Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (5) (2016) 2387~2395

www.springerlink.com/content/1738-494x(Print)/1976-3824(Online)
DOI 10.1007/s12206-016-0449-2

Effect of the switching time on the performance of an adsorption chiller†

Sang Woo Hong1, Oh Kyung Kwon2 and Jae Dong Chung1,*
1
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Sejong University, Seoul 143-747, Korea
2
Energy System R&D Group, Korea Institute of Industrial Technology, Chonan 331-825, Korea

(Manuscript Received September 16, 2015; Revised December 26, 2015; Accepted January 11, 2016)

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Abstract

The switching time is an important operating condition that must be correctly anticipated for an effective adsorption cooling system.
Before the adsorption (or desorption) process begins, time is required to cool down (or heat up) the bed temperature so that the bed pres-
sure reaches the evaporator pressure (or condenser pressure). During the switching time, the supplied heat is reduced and pressure over-
load conditions can be avoided. The switching time cannot be estimated early on, and an improper switching time degrades the system
performance. Thus, this study provides guideline with which to determine the required time to open this valve, i.e., the switching time,
and carefully examines the thermo-physical behavior in the adsorption bed during this period. A two-dimensional numerical method with
the composite sorbent of SWS-1L and a water pair is applied to a fin-tube type adsorption chiller. Three cases of no switching time, the
optimal switching time and a double the optimal switching time are examined. The results show that no consideration of the switching
time overestimates the performance of the adsorption cooling system in terms of the Coefficient of performance (COP) and the Specific
cooling power (SCP). On the other hand, if the switching time exceeds the optimal value, the performance of the adsorption cooling sys-
tem is also reduced compared to that when using the optimal switching time. The dependency of the optimal switching times on various
design parameters, such as the fin pitch, fin height and heating temperature, is also examined.
Keywords: Switching time; Adsorption chiller; COP; SCP
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(heat) the adsorption bed, during which the bed pressure is

1. Introduction
decreased (increased) until it reaches the pressure of the evap-
Due to global warming and economic development, cooling orator (condenser). This process is required for the effective
demand has rapidly increased. However, vapor compression operation of the adsorption cooling cycle by reducing the heat
refrigerators using Freon gas have many problems, including energy during the isobaric process and by avoiding the pres-
the need for an excessive electric power supply and their con- sure load on the adsorption bed. These processes of pre-
tribution to the destruction of the environment. Therefore, cooling and pre-heating are called isosteric processes, and the
many studies have focused on the development of eco-friendly time required for these processes is referred to as the switch-
refrigeration systems driven by heat rather than electricity [1- ing time. In the experiment, isosteric process (switching time)
7]. is started by closing all the valves connecting adsorption beds
An adsorption refrigerator is a promising cooling device with evaporator or condenser. The effect of closing valves can
and is also an eco-friendly refrigeration system driven by low- be implemented by applying zero pressure gradient on the
grade waste heat (60°C ~90°C). During the adsorption process, bed-chamber interface in the simulation.
cooling water at room temperature is used, while in the de- There have been many studies of cycle time [7-10]. It has
sorption process, a low-grade heat source is frequently used. been reported that the Coefficient of performance (COP) in-
This can be solar energy, district heating, waste heat or auto- creases monotonically with the cycle time; however, a long
motive exhaust gas. Consecutive operation can be achieved by cycle time may lead to a waste of energy. Therefore, it is
switching heating and cooling water from one adsorption bed common to choose the cycle time after considering factors
to another. Before the adsorption (desorption) process begins, such as the Specific cooling power (SCP) or the cooling ca-
the valve connecting the adsorption bed to the condenser pacity. Contrary to studies of the cycle time, there are only a
(evaporator) is closed and the heat transfer fluid starts to cool few studies of the switching time. Leong and Liu [11] ana-
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +82 2 3408 3776, Fax.: +82 2 3408 4333
lyzed an adsorption cooling cycle without switching time
E-mail address: jdchung@sejong.ac.kr (ideal cycle) and with switching time (real cycle). They as-
†
Recommended by Associate Editor Ji Hwan Jeong serted that in a real cycle, inter-particle mass transfer resis-
© KSME & Springer 2016
2388 S. W. Hong et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (5) (2016) 2387~2395

