Experimental studies on the impact of adsorbent particle size on the adsorption chiller performance �tudes expérimentales sur l'impact de la taille des particules d'adsorbant sur les performances d'un refroidisseur à adsorption

Manila, RM and Srinivasan, K and Dutta, P (2024) Experimental studies on the impact of adsorbent particle size on the adsorption chiller performance �tudes expérimentales sur l'impact de la taille des particules d'adsorbant sur les performances d'un refroidisseur à adsorption. In: International Journal of Refrigeration, 164 . pp. 154-166.

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Abstract

Adsorption chiller dynamics and its effect on the performance are greatly influenced by the adsorbent particle size because they govern both the micro (intra-particle) and macro (inter-particle) heat and mass transfer resistances within the adsorber bed. The net effect of adsorbent particle size and shape on the overall cooling system performance is addressed here. Initial CFD analysis of columnar adsorber bed with silica gel + water as the working pair, assuming uniform spherical adsorbent, showed increased uptake capacity with smaller sized (0.23 mm radius) particles over bigger sized (0.8 mm radius) ones despite smaller vapor penetration depth of the former. Subsequently, the effect of adsorbent particle size and shape on the overall cooling system performance is investigated experimentally in a single-stage one-bed mode for RD 2060 (0.8 mm radius) and RD 3070 (0.23 mm radius) silica gel specimens. Though the smaller size of RD 3070 is favourable for the adsorption kinetics at the particle level, its non-spherical shape and highly non-uniform size distribution resulted in significantly lower permeability and thermal diffusivity of the packed adsorber bed, thus hindering the cyclic steady state throughput. For the same operating conditions, RD 2060 and RD 3070 yield a cooling capacity (CC) of 107 W and 22 W, respectively. Further, the coefficient of performance (COP) drops by 73 in the case of RD 3070. The present study indicates that the adsorber bed design must consider both the adsorbent size and shape, in addition to other system operational parameters to enhance performance indicators. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd and IIR

Item Type:	Journal Article
Publication:	International Journal of Refrigeration
Publisher:	Elsevier Ltd
Additional Information:	The copyright for this article belongs to Elsevier Ltd
Keywords:	Adsorption; Computational fluid dynamics; Cooling; Cooling systems; Heat resistance; Mass transfer; Particle size analysis; Silica gel; Thermoelectric equipment, Adsorbent particle; Adsorbers; Adsorption cooling; Coefficient of Performance; Cooling Capacity; Particles sizes; Performance; Silica-gel water; Silicum gel + water adsorption cooling; Water adsorption, Particle size
Department/Centre:	Division of Interdisciplinary Sciences > Interdisciplinary Centre for Energy Research Division of Mechanical Sciences > Mechanical Engineering
Date Deposited:	28 Jul 2024 16:45
Last Modified:	28 Jul 2024 16:45
URI:	http://eprints.iisc.ac.in/id/eprint/85167

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