Design and performance prediction of a new generation adsorption chiller using composite adsorbent

This paper presents a novel adsorption chiller using composite adsorbent “employing lithium chloride in silica gel” as adsorbent and water as adsorbate. A new type adsorbent bed is used to accommodate the composite adsorbent. The mass recovery between two adsorbent beds usually results in the adsorbate unbalance. So a novel auto water makeup unite is used to solve the problem. A dynamic model of the adsorption chiller is built based on the adsorption isotherms to predict the performance. The simulation result shows that the coefficient of performance (COP) and the cooling capacity will increase by using this new composite adsorbent. When the temperatures of hot water inlet, cooling water inlet, and chilled water inlet are 363, 303 and 293 K, COP will be 0.43, and the cooling capacity will be 5.295 kW. Also operation strategy is optimized. Different temperatures of hot water inlet, cooling water inlet and chilling water inlet will result in different COP and cooling capacity.

Research highlights
► Composite adsorbent “employing lithium chloride in silica gel” and water as working pair.
► A new type adsorbent bed is used to accommodate the composite adsorbent.
► A dynamic model of the adsorption chiller is built.
► The coefficient of performance (COP) and the cooling capacity will be improved.