tance causes system delays, unlike an ideal cycle, where inter- Table 1. Parameter values and operating conditions.
particle mass transfer resistance is neglected. Thus, an analysis
Parameter Symbol Values
which considers the switching time is more accurate for esti-
Fin pitch Zo 3 mm
mating the system performance levels of adsorption chillers.
Saha et al. [10] examined the effect of the switching time on Fin height Lo 10 mm
the system performance using a numerical method. A CaCl2- Fin thickness δ 0.5 mm
in-silica gel (SWS-1L)-water system was used with a fin-tube Inner diameter of metal tube Di 10 mm
type adsorption chiller. The optimal switching time, showing Outer diameter of metal tube Do 12 mm
the highest cooling capacity, was determined. Niazmand and Particle diameter Dp 200 μm
Dabzadeh [12] considered the mass and energy balance during Evaporator temperature Teva 15°C
an isosteric process and calculated the boundary pressure at Condenser temperature Tcon 30°C
the bed and chamber interface. With this, they examined the
Cooling temperature TL 30°C
temperature, water uptake distribution and velocity field.
Heating temperature TH 80°C
However, they overlooked the impact of the switching time on
Average fluid velocity uf 1 m/s
the system performance and also the dependency of the
switching time on the bed geometries or various operating Density of adsorbent ρb 700 kg/m3
conditions. Mahdavikhah and Niazmand [13] examined the Specific heat of adsorbent CP,b 920 J/kg K
pressure and velocity fields during the isosteric phase and Thermal conductivity of adsorbent kb 0.2 W/m K
isobaric phase for a plate fin-tube type adsorption chiller with Heat of adsorption ΔH 2760000 J/kg
SWS-1L. They ascertained that as the number of fins in- Porosity of the particle εp 0.43
creases, which enhances the heat transfer due to the extended Porosity of the bed εb 0.36
surface, the time required for the isosteric process becomes
shorter, i.e., a shorter switching time. Myat et al. [14] studied
the variation of the COP with the switching time for a driving aims to estimate the optimal switching time based on several
heat source temperature range of 55°C ~80°C, finding that the important parameters (the fin pitch, fin height and heating
lower the driving heat temperature, the longer the switching temperature) for a SWS-1L/water fin-tube type adsorption
time. El-Sharkawy et al. [8] studied system performance im- chiller [7, 10, 12, 13].
provements in terms of the cooling capacity and the COP by a
reallocation of adsorption/desorption cycle times. A lumped 2. Numerical method
parameter model was used to describe the energy balance of
2.1 Mathematical model
adsorber/desorber reactors in which both the adsorbent and
heat exchanger metals are assumed to be at the same tempera- Fig. 1 shows the schematics of the transient two-dimensional
ture. The result showed that the system COP increases with an numerical model used here to solve the heat and mass transfer
increase in the adsorption/desorption time and that the effect kinetics of an adsorption bed. The parameter values and typical
of switching time is marginal. They performed an excellent operating conditions are shown in Table 1. More details can be
analysis of the system performance, including the effect of the found in the authors’ other researches [6, 7].
switching time. However, the lumped parameter model has an
inherent limitation because it does not include the effects of
2.2 Assumptions
design parameters such as the bed geometry. No studies have
attempted to find the optimal switching time according to The mathematical modeling is based on the following as-
design parameters or operating conditions. sumptions [7, 10, 12, 13].
The importance of the switching time has been well recog- (1) The particles in the adsorption bed are all spherical with
nized, and the switching time was included in an analysis to a uniform size and uniform porosity.
develop a more practical model for estimating the system (2) Local thermal equilibrium between the adsorbed and
performance of an adsorption chiller. However, with regard to vapor phases is assumed.
experiments, it is not easy to find the appropriate switching (3) The flow in the adsorption bed is axisymmetric.
time for every specific case, with various geometries and dif- (4) The adsorbed phase is assumed to be liquid and the re-
ferent operating conditions. Thus, it is common to determine frigerant vapor is considered to be an ideal gas.
the optimal switching time by trial and error. If the chosen (5) No heat loss through the chamber wall is considered and
switching time is too short, the performances of the condenser the effect of radiation heat transfer is assumed to be negligible.
and evaporator are reduced and more heat energy is required (6) The thermo-physical properties of the thermal fluid, tube,
due to the absence of pre-heating and pre-cooling phases. On fins, dry adsorbent, adsorbate liquid, and gas are assumed to
the other hand, if the switching time is too long, the perform- be constant except for the density of the adsorbate gas.
ance of the adsorption bed is degraded and the system durabil- (7) The condenser and evaporator are assumed to be ideal
ity worsens due to a pressure overload. Therefore, this study with a constant pressure and temperature during all processes.
 S. W. Hong et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (5) (2016) 2387~2395 2389

