Simulation of thermal compression with activated carbon-ethanol pair.

Adsorption refrigeration systems use thermal compression to perform a heat pump cycle. The pressure of refrigerant is raised by desorption process, and the refrigerant is sent to condenser, where the refrigerant is liquified at higher pressure and temperature than those in evaporator. Although the thermal compression process is essential to the performance of adsorption refrigeration systems and to the design optimization of an adsorber, the process is not modeled accurately in many of conventional adsorption refrigerator models. Therefore, in this study, a detailed simulation model of thermal compression process was built and the influence of adsorber design on the process was investigated. The simulation model was worthy not only for the analysis of adsorption refrigeration system but also for other applications of thermal compression such as thermal pumping and heat engine cycles.