Zeolite synthesised on copper foam for adsorption chillers: A mathematical model

In this work, a new adsorbent bed for adsorption chillers is proposed. Highly porous copper foams were directly sintered on the external surface of copper pipes. Afterwards, the foam surface was coated by several layers of zeolite 4A by in situ hydrothermal synthesis. The performance of an adsorbent bed based on the proposed configuration was then evaluated by a dynamic model. The results of simulations provided a cooling COP = 0.10–0.28, a specific cooling power ranging between 0.6 and 3.8 kW per kg of adsorbent material (77–123 W per kg of adsorber) and a volumetric cooling power of 103–214 kW per cubic meter of adsorber, depending on the copper foam thickness assumed (1–10 mm). A comparison with other “traditional” configurations based on loose pellets or consolidated layers of zeolite, demonstrated attractive performance – in terms of specific and volumetric powers – for the proposed adsorbent bed.