Fig. 1. Schematic diagram of the numerical model used in this study.

2.3 Governing equations Substituting Eq. (2) into Eq. (1) yields the final form of the
non-isobaric model with respect to the dependent variable P,
Our recent research showed that the inter- and intra-particle as follows:
mass transfer kinetics have a considerable influence on the
simulation results and it is highly recommended to choose æ P ö
¶ç ÷
models which consider a valid range of the diffusion ratio [6, RT æ K ö ¶q
15]. D/rp2 = 0.000368 is larger than the critical value e t è v ø = Ñ × ç r v app ÑP ÷ - r v =0. (8)
¶t è m ø ¶t
(0.000192) of silica gel (Hong et al. (2014)). Thus, in the pre-
sent study, a non-isobaric model and a Linear driving force
(LDF) model are used for the inter- and intra-particle mass LDF model
transfer models, respectively. ¶q D æ E ö *
= 15 2so exp çç - a ÷÷ ( q - q ) . (9)
¶t rp è RuTb ø
Non-isobaric model
¶r r ¶q In this model, Dso is a pre-exponent constant and Ea denotes
e t v + Ñ × ( r vuv ) + r v =0 (1)
¶t ¶t the activation energy of diffusion, with values of 0.000254
m2/s and 42000 J/mol, respectively. q represents the equilib-
r
where uv is the velocity of the vapor through the adsorption rium water uptake, as determined by an isotherm curve which
bed, which can be determined by Darcy’s law, is dependent on the type of adsorbent used. In this study, the
isotherm curve of SWS-1L from Saha et al. [10] is used.
r K
uv = - app ÑP (2)
mv 1.6 ´ 10-12 Cq*
q* = 1/1.1
(10)
1.1
é ù
where μ is the viscosity of the vapor and Kapp denotes the per- ( -12
êë1 + 2 ´ 10 Cq* ) úû
meability of the porous bed, as obtained by the following pro- æ DH ö
cedures [16-18]: Cq* = Pexp çç ÷÷ . (11)
è RvTb ø
e b mv
K app = K d + Deq (3) The energy equation for the adsorption bed is
tP
3 2
e d
Kd = b p
(4) ¶Tb r
150 (1 - e b )
2
r CP + Ñ × ( r vC P,v uvTb )
¶t
-1
æ ö ¶q
ç ÷ = Ñ × ( kbÑTb ) + r b DH (12)
1 1 ¶t
Deq = ç + ÷ (5)
ç 3
T /M 48.5d pore Tb / M v ÷
ç 0.02628 b 2 v ÷ where ρCP denotes the total heat capacity, which can be ex-
è Ps W ø
pressed as follows:
d pore = 0.6166d p (6)
-0.4
t =e b . (7) r CP = e t ( r vCP,v ) + r b ( CP,b + qCP,a ) (13)

