3rd Thermal and Fluids Engineering Conference (TFEC)

March 4–7, 2018

Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA

TFEC-2018-22042

EFFECT OF VOLUME OF EVAPORATOR AND BED HEAT EXCHANGER

ON PERFORMANCE OF ADSORPTION CHILLER

Gamze Gediz Ilis1*, Hasan Demir2

1
Okan University, Mechanical Engineering Department, Tuzla Campus, 34959, Istanbul, Turkey
2
Osmaniye Korkut Ata University, Chemical Engineering Department, 80000, Osmaniye, Turkey

ABSTRACT

Adsorption chiller technology is one of the most effective ways to convert waste thermal energy into cooling. An
adsorption chiller is a kind of thermal heat pump which is a promising system due to its ability for recovering
heat from the thermal source at low-temperature levels and providing cooling and/or heating effects. It has
advantages such as being environmentally friendly, having no vibration and lower operating costs. Adsorption
chiller has four main components such as an adsorbent bed, evaporator, condenser and an expansion valve. This
study is a parametric model for simulating the performance of single bed silica gel-water adsorption chiller for
adsorption process. By using the developed mathematical model, the change of design parameters on the
performance of the adsorbent bed and the evaporator are predicted. This model not only deals with the heat and
mass transfer inside of the adsorbent bed but also consider the heat transfer from its evaporator, condenser, and
pipes. The model can be reliably used as a design tool for a single bed adsorption chiller and the prediction of the
performance of the chiller without any experiments. The model will provide designers with useful information
about the design of adsorption chiller.

1. INTRODUCTION

The most of the population spends almost 90 % of their time indoors, thus the energy demand to
maintain comfortable living environment constitutes 20-40 % of the overall building’s energy
consumption [1]. Air conditioning systems are widely used in industrial and comfort applications.
The conventional air conditioning systems and traditional refrigeration systems play an important
role in the depletion of the ozone layer and global warming. People are conscious that if the
increment of global average temperature exceeds 2K above preindustrial levels, our planet and life
will be considerably threatened [2]. To prevent global warming and its potential consequences both
developed and developing countries should make considerable efforts. The European Union (EU)
has pledged to reduce its emissions by at 30% until 2020 and by at least 80-95% until 2050
compared to 1990 levels [3]. New air conditioning systems should continue to develop for the
protection of the ozone layer and primary energy saving. Recent researches on air conditioning
technology are mostly focused on developing new more environmentally friendly systems that are
able to employ various kinds of energies from the solar energy to waste heat [4].

An adsorption chiller is one of an effective system that is able to utilize solar energy, thermal energy
and waste heat from an industrial application. Analysis of performance of adsorption chiller was
important for the application. In the literature, researchers are essentially focused on the design of
adsorbent bed and its heat exchanger. For that reason, the numerical modeling and/or simulation
studies are made for designing of the adsorber. However, the performance of adsorption chiller is also
depending on temperatures of the condenser and evaporator. Wang and Chua [5] is studied lumped-
parameter approach used for adsorption chiller design and explaining the phenomenon of the water-

*Corresponding Author: gamze.gediz@okan.edu.tr

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circulation heat recovery scheme. They are revealed that difference in the performance predictions
from the lump-parameter model and distributed-parameter model was about 10%. Wang et al. [6]
were improved lumped parameter model for multi-bed silica gel-water adsorption chillers. The
results founded by lumped parameter model were compared favorably with experimental results.
They found out that the cooling capacity and COP were predicted to within 10% and 12% for all
tested conditions and a wide range of cycle times, respectively.

The aim of this study is to demonstrate the effect of volume of the evaporator and the adsorbent bed
heat exchanger on the performance of a single bed adsorption chiller. The performance analysis of
silica gel/water adsorption chiller was calculated by applying lumped parameter model. The studied
volumes of the bed were varied 1.8x10-2, 2.316x10-2 and 3.474x10-2 m3. The studied volumes of
evaporator were changed 3.45x10-3, 6.9x10-3, and 13.8x10-3 m3. The predictions are compared with
experimental data [7]. Thanks to the lumped parameter model, the temperature, and adsorbate
concentration during the cycle and COP of the chiller can be estimated and new designs for
development can be predicted easily in order to develop more efficient adsorption chillers.

2. WORKING PRINCIPLE OF SINGLE BED ADSORPTION CHILLER

A basic adsorption heat pump consists of four main components: an adsorber (adsorbent bed heat
exchanger), a condenser, an evaporator, and an expansion valve (Figure 1) [8].

