Abstract
This work aims at clarifying the possible operating temperature ranges for silica gel-water adsorption refrigeration cycles driven by near-environmental temperature heat sources (between 50°C and 85°C), with relatively small regenerating temperature lifts (10 K to 65 K). A newly developed three stage advanced silica gel-water cycle, which is operational with 50°C driving heat source and 30°C cooling source is introduced and compared with a conventional single stage cycle. The cycles are evaluated in terms of cooling capacity, COP and the viability of operation with near-environmental temperature driving heat sources. The analysis is based on experimental and cycle simulation work. The results showed the advanced three stage cycle to be particularly suited for operation with low grade waste heat driving sources, since it worked with small regenerating temperature lifts (ΔTregen)of 10K to 30K. Another significant advantage of operation with small ΔTregen is the possibility to reduce irreversible heat losses from batched cycle operation. Experiments carried out on full-size machine suggested that, even with smallΔTregen, adsorber /desorber heat exchanger improvements such as higher thermal conductance and smaller heat capacitance can contribute to reduce heat losses while improving cycle performance in terms of cooling capacity and COP.
