A Seminar on

ADSORPTION COOLING SYSTEM

Presented by Yuvraj Prakash Pawar

Guided by Prof. P.R. Dhamangonkar

Historical overview of adsorption/desorption

The phenomenon of adsorption/desorption was discovered over two centuries ago by C. W. Scheele in 1773 and by the F. Fontana in 1777. In 1785, they found that when they heated charcoal contained in a test tube it desorbed gases. The gases then adsorbed back when the charcoal was cooled . Berzelius (1836) noted that the best adsorbent was highly porous materials. Therefore, Berzelius proposed that adsorption was a process where surface tension or some other force caused gas to be condensed into the pores of a porous media . Industrial design and development of adsorption cooling systems started in the 1920s by using silica gel and sulfur dioxide. However, this technology was not as popular as the mechanical vapour compression driven cooling system in the 1970s. Two design and development companies, Tchernev and Meunier started work on adsorption working pairs to be used in adsorption cooling systems. This was used for the cooling of vaccines in developing countries. A company called Nishiyodo Kuchou Manufacturing Company (Japan) in 1986, designed and manufactured the first industrial adsorption cooling system.

INTRODUCTION
Adsorption (also called solid sorption) refrigeration systems use solid sorption material such as silica gel and zeolite to produce cooling effect. These systems are attracting increasing attention because they can be activated by low-grade thermal energy and use refrigerants having zero ozone depletion potential and low global warming potential

WHAT IS ADSORPTION AND DESORPTION PHENOMENON ?

THE ADSORPTION PHASE:
During the refrigeration phase (or adsorption) the zeolite attracts water vapour and incorporates it in its crystal while releasing heat at the same time. The internal pressure drops and the remaining water cools down and freezes immediately. This allows us to use it for cooling purposes.

THE DESORPTION PHASE (REGENERATION):

During the regeneration phase (or desorption), we heat the zeolite, the water molecules inside the zeolite leave the crystal as vapour, and liquefy, bringing the system back to the starting point.

ADVANTAGES OF ADSORPTION COOLING SYSTEM OVER ABSORPTION COOLING SYSTEM

ABSORBTION COOLING SYSTEM
Heat source temperature for an absorption system should be at least 90C Severe corrosion might occur in absorption systems when the regeneration temperature is greater than 200C In the lithium bromide (LiBr)/water absorption system, there is a specific minimum solution temperature for any given LiBr solution concentration below which the salt begins to crystallize out of the solution.Crystallization results in interruption of machine operation and possible damage to the unit.

ADSORBTION COOLING SYSTEM

Adsorption system can be activated by heat source with temperature as low as 50 C less corrosion issues No crystallization issue the adsorbent remains in a solid state, which means no crystallization issues.

Absorption systems cannot operate normally under conditions where serious vibration occurs, such as in fishing boats and locomotives, because the absorbent in these systems, which is in a liquid state, may flow from the generator to the condenser or from the absorber to the evaporator Need a liquid pump or rectifier for the refrigerant

Adsorption systems are suitable for such applications, because their adsorbents stay in a solid state

does not need a liquid pump or rectifier for the refrigerant

TYPES OF ADSORPTION
1.Physical adsorption (Physisorption): If a force of attraction existing between adsorbate and porous material surface this is the Vander Waals forces, the adsorption is physical adsorption. In physical adsorption the attraction between the vapour or gas and porous material surface are weak, hence this type of adsorption can be easily reversed by heating

2.Chemical adsorption (Chemisorption): If the force of attraction existing between vapour or gas and porous material surface are the same strength as chemical bonds, this type of adsorption is named chemical adsorption. In chemisorption the force of attraction is strong therefore chemical adsorption cannot be easily reversed

OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF THE ADSORPTION COOLING TECHNOLOGY

Basic Adsorption Cycle A basic adsorption cycle consists of four steps heating and pressurization, desorption and condensation, cooling and depressurization, and adsorption and evaporation. first step, the adsorber is heated by a heat source at a temperature of TH. The pressure of the adsorber increases from the evaporating pressure up to the condensing pressure while the adsorber temperature increases. second step, the adsorber continues receiving heat and its temperature keeps increasing, which results in the desorption (or generation) of refrigerant vapor from adsorbent in the adsorber. This desorbed vapor is liquefied in the condenser and the condensing heat is released to the heat sink at a temperature of TC.