Figure 1. A schematic view of an adsorption heat pump.

A cycle can be schematically represented on the Clapeyron diagram (ln(P) vs. -1/T) as shown in
Figure 2.

Figure 2. A cycle of an adsorption heat pump on Clapeyron diagram.

At the beginning of adsorption process (point d) all valves are closed. Both the adsorbent bed and
evaporator are at the evaporator pressure, Pev. By opening the valve V1, the evaporator starts to get

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heat from the serpentine that chilled water is circulated inside. The evaporated adsorbate in the
evaporator is adsorbed by the adsorbent granules in the adsorbent bed. The process continues until
the concentration of adsorbate in granules attains to W 2 level. The process (d-a) is known as the
isobaric adsorption process. During the adsorption process, the heat of adsorption is released in the
adsorbent bed. After isobaric adsorption process, valve V1 is closed and then the isosteric heating
process starts (a-b). During this process, the adsorbent bed is heated and the temperature of the
adsorbent bed rises from Ta to Tb while the adsorbate concentration in the bed remains constant at
W2. The pressure of the adsorbent bed is increased from Pev to Pcond during the isosteric heating
process. The next process is desorption process (b-c) which starts by the opening of valve V2
placed between the adsorber and the condenser. During the desorption process, the temperature of
the adsorbent bed is increased from Tb to Tc while its pressure remains at Pcond. The desorbed
adsorbate leaves the adsorber heat exchanger, and it is condensed in the condenser and as a result,
the adsorbate concentration falls from W2 to W1. Finally, both valves V1 and V2 are closed and the
adsorbent bed is cooled to reduce its pressure from Pcond to Pev. During this process, which is known
as an isosteric cooling process, the temperature of adsorbent bed falls from T c to Td.

3. MATHEMATICAL MODEL

The governing equations of the problem used in the analysis of the heat and mass transfer in the
adsorbent bed and its components are separately presented in this section.

3.1. Rate of Adsorption and Desorption

Linear Driving Force (LDF) model is used to determine the change of mean adsorbate
concentration in the adsorbent particle with time;
W 15 D eff
 W   W  (1)
t r p2

where D eff and r p represent effective diffusivity and radius of the adsorbent particle. D eff can be

found from Arrhenius equation [9].

The following isotherm equation which called Henry equation for Isotherm can be used to
determine adsorbate equilibrium concentration in the silica gel particle for a given pressure and
temperature [10].
 18H ads 
W  K o exp P (2)
 RT 

where K o and H ads are the constants for the specific adsorbent-adsorbate pair. The values of K o
and H ads are 2x10-12 Pa-1 and 2510 kJ/kg, respectively. The symbol P represents water vapor
pressure at the considered temperature.

3.2. Energy Balance in Adsorbent Bed

Heat losses are ignored for the energy balance of the adsorbent bed heat exchangers (the silica gel is
packed between fins of the heat exchanger). Both adsorption and desorption processes occur in the
adsorbent bed heat exchanger.
The energy balance equation of the adsorber for adsorption process can be written as:

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 TFEC-IWHT2017-22042

m silica C silica  m HEX C HEX  m silica C vapor W bed  dTdt

bed
 m silica
d W bed
dt

hv @ Tevap  hv @ Tbed , Pbed ,  H ads 
(3)
Abed DE
 U bed
DE
 T
DE 1
bed  TDE 

and energy balance for the coolant inside the adsorber;

fCf
Vbed dTbed dM coolingwater
DE dt

dt
 A
DE

h f @ TDE 1  h f @ TDE  U bed bed Tbed  TDE  (4)

The energy balance equation of the adsorber for desorption process can be written as:

m silica C silica  m HEX C HEX  m silica C vapor W bed

dTbed
dt

 m silica H ads
d W bed
dt
(5)
Abed DE
 U bed
DE DE 1
 Tbed  TDE 
and energy balance for the heating fluid inside the adsorber;

fCf
Vbed dTbed dM heatingwater
DE dt

dt
 A
DE

h f @ TDE 1  h f @ TDE  U bed bed Tbed  TDE  (6)

3.3. Energy Balance on Condenser

The energy balance of condenser during adsorption and desorption processes, and cooling water
inside of the condenser is expressed as:
For adsorption process;

mcond C f Tcond  mcond C vcond  dTcond  h f @ Tcond msilica dW bed  msilica dW bed hv @ Tcond
dt dt dt
(7)
 
