Experimental Results and Analysis for Adsorption Ice-Making System with Consolidated Adsorbent

An adsorption ice-making machine has been built with a single consolidated adsorber and activated carbon-methanol pair. A consolidated adsorbent block made of activated carbon mixed with a binder with good heat transfer properties has been developed and implemented in the adsorber. The design is focused on the adsorber consisting of copper finned tubes and carbon blocks. Experimental tests have been performed suitable for ice making. This paper describes the experimental results of such an ice-maker operating with an intermittent cycle and a cycle time of 35 minutes. The thermal conditions used to test the cycle are: 115°C heat source, 22°C heat sink, the evaporator temperature corresponding to the chilled ethylene glycol temperature is –7°C. At this evaporating pressure, the mass transfer resistance controls the adsorption process. Test results show that the COP reaches 0.07 whereas the SCP (specific cooling power) is 11 W kg^–1 activated carbon. A two-bed adsorptive prototype ice-making machine operating with a heat and mass recovery cycle has also been made for onboard adsorption refrigeration in fishing boats. Good performances have been achieved due to improved mass transfer and the new ice maker can produce 18–20 kg h^–1 of flake ice at mean temperature of –7°C.