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Alternative Technology for Cooling

Conference Paper · September 2015

DOI: 10.1109/ICGET.2015.7315114

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 Alternative Technology for Cooling

Kutub Uddin Takahiko Miyazaki, Bidyut Baran Saha, Shigeru

Department of Physics Koyama
Jagannath University Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering Sciences
Dhaka, Bangladesh Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan
E-mail: mdkutub@yahoo.com

Abstract— To provide thermal comfort to the human being many sector has an added advantage because of the availability of
types of cooling technologies are available in the market. These solar radiation is almost in phase with the requirement of
technologies are more essential in the region where the average cooling [2]. Tropical country like Bangladesh can be the
ambient temperature is high. But every system has some limitations potential user of this technology.
especially for environmental aspect and energy consumption. Open
literature shows the available commercial cooling technology used
almost 45% of electricity consumed in a house. To keep the system NOMENCLATURE
running a lot of fossil fuels need to be burned as a result the volume W Adsorbate uptake per kg of adsorbent [kg/kg]
of greenhouse gases into the air increases. This study introduces a Wmax Maximum uptake [kg/kg]
new technology which is emerging as viable alternatives of Wmin Minimum uptake [kg/kg]
conventional vapor-compression systems and is known as adsorption
T Temperature [K]
cooling system. This system is environment friendly since it uses
natural refrigerants and it is driven by low temperature waste heat or Teva Evaporation temperature [K]
solar energy that is why it can solve the existing challenge of global Tcon Condensation temperature [K]
warming and energy crisis. P Pressure [kPa]
Peva Evaporation pressure [kPa]
Key words: global warming, adsorption, cooling, waste heat Pcon Condensation pressure [kPa]
V Valve
I. INTRODUCTION heva Evaporation enthalpy [kJ/kg]
Cp Specific heat [kJ/kg K]
Cooling needs are found to be directly proportional to the
standard of living of people. The demand of cooling, Qsh Sensible heat [kJ]
refrigeration and comfort air-conditioning are increasing at a Qdh Desorption heat [kJ]
faster rate especially in developing countries where the people
are being capable of buying the technology. According to open
literature, the energy consumption for air-conditioning using II. STUDY OF HEAT DRIVEN ADSORPTION COOLING
conventional cooling technology has been estimated to be 45% SYSTEMS
of the whole households and commercial building [1]. Adsorption refrigeration and heat pump systems powered
Conventional vapor-compression systems consume a lot of by waste heat with utilizing environment friendly adsorbents
electrical energy; consequently, it leads to the burning of lot of and refrigerants pairs received great attention now a day.
fossil fuel causes higher rate of greenhouse gas production. On Before 1970s, the studies of adsorption process extensively
the other hand, refrigerants used in these systems also considered for gas separation, purification and catalysis. Very
contribute to greenhouse gas emission. Some of the few study found where the adsorption processes was tried to
refrigerants, like CFCs (chlorofluorocarbon) and HCFCs use for cooling system. And the studies did not lead to
(hydro-chlorofluorocarbon), cause depletion of stratospheric commercialize the technology because of its emergence and the
ozone layer as well. Developed country already changed their use of CFCs as refrigerant.
regulation to restrict the utilization of refrigerants which has After 1990s, environmentalist raises their voices against the
higher ODP (ozone depletion potential) and GWP (global emission of CFCs which is identified as the major contributor
warming potential). So there is an urgent need to find possible to deplete the ozone layer around the globe and adds to the
alternative which can address these issues together. greenhouse effect. Montreal Protocol on Substances Depleting
Heat driven refrigeration cycles have the potential to the Ozone Layer (1987) and five amendments on Montreal
address these problems. Plenty of low grade waste heat, e.g. Protocol has provided the schedule to reduce the use of CFCs.
automobile engine exhaust, industrial waste heat, geothermal Therefore, many countries took the initiative to replace the
heat can be used to drive the refrigeration cycle in lieu of traditional vapor compression refrigeration. Considering all
electricity. Use of solar energy in cooling and refrigeration aspect, research to use the adsorption and absorption

