A solar-powered ice-maker with the solid adsorption pair of activated carbon and methanol

Abstract

This paper presents the description and operation of a solar-powered ice-maker with the solid adsorption pair of activated carbon and methanol. A domestic type of charcoal was chosen as the adsorbent, and a simple flat-plate collector with an exposed area of 0.92 m2 was employed to produce ice of about 4–5 kg d−1 at an evaporator temperature of about −6°C. The above system could achieve solar refrigeration COP of about 0·1–0·12. With the description of the idealized refrigerating system, the influences of evaporating temperature, adsorbing temperature and condensing temperature on the COP were also analysed. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.