Continuous vapour adsorption cooling system with three adsorber beds

• A three-bed silica gel–water continuous adsorption cooling system is analyzed.
• Cold energy is stored in the form of liquid refrigerant at ambient temperature.
• The influence of mass of beds and cycle time on the system performance is discussed.
• Sizing of the beds for a given cooling capacity is recommended.

In this paper, the design of a new solar operated adsorption cooling system with two identical small and one large adsorber beds, which is capable of producing cold continuously, has been proposed. In this system, cold energy is stored in the form of refrigerant in a separate refrigerant storage tank at ambient temperature. Silica gel–water is used as a working pair and system is driven by solar energy. The operating principle is described in details and its thermodynamic transient analysis is presented. Effect of COP and SCE for different adsorbent mass and adsorption/desorption time of smaller beds are discussed. Recommended mass and number of cycles of operation for smaller beds to attain continuous cooling with average COP and SCE of 0.63 and 337.5 kJ/kg, respectively are also discussed, at a generation, condenser and evaporator temperatures of 368 K, 303 K and 283 K, respectively.

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