An on demand chilling system: Activated carbon based desorptive cooling

JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION

卷:176

Article

Arena, Noemi¹  Alpay, Esat²  Kirkby, Norman³  Lee, Jacquetta¹  Clift, Roland¹ 

[1] Univ Surrey, Ctr Environm & Sustainabil, Guildford, Surrey, England

[2] Univ Surrey, Dept Chem & Proc Engn, Guildford, Surrey, England

[3] Univ Manchester, Fac Biol Med & Hlth, Div Mol & Clin Canc Sci, Manchester, Lancs, England

关键词: Desorption;    Heat transfer;    Auto-refrigeration;    Activated carbon;    Expanded natural graphite;   

DOI  :  10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.025

来源: Elsevier

【 摘 要 】

Every year in Europe refrigerant gases with a greenhouse-warming equivalent of more than 30 Mt CO2 are emitted from retail refrigerators. Furthermore, the effective efficiency of such refrigerators is far below that achievable under ideal (e.g. optimal-load; minimum access) operation. In this work the design of an alternative on-demand cooling unit is presented. The unit is based on the cooling effect provided by desorption of carbon dioxide previously adsorbed onto a bed of graphite-bonded activated carbon: in this paper, a case study of a self-chilling beverage can is used to demonstrate the technology. The high compaction of the activated carbon, and the presence of graphite, enhances the heat transfer properties of the adsorbent, thus enhancing the efficiency of cooling. Furthermore, potential exists for the use of activated carbon and CO2 from waste sources. This paper provides an overview of the design basis and environmental advantages of the unit, and experimental and simulation studies on the thermal dynamics of the cooling process. Particular attention is given to the effective thermal conductivity of the activated carbon bed. The results indicate that adequate on-demand cooling can be achieved within a portable unit. However, scope exists for enhancing the heat transfer within the cooling chamber through design and bed composition alterations. Recommendations for improved unit design are presented. (C) 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

【 授权许可】

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