Here, σ = 2.641 Å and Ω = 2.236. e t = e b + (1 - e b ) e p . (14)

2390 S. W. Hong et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (5) (2016) 2387~2395

In Eq. (12) r b DH ¶q / dt is the source term, which denotes ¶Tc DT ¶T

kc = = kb b
the amount of heat adsorption and desorption according to a ¶R 1 / hCR ¶R
phase change of the vapor in the adsorption bed. ¶P
Energy equation for a fin-tube is as follows: =0 (24)
¶R
¶Tb
¶Tc R = Ro , 0 £ Z £ Z o : =0
r cCP,c = Ñ × ( kcÑTc ) . (15) ¶R
¶t ¶P
=0 for the isosteric phase
¶R
The energy equation for the heat transfer fluid is as follows: P = Peva or Pcon for the isobaric phase (25)
Rm £ R £ Ro , Z = 0 , Z o :
¶Tf ¶
r f CP,f +
¶t ¶Z
( rf C P,f uf Tf ) ¶Tc DT ¶T
kc = = kb b
¶ æ ¶Tf ¶Z 1 / hCR ¶Z
ö 4
= ç kf
¶Z è ¶Z
÷+
ø Di
(
h Tf ,R=Ri - Tf ) (16) ¶P
=0 (26)
¶Z
where ( 4 / Di ) h (Tf ,R=R - Tf ) is the source term, which de-
i

notes the amount of heat energy transferred from the heat where hCR denotes the contact resistance between the adsorp-
transfer fluid to the adsorption bed. The convection coefficient tion bed and the fin-tube surface, which is obtained by the
h is determined by the following correlation [19]: correlation designed by Zhu and Wang [20].

n = 0.3 for cooling phases 1

Nu = 0.023Re0.8 Pr n (17) = ( 0.00122T 2 - 0.1699T + 8.15 ) ´ 10-3 . (27)
n = 0.4 for heating phases . hCR

