Copper foam coated with CPO-27(Ni) metal–organic framework for adsorption heat pump: Simulation study using OpenFOAM

• Published in: Applied thermal engineering 2020-09, Vol.178, p.115498, Article 115498
• Main Authors: Pinheiro, Joana M., Salústio, Sérgio, Geraldes, Vítor, Valente, Anabela A., Silva, Carlos M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adsorbates; Adsorbent coating; Adsorbents; Adsorption; Adsorption heat pump; Computational fluid dynamics; Computer simulation; Copper; Copper foam; Foamed metals; Heat pumps; Heat transfer; Mass transfer; Mathematical models; Metal fibers; Metal foams; Metal-organic frameworks; Modeling; MOF CPO-27(Ni); Nickel; OpenFOAM simulation; Pumps; Regeneration
• ISSN: 1359-4311; 1873-5606
• DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2020.115498

[Display omitted] •First-time evaluation of MOF CPO-27(Ni) for heat pumps by rigorous simulations.•Developed solver/methodology to simulate adsorption cycles in OpenFOAM.•Slower intraparticle mass transfer kinetics for MOF than benchmark zeotype.•For copper foam/adsorbent composites, zeotype outperformed the MOF for heating. The performance of the metal–organic framework (MOF) CPO-27(Ni) for adsorption heat pumps using water as adsorbate was investigated through modeling and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. A customized solver and methodology to simulate adsorption cycles were developed in OpenFOAM and strictly validated using literature data, since OpenFoam lacks specific tools for these processes and applications. Due to the potential of adsorbent coatings and metal fibers and foams for improving the performance of such processes, a metal tube of copper surrounded by a composite of copper foam and CPO-27(Ni) coating, was considered in this study. For evaporation, condensation and bed regeneration temperatures of 278.15 K, 308.15 K and 368.15 K, respectively, the obtained coefficients of performance and specific heating powers for the composite coating CPO-27(Ni)/copper foam were in the range 1.16–1.39 and 1922–5130 W kg−1. Under similar conditions, the MOF was outperformed by the well-known adsorbent AQSOATM FAM-Z02, essentially due to the faster intraparticle mass transfer kinetics for the latter.