Design Optimization and Simulation of an Ice Plant Working by Solar Adsorption Technology

This research presents a design optimization of a solar adsorption ice plant using activated carbon and methanol as working pairs in the climate of Makkah to produce a ton of ice per day. The plant consists of six adsorption refrigeration units. Each unit has 72 separate cylindrical adsorbent beds connected with its own condenser, valve, and evaporator. The unit is heated by seven evacuated-tube collectors connected in parallel. Then the total number of collectors are 42 collectors. The beds are filled by estimated amount of 540 kg of activated carbon with 178 kg of methanol. Selection and dimensioning of each component were carried out based on previous recommended values. A mathematical model and simulation were developed to validate the system performance along the year. The results showed that plant could produce up to ton of ice daily along the year. The coefficient of performance can reach 0.9 with condenser and evaporator temperatures of 35°C and -5°C respectively. The performance of the system is greatly affected by ambient temperature than solar radiation. Therefore, the best performance and largest amount of ice was found in the winter season.

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Study of the Effects of Mass and Heat Recovery on the Performances of Activated Carbon/Ammonia Adsorption Refrigeration Cycles

Journal of Solar Energy Engineering ◽

10.1115/1.1487883 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 124 (3) ◽

pp. 283-290 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

T. F. Qu ◽

W. Wang ◽

R. Z. Wang

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Working Conditions ◽

Heat Recovery ◽

Recovery Process ◽

Cooling Capacity ◽

Coefficient Of Performance ◽

Refrigeration Cycle ◽

Adsorption Refrigeration ◽

Ammonia Adsorption ◽

Mass Recovery

Mass recovery can play an important role to better the performance of adsorption refrigeration cycles. Cooling capacity can be significantly increased with mass recovery process. The coefficient of performance (COP) of the activated carbon/ammonia adsorption refrigeration cycle might be increased or decreased with mass recovery process due to different working conditions. The advantage is that its COP is not sensitive to the variation of heat capacity of adsorber metal and condensing and evaporating temperature. The cycle with mass and heat recovery has a relatively high COP.

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Contribution to the study of combined adsorption–ejection system using solar energy

Advances in Mechanical Engineering ◽

10.1177/1687814017711855 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 9 (7) ◽

pp. 168781401771185

Author(s):

Amal Bel Haj Jrad ◽

Mohamed Bechir Ben Hamida ◽

Rabie Ghnay ◽

Abdallah Mhimid

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Solar Energy ◽

Simulation Software ◽

Coefficient Of Performance ◽

Comsol Multiphysics ◽

Solar Cooling ◽

Model And Simulation ◽

Time Space ◽

Mass Transfers ◽

The City

Solar energy is a renewable and free energy. We can take advantage of such characteristics to produce solar cooling through adsorption especially in an area such as the city of Monastir, Tunisia, where the Sun is abundant. A mathematical model and simulation are carried out to optimize heat and mass transfers performance in a flat solar collector using zeolite/water and activated carbon/methanol pairs during desorption phenomena. A commercial simulation software COMSOL Multiphysics has been developed to provide us with the time–space evolution of temperature and average fluid content. Numerical results have shown that the activated carbon desorbs faster than the zeolite. Besides, in order to get an important solar coefficient of performance, it is necessary to have an important incident solar energy. It has also been found that to improve the solar coefficient of performance, an adsorption–ejection system is statically studied.

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Sustainable Cooling Research Using Activated Carbon Adsorbents and Their Environmental Impact

Applied Environmental Materials Science for Sustainability - Advances in Environmental Engineering and Green Technologies ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-1971-3.ch009 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 186-221 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ahmed M. Elsayed ◽

Hassan J. Dakkama ◽

Saad Mahmoud ◽

Raya Al-Dadah ◽

Waseem Kaialy

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Energy Consumption ◽

Waste Heat ◽

High Energy ◽

Heat Pumps ◽

Coefficient Of Performance ◽

Adsorption Refrigeration ◽

Recent Developments ◽

Air Conditioning Systems ◽

Vapour Compression

Conventional vapour compression system is one of the most utilized cycles in refrigeration and air conditioning systems, due to its compact size, the relatively low running cost, the high coefficient of performance and the wide range of the operating temperatures. Nevertheless, the system suffers from the high initial cost and the high-energy consumption. Unlike the vapour compression cycle, adsorption heat pumps have the advantage of utilizing waste heat reducing the energy consumption and the carbon emissions. Activated carbon is a porous adsorbent material that can be efficiently used in low temperature adsorption refrigeration systems. This chapter reviews the recent developments in the compact adsorption cooling systems using activated carbon regarding the enhancement of the material properties, the design of the sustainable adsorption systems and their environmental and cost perspectives.