OPERATING PRINCIPLE OF THE ADSORPTION COOLING TECHNOLOGY

At the beginning of the third step, the adsorber is disconnected from the condenser. Then, it is cooled by heat transfer fluid at the second heat sink temperature of TM. The pressure of the adsorber decreases from the condensing pressure down to the evaporating pressure due to the decrease in the adsorber temperature. In the last step, the adsorber keeps releasing heat while being connected to the evaporator. The adsorber temperature continues decreasing, which results in the adsorption of refrigerant vapor from the evaporator by adsorbent, producing the desired refrigeration effect A minimum of two adsorbers are required to obtain a continuous cooling effect (when the first adsorber is in the adsorption phase, the second adsorber is in desorption phase).

ADVANCED ADSORPTION CYCLE

Since the efficiency of the basic adsorption refrigeration cycle is low, and the cooling output is not continuous, many advanced adsorption refrigeration cycles have been developed to improve efficiency and practicability. THE HEAT RECOVERY CYCLE is an advanced adsorption cycle used in a system with two or more adsorbers.After the adsorption phase and desorption phase are finished in the adsorbers, the heat from the hot adsorber is transferred to the cold adsorber by circulating heat transfer fluid between them in a closed loop. The experimental results show that the COP of the system will increase by up to 25% with the heat recovery cycle. and only limited thermal energy is required from the heat source since about 65% of the total energy received by each adsorber can be internally recovered

Advanced Adsorption Cycle

THE MASS RECOVERY CYCLE uses refrigerant mass recovery between two adsorbers to effectively increase cooling output and COP of the system. In the end of the desorptionadsorption phase, the high-pressure adsorber is connected to the low-pressure adsorber in a closed loop. The refrigerant in the high-pressure adsorber will be re-adsorbed by the adsorbent in the lowpressure adsorber due to the pressure difference between the two adsorbers. In a mass recovery process, the adsorption quantity of adsorbent is increased, which causes the cooling capacity and COP to increase. The experimental results showed the mass recovery cycle may help obtain a COP increase of more than 10%.21

POROUS ADSORBENTS MATERIALS

Silica Gel :
It has the adsorption capability to adsorb 50% of its mass of vapour without changing its mass. The pore diameters of common silica gel are 2, 3 nm (A type) and 0.7 nm (B type), and the specific surface area is about 1001000 m2/g Types ;Silica gel Type A, Type B Type C

POROUS ADSORBENTS MATERIALS

Zeolite : Zeolite is a highly porous adsorbent material, which belongs to the class of alumina-silicates. The porosity of the zeolite is between 0.2 and 0.5. There are about 40 types of natural zeolite 13X zeolite adsorbent are the main types used for adsorption cooling system

POROUS ADSORBENTS MATERIALS

Activated carbon :
The specific area of activated carbon is between 500 and 1500 m2/g. Types: Micropores (pore dia less than 20 nm), Mesopores (pore dia 20-200 nm) and Macropores (200 nm & above)

TYPES OF WORKING ADSORBATE AND ADSORBENT PAIRS

MAIN ADVANTAGES OF ADSORPTION COOLING TECHNOLOGY

Can be operated with low-grade thermal energy such as solar, geothermal and waste heat Thermal energy storage possible It is a robust technology. The materials used today (zeolite, silica gel) are environmentally friendly Very low electricity consumption. Electricity is only required for the switching valves and the control unit. Very little moving parts with the potential of low maintenance effort and costs.

MAIN DISADVANTAGES OF ADSORPTION COOLING TECHNOLOGY

High requirements to the vacuum tightness of the container. lower COP than for comparable absorption technology. Commercially available machines are expensive and only some suppliers are on the market. Larger volume and weight

APPLICATION
Refrigerator WATER CHILLER Air Conditioning

REFRIGERATOR
Researchers at Zeo-Tech GmbH in Germany have developed freezer boxes and mini refrigerators for mobile and stationary application.

Mini fridge Transport box

WATER CHILLER
Adsorption cooling system design by Nishiyodo Kuchou Manufacturing Company

AIR CONDITIONING
A MAN MOUNTED MICRO-CLIMATIZATION SYSTEM
The technologynhas been successfully used by US Navy (Advanced Portable Air Conditioning System).

Performance of adsorption cooling system for different application and experiment conducted by Oak Ridge National Laboratory UK.