A new adsorbent bed design: Optimization of geometric parameters and metal additive for the performance improvement

• Published in: Applied thermal engineering 2019-11, Vol.162, p.114270, Article 114270
• Main Authors: Gediz Ilis, Gamze, Demir, Hasan, Mobedi, Moghtada, Baran Saha, Bidyut
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Additives; Adsorbates; Adsorbents; Adsorption; Aluminum; Computer simulation; Configurations; Cooling; Design optimization; Design parameters; Fins; Fluidized bed reactors; Heat conductivity; Heat pumps; Heat transfer; Metal additive; Metal particles; Metals; Optimization; Rectangular adsorbent bed; Silica gel; Silicon dioxide; Simulation; Star fin; Taguchi methods; Two dimensional analysis
• ISSN: 1359-4311; 1873-5606
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2019.114270

Schematic view of the rectangular adsorbent bed, temperature and concentration change inside of configuration adsorbent bed. [Display omitted] •2D adsorbent bed during a cycle is analyzed; the best SCP value bed is found.•Analysis showed that the best adsorbent bed has the highest SCP as 14.8 W/kg.•The aluminum with volume fractions (0–60%) is added to the best configuration.•40% al. additive improves the SCP 3.3 times and increased from 14.8 to 41.2 W/kg compared with no additive.•This is the first study that compares the effect of metal additive to adsorbent bed efficiency. A numerical simulation is performed for an innovative star fin type adsorbent bed with metal additive in order to determine the optimum geometrical parameters. Also, the effect of the addition of metal additives to the adsorbent bed on performance of an adsorption chiller is analyzed. The Fuji RD-type silica gel/water is used as the adsorbent/adsorbate pair. The material, shape and the location of the heating/cooling fluid pipe, as well as the adsorbent particle radius, are predicted, and their influence on the specific cooling performance (SCP) of the adsorption chiller is analyzed. The average temperature, concentration and the duration of the whole process in the two-dimensional star finned bed are analyzed by Taguchi method for different geometrical configurations to find the best configuration for the highest SCP. Besides, the aluminum metal particles are added to the best adsorbent bed configuration, and the effect of the metal additive on SCP is also investigated. The obtained results showed that the adsorbent particle radius change and the distance between the fins have important roles in SCP. The effect of aluminum particle additive on SCP of the adsorption heat pump is observed as 300% of increment.