Numerical study of the effects of aluminum particle additives in adsorbent bed on the performance of adsorption refrigeration systems

In this study, the effects of aluminum particle additives in porous beds on the adsorption chillers performance have been investigated. For this purpose, an adsorbent bed with rectangular finned flat-tube heat exchanger by employing a three-dimensional control volume scheme is simulated. Furthermore, silica gel SWS-1L-water has been used as a working pair. The effects of aluminum particle additives on the system performance is investigated in the presence and absence of the fins. The results showed that the use of aluminum particles increases the thermal conductivity coefficient of the bed and, consequently, leads to reduction and increment of the cycle time and the specific cooling power, respectively, while it decreases the coefficient of performance. Moreover, the results indicated that employing the aluminum particles in the presence of fins has led to a greater increase in the specific cooling power which this effect is more pronounced in larger bed dimensions, while the coefficient of performance reduction is lower in the absence of fins.