy.