Experimental study on performance change with time of solar adsorption refrigeration system

• Published in: Applied thermal engineering 2018-06, Vol.138, p.386-393
• Main Authors: Chen, Q.F., Du, S.W., Yuan, Z.X., Sun, T.B., Li, Y.X.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorption; Adsorption refrigeration; Cycle optimum; Cycle time; Heat transfer; Refrigeration; Solar energy; Solar heating; Zeolites
• ISSN: 1359-4311; 1873-5606
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2018.04.061

•The dynamic performance of the solar adsorption refrigeration system was tested.•The effect of the adsorption time on the system performance was analyzed.•The adsorption capacity changed in a nonlinear way with the adsorption time.•The COP and SCP did not share the same optimal time of the adsorption. Under the solar heating condition, the performance of the adsorption refrigeration system using SAPO-34 zeolite and water as the working pair was tested practically. The experiment provided insights into the dynamic change of the temperature and pressure in the adsorption bed, as well as the effect of the cycle time on the system performance. By analyzing the relationship between the solar energy input and the cooling output, the optimal cycle time of the system was identified. It was revealed that both the performance coefficient COP and the specific cooling power SCP presented a maximum value with respect to the adsorption time as the system was evaluated by the whole cycle time. However, the COP and the SCP did not share the same adsorption time for their maximum values. The characteristic for the bed to decrease the adsorption rate with the time is considered to be responsible to interpret the optimal cycle time of the system. The overlong time of adsorption did not help to improve the cooling performance of the system.