Construction of an innovative adsorbent bed configuration in the adsorption chiller - Selection criteria for effective sorbent-glue pair

Due to the progressive climate changes, increasing demand for cooling is observed. Therefore, ecological alternatives to conventional cooling systems based on electricity are analysed. One of the promising solutions are adsorption chillers which can be powered by low grade thermal energy sources such as waste heat, solar power and heat produced in cogeneration. However, contemporary adsorption chillers achieve lower COP (coefficient of performance) when compared to conventional electricity-driven compression refrigerators. Refrigeration capacity of the adsorption chiller is obtained with the use of thermal effects which occur during adsorption and desorption processes on porous media and the intensification of this phenomena is currently one of the most important research challenges. The paper presents development of guidelines to build novel coated construction of adsorption beds. The criterion for selection of optimum bed components in terms of improving COP of the adsorption chillers dedicated to air conditioning has been defined. Silica gel has been indicated as the most favorable sorbent for modification of the bed construction with glue.