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Experimental Study On Thermal Wave Type Adsorption Refrigeration System Working On A Pair Of Activated Carbon And Methanol

Chemical and Process Engineering ◽

10.1515/cpe-2015-0028 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 36 (4) ◽

pp. 395-404 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Andrzej Grzebielec ◽

Artur Rusowicz ◽

Rafał Laskowski

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Thermal Wave ◽

Waste Heat ◽

Coefficient Of Performance ◽

Adsorption Refrigeration ◽

Wave Type ◽

Mode Of Operation ◽

Thermal Oil ◽

Solar Refrigeration ◽

Storage Units

Abstract The aim of the study was to examine the efficiency of the thermal wave type adsorption refrigerating equipment working on a pair of activated carbon and methanol. Adsorption units can work in trigeneration systems and in applications driven by waste heat. They can be built also as a part of hybrid sorption-compressor systems, and they are very popular in solar refrigeration systems and energy storage units. The device examined in this study operates in a special mode called thermal wave. This mode allows to achieve higher efficiency rates than the normal mode of operation, as a significant contributor to transport heat from one to the other adsorber. To carry out the experiment a test bench was built, consisting of two cylindrical adsorbers filled with activated carbon, condenser, evaporator, oil heater and two oil coolers. Thermal oil circulation was responsible for providing and receiving heat from adsorbers. In order to perform the correct action a special control algorithm device was developed and implemented to keep the temperature in the evaporator at a preset level. The experimental results show the operating parameters changes in both adsorbers. Obtained COP (coefficient of performance) for the cycle was 0.13.

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Performance Analysis of an Adsorption Refrigeration System Working on Activated Carbon/Methanol Pair Using Finned Tube Type Adsorber Bed

International Journal of Heat and Technology ◽

10.18280/ijht.390433 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 39 (4) ◽

pp. 1335-1342

Author(s):

Palash Soni ◽

Sruthi Lolalis ◽

Bidyut Mazumdar ◽

Shubhankar Bhowmick ◽

Vivek Kumar Gaba

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Finned Tube ◽

Coefficient Of Performance ◽

Cooling Power ◽

Adsorption Refrigeration ◽

Evaporator Temperature ◽

Tube Type ◽

Finite Difference Discretization ◽

The Mathematical Model ◽

Difference Discretization

Adsorption refrigeration, being a unique and eco-friendly technology, has gained popularity over conventional refrigeration systems. The present study is aimed at developing an annular finned tube adsorber model which serves as a thermal compressor in adsorption refrigeration systems. The mathematical model is addressed numerically using finite difference discretization method and explicit scheme was used for the solution. The generalized model has been simulated for activated carbon–methanol working pair. The system has an optimum cycle time of 1800s. It was found to have a highest refrigeration capacity of 260.66 kJ/kg at a regeneration temperature of 393 K and evaporator temperature of 283 K. The highest COP (Coefficient of Performance) achieved by the system is 0.3706 at a regeneration temperature of 353 K and evaporator temperature of 283 K. A highest SCP (Specific Cooling Power) of 144.8 W/kg was obtained at an evaporator temperature of 283 K and regeneration temperature of 393 K.

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Experimental Study on Activated Carbon-MIL-101(Cr) Composites for Ethanol Vapor Adsorption

Materials ◽

10.3390/ma14143811 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 14 (14) ◽

pp. 3811

Author(s):

Zhongbao Liu ◽

Jiayang Gao ◽

Xin Qi ◽

Zhi Zhao ◽

Han Sun

Keyword(s):

Activated Carbon ◽

Specific Surface ◽

Surface Area ◽

Specific Surface Area ◽

Ethanol Vapor ◽

Future Application ◽

Working Fluid ◽

Relative Pressure ◽

Adsorption Refrigeration ◽

Vapor Adsorption

In this study, the hydrothermal method was used to synthesize MIL-101(Cr), and activated carbon (AC) with different content was incorporated in to MIL-101(Cr), thereby obtaining AC-MIL-101(Cr) composite material with a huge specific surface area. The physical properties of MIL-101(Cr) and AC-MIL-101(Cr) were characterized by powder X-ray diffraction (PXRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), nitrogen adsorption and desorption and specific surface area testing, and ethanol vapor adsorption performance testing. The results show that with the increase of activated carbon content, the thermal stability of AC-MIL-101(Cr) is improved. Compared with the pure sample, the BET specific surface area and pore volume of AC-MIL-101(Cr) have increased; In the relative pressure range of 0–0.4, the saturated adsorption capacity of AC-MIL-101(Cr) to ethanol vapor decreases slightly. It is lower than MIL-101(Cr), but its adsorption rate is improved. Therefore, AC-MIL-101(Cr)/ethanol vapor has a good application prospect in adsorption refrigeration systems. The exploration of AC-MIL-101(Cr) composite materials in this paper provides a reference for the future application of carbon-based/MOFS composite adsorbent/ethanol vapor working fluid in adsorption refrigeration.

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Feasibility Study of Solar Adsorption Technologies for Automobile Air-Conditioning

Solar Energy ◽

10.1115/isec2005-76064 ◽

2005 ◽

Author(s):

M. O. Abdullah ◽

S. L. Leo

Keyword(s):

Feasibility Study ◽

Ozone Depletion ◽

Air Conditioning ◽

Waste Heat ◽

Environmentally Benign ◽

Adsorption System ◽

Adsorption Refrigeration ◽

Adsorption Technology ◽

Cooling Loads ◽

Automobile Air Conditioning

An adsorption system driven by solar heat or waste heat can help to eliminate the use of ozone depletion substances, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). In recent years, adsorption system has witnessed an increasing interest in many fields due to the fact that this system is quiet, long lasting, cheap to maintain and environmentally benign. Although adsorption system is not commonly used for automobile air conditioning, adsorption-cooled mini-refrigerators have been marketed for recreational transports (motor homes, boats, etc). Hence, there exists a need for a creative design and innovation to allow adsorption technology to be practical for air conditioning in automobile. The objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive review on the past efforts in the field of solar adsorption refrigeration systems and also the feasibility study of this technology for automobile airconditioning purpose. It is a particularly an attractive application for solar energy because of the near coincidence of peak cooling loads with the available of solar power.

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