Volume 42: Energy Transitions toward Carbon Neutrality: Part V

Heating and Cooling Performance of Adsorber Bed Powered by Solar Lamps Ibrahim Joseph Mwasubila, Cuthbert Z M Kimambo, Joseph H Kihedu, Ole J Nydal

Abstract

Adsorber bed is a source of driving power in the adsorption refrigeration system. Adsorber bed affects the performance of the system due to its role of initiating the refrigeration process through desorption. This paper investigates the adsorber bed’s cooling and heating performance behaviors under varying experimental conditions. Specifically, the effect of opening or closing the top and bottom part of the adsorber bed. The adsorber bed system was heated to 120 °C and then cooled to 30 °C. The average air velocity used in the experiment was 0.5 m/s to reflect the real operating environment. The short time taken to heat the system was 1362 seconds while both the top and bottom parts of the adsorber bed were closed, while 5796 seconds was the shortest time to cool the system. The average ambient temperature when experiments were carried out was 21 °C. Different temperature values were observed in the adsorber bed box during the experimental process.

Keywords adsorption refrigeration, adsorber bed, sorption and desorption, solar lamps, solar refrigeration