2.4 Initial and boundary conditions Boundary conditions for heat transfer fluid

Initial conditions
Tf = TL at Z = 0 (28)
Adsorption process
for the isosteric and isobaric cooling phases.
Rm < R < Ro , 0 < Z < Z o : Tinitial = Tdes
Pinitial = Pcon (18) Tf = TH at Z = 0 (29)
0 < r < rp , qinitial = qdes . (19)
for the isosteric and isobaric heating phases.
Desorption process
2.5 Performance index
Rm < R < Ro , 0 < Z < Z o : Tinitial = Tads
The widespread application of adsorption systems is limited
Pinitial = Peva (20)
by their relatively large size and low performance compared to
0 < r < rp , qinitial = qads . (21) other types of refrigeration systems. In order to examine the
effect of the switching time on the performance of the adsorp-
Boundary conditions tion chiller, the COP and SCP are used. These are defined by
the following equations:
The boundary conditions for an adsorbent particle are de-
termined via
Qeva
COP = (30)
*
Qin
r = rp : q = q (22)
Qeva
SCP = . (31)
M btcycle
where q can be obtained from Eq. (10).
The boundary conditions for the adsorption bed are deter-
mined by In these equations, Qeva denotes the cooling energy ob-
tained from the evaporator and Qin denotes the input heat
¶Tc energy supplied to the adsorption bed from the heating water
R = Ri , 0 £ Z £ Z o : h (Tc - Tf ) = kc (23)
¶R during the desorption process. Mb is the total mass of the solid
R = Rm , 0 £ Z £ Z o : sorbent and tcycle indicates the cycle time.
 S. W. Hong et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (5) (2016) 2387~2395
Fig. 2. Comparison of the temperature for the annular fin-tube type
adsorption chiller with the results of Niazmand et al. [9].
tads r r
Qeva = Lv ò r vuv ×dAdt
tdes ò
interface
tdes
Qin = ò r f CP,f (Tf,in - Tf,out ) uf Adt
tads
where Lv is approximated as follows:
Lv = Le (Teva ) - CP,b (Teva - Tcon ) .
2.6 Numerical scheme and validation
The described equations are numerically solved by a finite-
volume method using a forward differencing scheme for un-
steady terms. A two-dimensional staggered grid was used,
while a hybrid-scheme and a central difference scheme are
used for the convection and diffusion terms, respectively. The
resulting discretized equations were solved using a line-by-
line Gauss-Seidel iteration technique with a Tri-diagonal ma-
trix algorithm (TDMA) for every time step. The calculation is
conducted for two cycles, which is sufficient for the system to
reach a quasi-equilibrium state.
The grid dependence was thoroughly tested for 1200~4800
grids, and the test results indicated that 1600 grids were suffi-
cient to obtain grid-independent results. A time step of 0.05s
was used, and the computation time was approximately 8 h for
a typical model running on an Intel® Xeon® CPU E3-1275
v3 @ 3.50 GHz.
To validate the developed program, the result was com-
pared with that obtained by Niazmand et al. [9], as shown in
Fig. 2. The operating conditions of cooling water at 30°C,
heating water at 90°C, a condensing temperature of 30°C and
an evaporating temperature of 10°C were used with the com-
posite sorbent SWS-1L (mesoporous silica gel impregnated
with CaCl2) and a water pair. Fig. 2 shows the volume-
averaged temperature in the adsorption bed. The two results
are in good agreement, indicating that the numerical model
developed in the present study is valid.
2391
3. Results and discussion
3.1 Effect of the switching time on the system performance
To investigate the effect of the switching time on the system
performance, we examined the COP and SCP with the three
cases of no switching time (0 s), the optimal switching time
(STopt) and a double the optimal switching time (STopt×2). No
switching time is physically meaningless but is chosen as an
asymptotic case of an extremely short switching time. The
three parameters (fin pitch, fin height and heating tempera-
ture) selected were, reported to have significant effects on the
performance of a fin-tube type adsorption chiller [7, 10, 12,
13].
To examine the performance dependence on the switching
time, COP and SCP are calculated and the results are shown in
Figs. 3 through 5 for different fin pitches (2 mm ~ 6 mm), fin
heights (10 mm ~ 18 mm) and heating temperatures (70°C~
(32) 90°C). For the considered ranges of these parameters, COP
and SCP with no switching time (0 s) are overestimated by as
(33) much as 3.4% and 2.9%, respectively. In addition, COP and
SCP with twice the optimal switching time (STopt×2) were
found to be lower than those with the optimal switching time
(STopt) by as much as 3.8% and 5.2%, respectively. Although
the performance with no switching time is higher than that of
STopt, one should be aware that this result is unrealistic due to
(34)
the aforementioned assumption Eq. (7). A tendency for the
performance to decrease as the switching time increases was
found in previous research [8]. Figs. 3-5 also show whether an
increase or a decrease of each parameter enhances the COP or
SCP. It was found that the optimum values of the fin pitch (3
mm), fin height (12 mm) and heating temperature (85°C) lead
to the highest COP values. As fin pitch and fin height increase,
extra heat is supplied to the adsorption bed from heat transfer
fluid, which makes COP decreased. Meanwhile, too small fin
pitch and fin height has low adsorption capacity due to re-
duced amount of adsorbent, which leads to low COP. This is
the reason for optimal COP at fin pitch and fin height of
around 3 mm and 12 mm in Figs. 3 and 4. On the other hand,
the SCP increases monotonically with a decrease in the fin
pith and the fin height and an increase in the hot water tem-
perature. This is consistent with the findings of previous re-
searches [7, 10, 12, 13].
3.2 Estimation of the optimal switching time
To provide a guideline with which to determine the optimal
switching time, we examined various cases of fin pitches, fin
heights and heating temperatures. These results are shown in
Figs. 6 through 8. Note that the values of the optimal switch-
ing times are for the SWS 1L/water annular fin-tube type ad-
sorption chiller used in this study.
The optimal switching times for various fin pitches are
shown in Fig. 6. Due to the characteristics of SWS-1L, the
desorption process is faster than the adsorption process 1L
[10]; thus, the switching time for the isosteric heating phase is
2392 S. W. Hong et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (5) (2016) 2387~2395

(a) (b)

Fig. 3. Variations of (a) COP; (b) SCP as a function of the switching time for various fin pitches.

