This thesis describes an experimental study on small-scale sorption cooler.
First, optimal pair of adsorbent and refrigerant was investigated experimentally. Adsorbent with refrigerant was heated in a closed vessel for a given time period to generate the pressure and temperature correlation. With the pressure data among several pairs the optimal pair was determined as silica gel type A (adsorbent) and acetone (refrigerant). Second, a small-scale sorption cooler was designed and fabricated. The focus of the design was to reduce the cycle time of the sorption cooler. According to the preliminary experimental results, inefficient cooling of the adsorber degraded the performance of the cooler. Low temperature of -8℃ was generated at the initial stage of operation, but continuous cooling operation was not achieved. Through this research, it was concluded that efficient cooling of the adsorber is a crucial step for reducing the cycle time and the system volume such as the heat exchanger and the connection part between the heat exchanger and the adsorbers must be minimized in small-scale sorption coolers.