978-1-5090-0169-9/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE

phenomena in cooling technology got momentum. Now a day,
this study is undertaken with objective of rational use of
primary energy, by using solar energy or waste heat to run the
refrigerators or heat pumps along with the use of totally
environment friendly refrigerants, which means refrigerant has
no ODP and GWP.
III. WORKING OF ADSORPTION COOLING SYSTEM
A. Principle of adsorption
The heart of an adsorption process is usually a porous solid
which provides a very large surface area (3000 m2/g) and large
pore volumes and therefore large adsorptive capacity [3]. The
surface of the solid material is usually unsaturated and
unbalanced. When surface is brought into contact with gas,
there is an interaction between the unbalanced molecular forces
at the surface and the gas molecular forces. That is because;
solid surface tends to satisfy these residual forces by attracting
and retaining on its surface to the molecules, atoms, or ions of
the gas. This results in a greater concentration of the gas or
liquid in the near vicinity of the solid surface than in the bulk
gas or vapor phase, despite the nature of the gas or vapor. The
process by which this surface excess is caused is called
adsorption [4].
The adsorption process may occur in two ways;
physisorption, and chemisorption, depending on the
constraining force during the adsorption. In the physisorption
process, the adsorbate molecules are attracted to the adsorbent
surface by the weak van der Waals force which are similar to
the molecular forces of cohesion. There are not any changes in
the chemical composition of the adsorption pair. The
chemisorption process involves valence forces arising from
sharing of electrons between the adsorbent and the adsorbate
atoms. This results in a chemical reaction and forming a
complex surface compound. The forces of these formed bonds
are much stronger than the Van der Waals force. It should be
mentioned that the adsorptive action is physical for almost all
of solid adsorbents which are commonly used in adsorption
cooling systems.
B. Adsorption cooling system over conventional system
The simplicity of operation is the attractive feature of the
adsorption cooling system. Fig. 1 shows schematic diagram of
basic cooling system. For conventional system (Fig. 1a) the
refrigerant is evaporated in the evaporator by taking the heat
from the space to be cooled and the vapour is compressed by
the mechanical compressor to a higher pressure. The
refrigerant is then condensed into liquid in the condenser by
rejecting heat.
For adsorption cooling system (Fig. 1b) the mechanical
compressor is replaced by the thermal compressor. The
adsorbent containing the refrigerant (right bed in Fig. 1b) is
heated by the solar collectors or waste heat and the adsorbed
refrigerant is expulsed as vapour and condenses in the
condenser. The condensed refrigerant is then transfer to the
evaporator via expansion valve, leading to a lower pressure
area. The refrigerant evaporates in the evaporator, taking up the
heat from the chilled water and finally adsorbed in cooled
adsorbent part (left bed in Fig. 1b). The adsorption heat is
evacuated by the cool water. For continuous cooling
production two sorption bed is operated properly.
Condenser
Expansion valve
Mechanical
compressor
Evaporator
(a)
Desorption at
Condenser high temperature
Expansion valve
Adsorbent
Adsorbent
Waste heat
or
Solar heat
Thermal
Refrigerant flow
compressor
Switching
Evaporator Adsorption at
valve
low temperature
(b)
Fig. 1: Schematic diagram of cooling system, (a) conventional
vapor compression system (b) adsorption cooling system.
C. Performance investigation of the system using equilibrium
data
When a solid surface is exposed to a gas, the molecules of the
gas strike the surface of the solid. Some of these striking
molecules stick to the solid surface and become adsorbed,
while some others rebound back. The rate of adsorption is
large at the beginning and it continues to decrease as more and
more of the solid surface becomes covered by the adsorbate
molecules. The equilibrium state is reached when the rate of
adsorption is equal to the rate of desorption.
In equilibrium state, the amount of adsorbate uptake per kg of
adsorbent, W [kg/kg], is called adsorption equilibrium capacity
or equilibrium uptake. W depends on the equilibrium pressure,
P, the adsorbent temperature, T, and the nature of gas-solid
system, thus it may be written as [5],
W = f (P, T, system type) (1)
The form of the Eq. (1) may be complex and f is usually
determined experimentally. Adsorption equilibrium data of
activated carbon (KOH-H2 treated Maxsorb III)/ethanol pair as
predicted by Dubinin Astakhov (D-A) equation with a basic
adsorption cycle is shown in Fig. 2. In practical adsorption
cooling applications, the maximum adsorption capacity of the
adsorbent cannot be fully utilized because it takes a long time
to reach the equilibrium state.
D. Adsorption Refrigeration Cycle using Dühring diagram
Fig. 3 shows the basic adsorption refrigeration cycle which is
consists of two isosters, having constant adsorbed phase
concentration and two isobars corresponding to condenser and
evaporator pressure. Due to heating by some external source,
temperature as well as pressure of the adsorber system
increases (process b to c) till it reaches condenser pressure. (a) Heat rejection
Desorption takes place at condenser pressure; desorbed Cooling
refrigerant gets condensed by rejecting heat to a sink (process Cooling water in
c to d). The refrigerant liquid goes to evaporator via a pressure water out
reducing valve. Cooled by some external fluid, pressure and
temperature of the adsorber system decreases (process d to a) Condense
till it reaches evaporator pressure, saturation vapor pressure of
V2
the refrigerant at the evaporator temperature. Boiling of the
refrigerant, latent heat being supplied by the cooling load, Cooling
water out
takes place with vapor uptake at the adsorber (process a to b), Liquid