(a) (b)

Fig. 4. Variations of (a) COP; (b) SCP as a function of the switching time for various fin heights.

(a) (b)

Fig. 5. Variations of (a) COP; (b) SCP as a function of the switching time for various heating temperatures.
 S. W. Hong et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (5) (2016) 2387~2395
Fig. 6. Variations of the optimal switching time for various fin pitches
with fin height of 12 mm.
Fig. 7. Variations of the optimal switching time for various fin heights
with fin pitch of 3 mm.
Fig. 8. Variations of the optimal switching time for various heating
temperatures with fin pitch of 3 mm and fin height of 12 mm.
shorter than that of the isosteric cooling phase. As the fin pitch
increases, the optimal switching time also increases, as the
increased volume requires extra heat energy to heat up or cool
down the adsorption bed during the isosteric phase. Therefore,
more time is required to increase or decrease the bed pressure
to Pcon or Peva.
Fig. 7 shows the variations of the optimal switching times
for various fin heights. The fin height is related to the volume
of the adsorption bed, as is the fin pitch. Therefore, the opti-
mal switching time increases for the same reason associated
2393
with fin pitch. Variations of the optimal switching times with
the fin pitch and fin height lead to linear results.
The optimal switching times for various heating tempera-
tures are shown in Fig. 8. It was noted that the switching time
decreases as the heating temperature increases, which is in line
with the findings of Myat et al. [14]. With a constant volume
of the adsorption bed, the pressure response to the temperature
becomes faster when the heating temperature increases due to
the enhanced heat transfer capacity, which decreases the
switching time. Another interesting fact about the heating
temperature is that the switching time for the isosteric cooling
phase is also decreased as the heating temperature increases.
This occurs because the bed temperature gap between the very
end of the isobaric heating phase and the very start of the isos-
teric cooling phase is so large that the reducing rate of the bed
temperature from the heating water temperature to cooling
water temperature is very fast when a high heating tempera-
ture is used rather than a low heating temperature. Unlike the
fin pitch and fin height cases, the optimal switching time with
the heating temperature shows non-linear variations and be-
comes nearly saturated at a heating temperature of 90°C. This
indicates that when the heating temperature is too high, the
heat will be wasted to increase the bed temperature and pres-
sure.
4. Conclusion
This study examined the effect of the switching time on the
system performance of a SWS 1L/water fin-tube type adsorp-
tion chiller by a numerical method. Switching time is required
to operate the adsorption cooling cycle for the pre-cooling and
pre-heating processes, where the valve connecting the adsorp-
tion bed with the evaporator or condenser is closed until the
bed pressure reaches the pressure of the evaporator or the con-
denser. Complex transport phenomena in the adsorption bed
during isosteric processes were carefully examined. The re-
sults are given below.
(1) Three switching time cases (0 s, the optimal switching
time, and a double the optimal switching time) are considered
while changing the parameters of the fin pitch, fin height and
heating temperature. The COP and SCP decrease as the
switching time increases due to the reduced inter-particle mass
transfer capacity during the isosteric process. The COP and
SCP are overestimated by as much as 3.4% and 2.9%, respec-
tively, when no switching time is considered, and correspond-
ingly they decrease by as much as 3.8% and 5.2% when the
switching time is doubled compared to the optimal switching
time. However, the increased performance in the case of no
switching time or an extremely short switching time is unreal-
istic due to the assumption of a constant pressure which is
maintained in the evaporator and the condenser. As discussed
earlier, in real situations, the performance will decrease if the
switching time is not long enough and optimal switching
times are available for a high COP and SCP.
(2) The COP and SCP with the optimal switching time were
2394 S. W. Hong et al. / Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology 30 (5) (2016) 2387~2395

