Development of microwave assisted zeolite–water adsorption heat pump

• Microwave regenerated zeolite–water AHP.
• Influence operation time of microwave heating on the performance of AHP.
• Rapid desorption and isosteric heating process were achieved with microwave regeneration.
• COP for the microwave heated cycle was found 0.8 for 35 min.

A microwave assisted zeolite–water adsorption heat pump system was designed, manufactured and investigated experimentally. The influence of operation time of microwave oven on performance of the adsorption heat pump was studied. The performance criteria: coefficient of performance, specific cooling power and volumetric cooing power, were calculated for the designed and tested adsorption heat pump system. The regeneration of adsorbent bed was achieved very rapidly (35 min) by using microwave heating system. The poor thermal conductivity of adsorbent did not affect the periods of isosteric heating and isobaric desorption processes.