Effects of contact resistance and metal additives in finned-tube adsorbent beds on the performance of silica gel/water adsorption chiller

A. Rezk, R.k. Al-dadah, S. Mahmoud, A. Elsayed

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

63 Citations (Scopus)
590 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Recently interest in adsorption cooling systems has increased due to their capability to utilise low grade heat sources and environmentally friendly refrigerants. Currently, most of the commercially available adsorption cooling systems utilise granular packed adsorbent beds. Enhancing the heat transfer process inside the adsorbent bed will improve the overall efficiency of the adsorption system. Using recently developed empirical lumped analytical simulation model for a 450 kW two-bed silica gel/water adsorption chiller, this paper theoretically investigates the effects of various adsorbent bed heat transfer enhancement techniques on the adsorption system cooling capacity. Firstly, coating the first adsorbent layer to the metal part and packing the rest of adsorbent granules to eliminate the thermal contact resistance between heat exchanger metal and granules while keeping the same level of permeability. Secondly, adding metal particles to the adsorbent in order to enhance the granules thermal conductivity. The effective thermal conductivity of adsorbent/metal mixtures were determined and validated by comparing it with published experimental data. Also, the combined effect of using both techniques simultaneously was investigated. All these investigations were carried out at various adsorption bed fin spacing. Results of the combined techniques showed that the enhancement in the cooling capacity and system coefficient of performance (COP) increased with increasing the fin spacing ratio to reach maximum of 25% and 10% respectively at fin spacing ratio of 2.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)278-284
JournalApplied Thermal Engineering
Volume53
Issue number2
Early online date17 May 2012
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2 May 2013

Keywords

  • Adsorption chiller
  • Silica gel/water
  • Contact resistance
  • Metal additives

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