Renewable Energy 28 (2003) 831842 www.elsevier.

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A new conception of an adsorptive solarpowered ice maker

A. Boubakri
Institut Universitaire de Technologie, Rue de la Raperie, Tremblay 93290, France Received 26 June 2001; accepted 5 March 2002

Abstract An experimental data base obtained from specic tests carried out on an adsorptive solarpowered ice maker using methanol/carbon pair and equipped with the collectorcondenser technology is analysed and the part of the evaporator in the condensation of the methanol vapour during the desorption phase is highlighted. Consequently, a new adsorptive solar-powered ice maker equipped with a single heat exchanger playing alternatively the role of condenser and evaporator is conceived. When working as a condenser, this heat exchanger is simply cooled by natural convection by means of ns. The estimated heat transfer area of the ns needed to reach the performance of the tested machine (COPs 12%) is 1.3 m2. This new conception of the machine leads to a 30 kg lightening of the metallic mass and enables to equip the collector with airing shutters, in order to improve its nocturnal cooling, which is the limiting factor of the collectorcondenser technology. A notable reduction of the manufacturing cost and more than 10% improvement of performance are expected. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Adsorption; Activated carbon; Solar cooling

1. Introduction It has been shown for a long time that adsorption can be used for refrigeration[1,2]. The development of solar refrigeration systems using basic solid adsorption cycle emerged in the late 1970s after the pioneering work of Tchernev [3]. The interest
Corresponding author. Tel.: +33-1-4551-1243; fax: +33-1-4861-3817. E-mail address: boubakri@iut-tremblay.univ-paris8.fr (A. Boubakri).

0960-1481/03/$ - see front matter. 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. PII: S 0 9 6 0 - 1 4 8 1 ( 0 2 ) 0 0 0 3 8 - 1

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for adsorption refrigeration or heat pumping since 1970s is mainly due to the fact that such systems are environmentally friendly and that they can produce cooling by using low waste heat source (such as industrial waste energy) as driving force. Different studies and experiments were conducted to dene suitable adsorbent adsorbate pairs for various applications and to quantify the cooling COP with respect to the operating temperatures [416]. These works have shown several limits of the systems. The most important one was the low heat transfer coefcient in the adsorbent bed, which has a real inuence on the thermodynamic efciency of the system. Later on, many efforts have been made to improve heat transfer in adsorbent bed and regenerative heat transfer between beds in the case of a continuous adsorption refrigeration in order to reduce size and cost and to increase COP. The different ways investigated or in the process of examination principally concern heat recovery between beds [17], consolidated adsorbent [1820], thermal wave (or thermal regeneration) cycles [2123]. Studies on the use of heat pipes in this eld have also carried out and showed that this device notably improves heat transfer in bed [24,25]. Among the adsorptive solar cooling systems with day/night cycle, there are the refrigerator type and the ice maker type. In both cases the system is mainly composed of a collector packed with adsorbent, a condenser and an evaporator. In the case of the refrigerator, a uid, generally water, is frozen by the system in the water tank which is located in an enclosure expected to be kept at low temperature. The frozen uid must be preserved at its most. Consequently, the condenser must be located at the exterior of the enclosure and the use of a valve between the collector and the evaporator which is in contact with the water tank is necessary to prevent heat release in the evaporator. In the case of the ice maker, the produced ice in the water tank is removed every morning to be used in another place. Then no valve is needed and it does not matter if condensation occurs in the evaporator or anywhere else on condition that all the condensed liquid returns to the evaporator before the evaporation phase starts. That is the reason why we suggest in the present work a new conception of adsorptive solar-powered ice maker equipped with a single heat exchanger playing alternatively the role of condenser and evaporator. This conception is based on the theoretical and experimental results obtained from tests carried out on the three commercial adsorptive solar-powered ice makers using activated carbon/methanol pair [2628].

2. Description of adsorptive solar-powered ice makers The experimented units are schematically shown in Fig. 1 and are mainly composed of a collectorcondenser connected by a exible tube with an evaporator: The collectorcondenser (1 m2, 90 mm thick) is made of two identical stainless steel shells. A grid holds 20 kg of activated carbon (AC) in the upper shell, which plays the role of solar collector. It is covered by Maxsorb selective surface, single glass, at plate collector and it is 20 tilted. Internal ns improve heat transfer between the upper face and the AC. The rear shell, with external ns (7.5

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Fig. 1. Schematic of adsorptive solar-powered ice maker equipped with the collectorcondenser technology.

m2), plays the role of air-cooled condenser. The packaged component, collector condenser (CC), represents the main new feature of these units. The evaporator (0.3 m2) is made of steel, being dipped in a highly insulated, 5.2 l, ice making tank.

