2007 Volume 24 Issue 4 Pages 485-494
Adsorption cooling systems driven by low temperature waste heat (below 100°C) or renewable energy sources have gained considerable attention as one of the solutions for both energy and environment related problems. In this study, a two dimensional numerical analysis is carried out to evaluate the adsorption characteristics and to determine the performance of a fin and tube type adsorber/desorber heat exchanger; activated carbon fiber (ACF) of type A-20, which has relatively higher surface area, and ethanol are used as adsorbent/refrigerant pair. The effects of heat exchanger design configurations such as fin height, fin thickness, fin pitch, tube diameter and apparent density of ACF bed on the performance are examined numerically. The simulation results show that the cooling capacity can be optimized in the condition of fin height 15mm and fin pitch 5.5mm when other parameters are fixed.
