Adsorption chiller using flat-tube adsorbers - Performance assessment and optimization

The performance of two-bed silica gel-water adsorption chiller using flat-tube adsorbers is modelled in wide range of operating conditions: heating water inlet temperature in the range of 50-90 °C, cooling water inlet temperature in the range of 20-35 °C, chilled water inlet temperatures of 10 °C and 15 °C, switching time 420 s and silica gel grain size 0.3 mm. In order to improve Coefficient of Performance (COP) and Specific Cooling Power (SCP) of the chiller optimization of fin height and spacing of the flat-tube heat exchanger is carried out. Flat-tube heat exchangers are found to be suitable for application as silica gel-water adsorbers. They are characterized by distinctive SCP (up to 750 Wkg-1). Optimization of flat-tube adsorbers geometry led to improvement of COP up to 3.7% and SCP up to 6.3%.