DEcond
Acond
 U cond  Tcond  TDEcond
DE cond DE 1
for desorption process;

mcond C f Tcond  mcond C vcond  dTcond  h f @ Tcond msilica dW bed  msilica dW bed hv @ Tbed Pcond
dt dt dt
(8)
 
DEcond
Acond
 (1  X )h f @ Tcond  U cond  Tcond  TDEcond
DE cond DE 1
for cooling water inside of the condenser;
V
 f C f cond
DE cond dt
dTDE dM cond

dt
 
A
h f @ TDE 1  h f @ TDE  U cond ceond Tcond  TDE 
DE cond
(9)

3.4. Energy Balance on Evaporator

The energy balance of evaporator during adsorption and desorption processes, and chilled water
inside of the evaporator is expressed as:
For adsorption process;

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dTevap
m evap C f  mevap C evap   h f @ Tevap m silica
d W bed
 m silica
d W bed
hv @ Tevap
dt dt dt
(10)
 
DEevap
Aevap
 U evap  TDE  Tevap
DE evap DE 1 evap
for desorption process;

mevap C f  mevap Cevap  dTevap  h f @ Tevap msilica dW bed  h f @ Tevap msilica dW bed
dt dt dt
(11)
 
DEevap
d W bed Aevap
 m silica
dt
hg @ Tbed , P  U evap
evap ,
 Tevap  TDEevap
DE evap DE 1
for chilled water inside of the evaporator;
V
 f C f cond
dTDE dM cond
DE cond dt

dt
  A
h f @ TDE 1  h f @ TDE  U cond ceond Tcond  TDE 
DE cond
(12)

4. VALIDATION OF THE MODEL

The numerical model is compared and validated with the study of Chua et al. [10]. Validation is
performed for adsorption process only. As shown in Figure 3, the adsorbent bed coolant
temperature and the chilled water temperature of the evaporator is given. Blue lines are the results
from Chua et al. [10] and red lines illustrate the results performed in this study. The parameters
used in this study are taken from Ref [10] and the comparison is performed with the developed
model in this study (red lines). As seen, in the adsorption process, the temperature of the bed
coolant and the evaporator chilled water have proper results with the study of Chua et al. [10].

Figure 3. Comparison of adsorbent bed coolant temperature during isobaric desorption process; blue
lines [10], red lines (this study)

5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

In the literature, there is a limited study on simulating the adsorbent heat pump performance. Chua
et al. [10], Wang and Chua [11], and Wang et al. [12] performed studies on simulating the
adsorbent bed coolant temperature, chilled water temperature during adsorption and the heating

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 TFEC-IWHT2017-22042

water of the bed, the circulating water temperature for the condenser for the desorption process.
They calculated the COP and the SCP values of their adsorption chiller. This model is useful for the
predicting the performance of the chiller before construction. The model can be used for designing
the optimum capacity of the chiller components and for the optimum design parameters. In this
study, only adsorption process is taken into account. The adsorbent bed and the evaporator
performance are evaluated with the change of design parameters. As known, there are many
parameters for the design of an adsorption chiller; the material selection of each component, the
mass of the adsorbent bed, bed and evaporator heat exchanger volume, the temperature of the
circulating waters, the adsorbent particle radius etc. Each parameter should be taken into account
for the proper design. Even there are many parameters; one of the most important parameters for the
design is the weight of the chiller. The weight is directly important for the limited spaces. Based on
that criterion, the effect of the volume of the bed heat exchanger is analyzed. The volume of the bed
and the mass of its heat exchanger is increased.
The average concentration and the temperature of the adsorbent bed are illustrated in Figure 4. As
mentioned, during adsorption process, the average bed temperature decreases while the
concentration increases. The temperature of the bed starts around 90oC due to the heat of
adsorption. The average bed temperature decreases to around 30 oC at the end of the adsorption
process. Meanwhile, the average concentration of the bed increases from 10% to 25% kg/kg. By
increasing the volume of the bed, the duration of the adsorption process increases.

(a)

(b)
Figure 4. Comparison of a) adsorbent bed average temperature and b) average bed concentration
during isobaric adsorption process by increasing the bed volume.