3. Adsorptive cycle 3.1. Solid adsorption principle Adsorption is the xation of gas molecules on the surface of a solid, according to van der Waals interaction. Adsorption is reversible and exothermic. It induces neither changes of solid volume nor does it involve any chemical reaction [29]. In the case of the pure vapour, the equilibrium between the adsorbed and the gaseous phases is divariant: among the most common state variables, adsorbed mass (m), pressure (P), temperature (T); two of them dene the state of the system, e.g. m m(T,P). 3.2. Adsorptive refrigeration cycle principle The adsorptive cycle is intermittent. The adsorber containing the adsorbent is alternatively connected with a condenser and with an evaporator. The cycle is a succession of two periods: (a) a period of heatingdesorptioncondensation (ABC) at high pressure, (b) a period of coolingadsorptionevaporation (CDA) at low

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Fig. 2. Ideal adsorptive cycle in the Clapeyron diagram.

pressure. High and low pressures are the saturation pressures of the adsorbate at the temperature of the condenser and the evaporator, respectively. For solar adsorptive cycle, the rst period consists of regeneration of the adsorbent by solar energy when the adsorbate is condensed and the second period occurs nightly, consisting of adsorption process when the evaporation of the adsorbate takes place. Fig. 2 shows an ideal cycle in the Clapeyron diagram (lnPversus 1 / T). This cycle includes four thermodynamic steps: 1. 2. 3. 4. isosteric (constant concentration) heating; isobaric desorption; isosteric cooling; isobaric adsorption.

The real cycle of an ice maker is different from the ideal cycle [10], mainly because there is no need for a valve between the collector and the exchangers, and the condensation may occur (in the evaporator or in the condenser) as soon as the adsorbent temperature increases. Moreover, the condenser temperature changes because of the ambient temperature uctuation. Therefore the system may not follow isosteric or isobaric path. Only the evaporation pressure is likely to be constant when water freezes.

4. Experimental study In this study, the position of the evaporator in the vapour condensation is evaluated, in the case of an adsorptive ice-maker equipped with the collectorcondenser ` technology. The heating of the condenser vis-a-vis the ambient temperature

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(Tcond Tamb) is taken as a criterion of evaluation with regard to the importance of the condensation on the condenser heating. The evaluation is carried out using an experimental data base obtained from four specic tests performed in actual conditions on a commercial adsorptive solar-powered ice maker using activated carbon/methanol pair (Fig. 1). The four specic tests are as follows. Test 1: Operation without condensation and with the connecting valve located between the evaporator and the condenser closed. Test 2: Operation with condensation and with the connecting valve located between the evaporator and the condenser closed. Test 3: Operation with the evaporator dipped into a water+ice mixture and with the connecting valve located between the evaporator and the condenser opened. Test 4: Operation with the evaporator communicating with the ambient and with the connecting valve located between the evaporator and the condenser opened. ` Fig. 3 shows the heating of the condenser vis-a-vis the ambient temperature versus the adsorbent temperature in test 1. The condenser is only heated by conduction and by radiation. It is notable that its heating is almost linear. ` Fig. 4 shows the heating of the condenser vis-a-vis the ambient temperature versus the adsorbent temperature in the case of test 2. The condensation almost occurs in the condenser which is heated, in addition to conduction and radiation, by the latent

Fig. 3. test 1.

` Heating of the condenser vis-a-vis the ambient temperature versus the adsorbent temperature in

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Fig. 4. test 2.

` Heating of the condenser vis-a-vis the ambient temperature versus the adsorbent temperature in

heat of condensation. In comparison with Fig. 3, we observe, as expected, that under the condensation effect, which takes place when the carbon temperature exceeds 65 C, the heating of the condenser increases rapidly, reaches a maximum with the utmost condensation and decreases with it. At the end of condensation, it can be compared with the state of test 1. In tests 1 and 2, the collectorcondenser is thoroughly disconnected from the evaporator which has no effect on the condenser behaviour. Therefore, we will refer to curves 1 and 2 (reference curves) to evaluate the position of the evaporator in the vapour condensation when it is connected to the collectorcondenser in tests 3 and 4. ` Fig. 5 shows the heating of the condenser vis-a-vis the ambient temperature versus the adsorbent temperature in test 3. Experimentation has been repeated several times. This is why many points are represented. Fig. 6 shows the curves corresponding to ` tests 1, 2 and 3. It appears that the heating of the condenser vis-a-vis the ambient temperature in the case of test 3 is comparable with that of test 1. This means that condensation occurs outside the condenser. It takes place in the coldest area of the system, which in this case is the evaporator. The heat released by condensation melts the ice of the mixture which keeps the evaporator at low temperature during the whole condensation phase. At the end of the condensation, we note that the three curves join up. The days investigated according to test 4 are 24th and 29th of April and 3rd and 6th of July. In addition to reference curves, Fig. 7 shows the curves corresponding

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Fig. 5. test 3.

