The effect of fin design parameters on the heat transfer enhancement in the adsorbent bed of a thermal wave cycle

A 2D coupled heat and mass transfer model is used to analyze both finless and finned tube-type adsorbent bed for a thermal wave adsorption cooling cycle. A comparison between the finless and finned tube adsorbent beds is made in terms of heat transfer inside the bed. A significant enhancement in the heat transfer is obtained using a finned tube such that the temperature of the adsorbent in the finned tube adsorbent bed is at most 47.8 K higher than that in the unfinned tube adsorbent bed. The effect of fin design parameters on the heat transfer inside the bed is also investigated using four different fin configurations. Defining a base-case for the fin geometry, fin thickness, fin radius and number of fins are increased. Increasing the fin thickness double increases temperatures only by 2-3 K and has not a significant effect on the heat transfer. Increasing the fin radius decreases temperatures by 10-17 K while increasing the number of fins enhances the heat transfer significantly. Results are presented in multicoloured plots in 2D domains. The working pair used in the simulations is white silica gel-water.