The temperature change of the adsorbent bed coolant water and the chilled water of the chiller is
given in Figure 5. The temperature of the coolant of the bed is slightly lower than the bed
temperature as given in Fig. 4(a). As expected, by increasing of the adsorbent bed volume, the

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duration of the cooling of the adsorbent bed increases and takes more time. On the other hand, there
is almost no effect on the temperature change of the chilled water of the evaporator.

Figure 5. Comparison of adsorbent bed coolant and the chilled water temperature during isobaric
adsorption process by increasing the bed volume.

During the isobaric adsorption process, another one of the most important parameters is the volume
of the evaporator. It is directly related to the chilled water temperature. Increasing of the heat
exchanger contact area between the evaporator and the chilled water, the chilled water temperature
will be decreased. As seen from Figure 6, the average temperature of the evaporator and the chilled
water is plotted only for the first 50 sec. In order to analyze the temperature change due to
increasing evaporator volume and the mass of heat exchanger, first 50 sec is plotted in Figure 6.
The average chilled water temperature is around 283K, 285K, and 289K for low, mid and high-
volume evaporator at 10 sec, respectively. By increasing the evaporator volume, the chilled water
temperature has around 6oC difference between the low and the high-volume evaporator. After 50
sec., the average chilled water temperature remains almost constant. The evaporation is controlled
by the bed and the mass and the thermo-physical properties of the silica gel. The evaporator
capacity has almost no effect except for the initial conditions during the adsorption and evaporation
period.

Figure 6. Comparison of chilled water temperature and the evaporator temperature during isobaric
adsorption process by increasing the evaporator volume.

6. CONCLUSION

Based on the equations of the problem, the performance of the adsorbent bed and the evaporator
with the change of design parameters is predicted in this study. The solutions are compared with the

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experimental and referenced data for a single bed adsorption heat pump in order to evaluate the
numerical data. The effect of volume of both the evaporator and the adsorbent bed is analyzed in
this study. The duration of the adsorption increases by increasing of the mass of the bed heat
exchanger. The results also showed that the adsorption is controlled by the mass and the
thermophysical properties of the adsorbent. Increasing the volume of evaporator has almost no
effect on the evaporation. Further studies can be performed for multi adsorbent bed adsorption
chillers and for the whole working period of the chiller. The model can be used as a design tool for
an adsorption chiller and the prediction of the performance of the chiller without any experiments.

REFERENCES

[1] District Heating and Cooling country by country Survey, 2013, www.euroheat.org/Statistics
linked date: May 24, 2014.
[2] Bossmann, T. Eichhammer, W. Elsland, R. (2012). Policy Report: Contribution of Energy
Efficiency Measures to Climate Protection within the European Union until 2050,
Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI.
[3] European Council, Presidency Conclusions–Brussels, 29/30 October 2009
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/ec/110889.pdf Last
accessed 24/May/2014
[4] Ertuğrul Cihan, Barış Kavasoğulları, Hasan Demir Enhancement of the performance of open
liquid desiccant system with surface additive. Renewable Energy 114 ( 2017 ) 1101 – 1112
[5] Wang X., Chua H.T. Two bed silica gel-water adsorption chillers: An effectual lumped
parameter model, International Journal of refrigeration, 30 (2007) 1417-1426
[6] Wang X., He Z., Chua H.T. Performance simulation of multi-bed silica gel water adsorption
chillers, International journal of refrigeration, 52 (2015) 32-41
[7] Demir H., Experimental Study on a Novel Microwave Assisted Adsorption Heat Pump,
International Journal of Refrigeration, 45 (2014) 35-43.
[8] Demir H., Mobedi M., Ülkü S., “A review on adsorption heat pump: problems and
solutions”, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 12 (2008) 2381-2403
[9] Gamze Gediz Ilis, Influence of new adsorbents with isotherm Type V on performance of an
adsorption heat pump, Energy 119 (2017) 86 – 93
[10] Chua H.T., Ng K.C., Malek A., Kashiwagi T., Akisawa A., Saha B.B., Multi-bed
regenerative adsorption chiller improving the utilization of waste heat and reducing the
chilled water outlet temperature fluctuation, International Journal of Refrigeration 24
(2001) 124-136
[11] Wang X., Chua H.T., Two-bed silica gel water adsorption chillers: An effectual lumped
parameter model, International Journal of Refrigeration 30 (2007) 1417-1426
[12] Wang X., He Z., Chua H.T., Performance simulation of multibed silica gel water
adsorption chillers, International Journal of Refrigeration 52 (2015) 32-41