` Heating of the condenser vis-a-vis the ambient temperature versus the adsorbent temperature in

` to those days. The curves represent the heating of the condenser vis-a-vis the ambient temperature versus the adsorbent temperature. The mean ambient temperature is 21 C for the April days and 29 C for the July days. We note, by referring to reference curves, that for the April days during which meteorological conditions are favourable, condensation mainly occurs in the evaporator. On the other hand, during the July days, the evaporator initially participates in the condensation of the vapour. The conditions of heat exchange between the ambient and the evaporator are unfavourable. Therefore condensation is gradually transferred in the condenser where it takes place until the end of the condensation phase. We note that the mildness of the ambient temperature of the April days balances the inadequacy of the evaporator heat transfer area. That is not the case during the July days. Lastly, Fig. 8 shows how the condenser reacts when closing and opening the valve located between the condenser and the evaporator still dipped in a water+ice mixture. Before closing the valve, the evaporator condenses the vapour because of its low temperature. Then the condenser heats as if it were working in test 3 (path AB). After closing the valve (point B), and as expected, condensation takes place in the condenser, the temperature of which increases due to the heat of condensation (path BC). But as soon as the valve is opened (point C), the condenser temperature decreases rapidly (path CD). It means that condensation occurs then in the evaporator, which is the coldest area of the system. The above analysis shows that the evaporator participates in the vapour conden-

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Fig. 6. Comparison between the curves obtained with regard to test 1 ( ), test 2 () and test 3 ( ).

sation although it has neither been dimensioned nor conceived for that purpose. It appears then that it is possible to conceive an adsorptive ice maker equipped with a single heat exchanger playing alternatively the role of a condenser and an evaporator. When working as a condenser, this compound may be cooled simply by natural convection [13] through a moderate heat transfer area. The suppression of the condenser from the rear of the collector also enables us to equip the collector with airing shutters, in order to improve its nocturnal cooling, which is the limiting factor of the collectorcondenser technology [28].

5. Description of the proposed machine The machine that we propose is represented in Fig. 9. Compared to the tested one, this one differs mainly by the following points: The activated carbon is divided into separated cells made of sheet steel perforated to facilitate the circulation of the vapour. The collector containing the activated carbon is placed under a glazing in a case equipped with airing shutters which allow air to circulate around the collector during the cooling phase, and with an anti-dust lter. The case also isolates thermally the back and the sides of the collector during the heating phase. The upper part of the evaporator is removed from the insulator and is equipped

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` Fig. 7. Heating of the condenser vis-a-vis the ambient temperature versus the adsorbent temperature in test 4. Four days are investigated: () April 24th, ( ) April 29th, ( ) July 3rd and ( ) July 6th.

with ns to work as an air-cooled condenser. That represents the main new feature of the machine. A preliminary calculation shows that a heat transfer area between the evaporator and the ambient of about 1.3 m2 is enough to reach the COP (ratio of the net heat extracted to produce the ice to the total solar radiation incident on the collector during the considered day) of the tested machines (COPs 12%). The height of the water tank is increased to take into account the height of the ns and the space needed between the ns and insulator. In order to make ulterior comparison between the tested machine equipped with the collectorcondenser technology and the proposed one, the following parameters remain unchanged: collector surface (1 m2), amount of the activated carbon (20 kg), volume of the introduced water (5.2 l), heat transfer area between the evaporator and water (0.3 m2), volume of introduced adsorbate (7 l) and lastly thickness of the evaporator insulator (0.1 m). The modications of the machine lead to a lightening of the metal mass of the collector of 36 kg whereas the mass of the evaporator is increased only by 6 kg. The manufacturing cost and the performance of the machine can thus be signicantly improved. The management of the machine remains simple and consists of withdrawing the water tank after removal of ice and in keeping the evaporator opened on the ambient. At the end of condensation (around 3 p.m.), the water tank is lled with water,

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Fig. 8. Behaviour of the condenser when closing and opening the valve located between the condenser and the evaporator still dipped in a water+ice mixture.

Fig. 9. Schematic of the proposed adsorptive solar-powered ice maker: (a) conguration during the condensation phase and (b) conguration during the evaporation phase.

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and the evaporator is dipped inside until both insulators touch, then the shutters are opened. According to the mathematical model presented in a previous work [28], a simulation of this new machine is being performed. It will enable us to estimate its performances and to compare it with the collectorcondenser technology. This will be the subject of a forthcoming study.

6. Conclusions The measurements obtained from the specic tests carried out on an adsorptive solar-powered ice maker using methanol/carbon pair and equipped with the collectorcondenser technology, have been analysed and the part of the evaporator in the condensation of the methanol vapour during the desorption phase highlighted. This part of the evaporator in the condensation of the vapour increases in proportion with the heat exchange between the evaporator and the ambient. On the basis of this result, and taking into account the intermittence of the cycle on the one hand, and the characteristics of the machine (ice maker) on the other hand, a heat exchanger is conceived and dimensioned to play alternatively the role of a condenser and of an evaporator. When working as a condenser, this heat exchanger is simply cooled by natural convection by means of ns. That represents the main new feature of the machine. The estimated area of ns needed to reach the performance of the tested machine (COPs 12% ) is 1.3 m2. The circulation of the vapour inside the collector has also been ameliorated by distribution of the activated carbon in separated cells made of perforated sheet steel. The ns increase the mass of the evaporator of about 6 kg whereas the removal of the condenser reduces the metal mass of the collector of 36 kg. A direct and positive effect on the manufacturing cost of the machine and on its reliability is expected. The removal of the condenser from the rear of the collector also enables us to equip this collector with airing shutters to improve its night cooling, which is the most limiting factor for the machines equipped with collectorcondenser technology. More than a 10% improvement of performance is expected.

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