estimated for various fin pitches, fin heights and heating tem- STopt : Optimal switching time (s)
peratures. The optimum values of the fin pitch (3 mm), fin T : Temperature (K)
height (12 mm) and heating temperature (85°C) were found t : Time (s)
for COP. On the other hand, SCP increases with a decrease in Z : Axial distance (mm)
the fin pitch and fin height and with an increase in the heating Zo : Fin pitch (mm)
temperature.
(3) The switching time increases monotonically with an in-
Greek symbols
crease in the fin pitch and the fin height and decreases with an
increase in the heating temperature. α : Thermal diffusivity (m2/s)
(4) The optimal switching time for the isosteric heating δ : Fin thickness (mm)
phase is shorter than that of the isosteric cooling phase. σ : Collision diameter for Lennard-Jones potential (Å)
ε : Porosity (-)
ρ : Density (kg/m3)
Acknowledgment
μ : Dynamic viscosity (Pa s)
This work was supported by the Energy Efficiency & Re- ν : Kinematic viscosity (m2/s)
sources (No. 20122010100120) of the Korea Institute of En- τ : Tortuosity factor (m2/s)
ergy Technology Evaluation and Planning (KETEP) grant Ω : Collision integral
funded by the Korea Government Ministry of Knowledge
Economy.
Subscripts

Nomenclature------------------------------------------------------------------------ a : Adsorbent
ads : Adsorption process
A : Area (m2) b : Solid adsorbent
CP : Specific heat (J/kg K) c : Copper
COP : Coefficient of performance (-) cycle : Cycle
Deq : Equivalent diffusivity (m2/s) con : Condenser
Dso : Pre-exponent constant of surface diffusivity (m2/s) eva : Evaporator
Di : Inner tube diameter (mm) f : Fluid
dp : Particle diameter (mm) H : High
dpore : Equivalent pore diameter (mm) i : Inner
Ea : Activation energy of diffusion (J/mol) in : Inlet
h : Convection coefficient (W/m2 K) initial : Initial condition
1/hCR : Contact resistance (m2 K/W) L : Low
ΔH : Heat of adsorption (J/kg) m : Middle
Kapp : Apparent permeability of adsorbent bed (m2) o : Outer
Kd : Bed permeability (m2) out : Outlet
k : Thermal conductivity (W/m K) p : Particle
Le : Latent heat at evaporation temperature (J/kg) t : Total
Lo : Fin height (mm) v : Vapor
Lv : Latent heat of vaporization (J/kg)
Mb : Mass of adsorbent (kg)
Mv : Molar mass of vapor (kg/mol)
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Sang Woo Hong received his B.S.
degree in Mechanical Engineering from
Sejong University, Seoul, Korea in 2014.
He is currently in M.S. course in Sejong
University. His research interests include
thermal driven system such as adsorp-
tion chiller or thermal storage system
using heat and mass transfer phenomena.
Oh Kyung Kwon received his Ph.D.
degree in 2000 from Pukyong National
University, Republic of Korea, majoring
in refrigeration and air conditioning
engineering. His research interests include
thermal driven system such as absorp-
tion chiller and adsorption chiller, heat
and mass transfer enhancement of heat
exchanger, and heat pump system using solar heat energy and
geothermal energy.
Jae Dong Chung is a Professor in
Mechanical Engineering, Sejong Univer-
sity. He received Ph.D. from Seoul
National University in 1996. His inter-
ests include thermal energy storage &
transport, low temperature cooling such
as desiccant and adsorption cooling,
nano-scale heat transfer, etc..