Adsorbent bed
completing the cycle. refrigerant
Heat
rejection
1.2
Adsorption temperature, ºC
(c) Cooling
30 40 50 60 70 80
1 water

90
0.8 V1
100
Evaporato
W [kg/kg]

0.6
b c

0.4

0.2
a d Chilled Heat Chilled
water input water in
0 out
0.1 1 10 100
Equilibrium pressure, [kPa] Extraction of cooling
Fig. 2: Adsorption isotherms of KOH-H2 treated Maxsorb
III/ethanol pair as predicted by equilibrium isotherm equation
[6]. (b) Heat rejection

1.0 0.8 Cooling

0.6
Cooling water in
0.4 water
Pcon c d
10
0.2

0.1 Condense

Peva
0.05 V2
Pressure [kPa]

b a
0.01 Hot
1 water out Liquid
refrigerant
Adsorbent bed

Heat
input

Tcon
Teva Hot
0.1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 water in
Temperature [ºC]

Fig. 3: Basic adsorption refrigeration cycle using conceptual V1

Dühring diagram [6]. Evaporator

Fig. 4(a) shows the adsorption process where valve V1 is

opened and valve V2 is closed, the pressure is kept constant at
Peva. The refrigerant vapor evaporates in the evaporator
picking up its latent heat from the chilled water then, adsorbed Chilled
Chilled
water Heat
by the adsorber via the valve V1. The refrigerant concentration out input water in
in the adsorber increases from Wmin to Wmax (a→b in Fig. 3). In
Extraction of cooling
Pre-heating process, both the valves V1 and V2 are closed and
the adsorber is heated at constant concentration using a high
temperature heat source and hence the pressure increases from Fig. 4: (a) Adsorption and (b) desorption process with proper
Peva to Pcon (b→c in Fig. 3). valve operation [7].
Fig. 4(b) shows the desorption process where valve V1 is (c→d in Fig. 3). The refrigerant concentration on the
closed and valve V2 is opened the refrigerant regenerates and desorber decreases from Wmax to Wmin. In pre-cooling process
condenses on the condenser at pressure Pcon via the valve V2 (d→a in Fig. 3), the adsorbent bed is cooled at constant

978-1-5090-0169-9/15/$31.00 ©2015 IEEE

concentration which makes the pressure decrease from Pcon to heat transfer rate inside the bed is the hindrance to spread the
Peva. technology. So the different modified cycles are being tried to
The model described here is a thermodynamically improve the efficiency and practicability of the basic cycle [8,
equilibrium model. This means, all the thermal contributions 9]. These include multi stage cycle, heat recovery cycle, heat
are calculated based on heat and mass balance provided by the and mass recovery cycle, thermal wave cycle, forced
convective thermal wave cycle, cascade cycle and multi-bed
(P-T-W) diagrams. The system performance (SCE-
cycle etc. To maintain high vacuum, the large volume and
specific cooling effect, COP-coefficient of performance)
weight relative to traditional refrigeration systems limits the
is predicted using the following equations extensive application of this technology.
Some newly develop adsorbents have promising adsorption
SCE  (Wmax  Wmin ) heva   C p ,ref dT 
Tcon characteristics with refrigerant that may lead to the
(2)
 Teva  development of next generation of adsorption chillers [10].
REFERENCES
SCE [1] Y. Fan, L. Luo, B. Souyri, “Review of solar sorption
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0.6
adsorption systems for domestic refrigeration and
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[3] D.D. Duong, “Adsorption analysis: equilibria and
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Basic cycle is simple and reliable; however it suffers from the adsorbents for developing next generation cooling
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production is also intermittent. The bulkiness due to the pp. 171-178.
limitation of sorption capacity of adsorbent material and low

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