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In the present paper design, realization and testing of a novel small scale adsorption refrigerator prototype based on activated carbon/ethanol working pair is described. Firstly, experimental activity has been carried out for identification of the best performing activated carbon available on the market, through the evaluation of the achievable thermodynamic performance both under air conditioning and refrigeration conditions. Once identified the best performing activated carbon, the design of the adsorber was developed by experimental dynamic performance analysis, carried out by means of the Gravimetric-Large Temperature Jump (G-LTJ) apparatus available at CNR ITAE lab. Finally, the whole 0.5 kW refrigerator prototype was designed and built. First experimental results both under reference air conditioning and refrigeration cycles have been reported, to check the achievable performance. High Specific Cooling Powers (SCPs), 95 W/kg and 50 W/kg, for air conditioning and refrigeration respectively, were obtained, while the COP ranged between 0.09 and 0.11, thus showing an improvement of the current state of the art. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
In the present work, an experimental study on a lab-scale adsorption refrigerator, based on activated carbon/ethanol working pair is reported. An extensive testing campaign has been carried out at the CNR ITAE laboratory, with multiple aims. First, the performance has been evaluated in terms of both COP and Specific Cooling Power (SCP), under different boundary conditions, including both air conditioning and refrigeration applications. Attractive SCPs, up to 180 W/kg and 70 W/kg for air conditioning and refrigeration, respectively, were measured. Under the same conditions, COP between 0.17 and 0.08 were obtained. In addition, different management strategies, namely, heat recovery between adsorbers and re-allocation of phase durations, were evaluated to identify their influence on the system. Both strategies confirmed the possibility of increasing COP and SCP up to 40% and 25%, respectively. Moreover, a design analysis based on the experimental results has been carried out, to suggest possible improvements of the system. The obtained results demonstrated the possibility of employing a non-toxic refrigerant like ethanol reaching performance comparable with other harmful refrigerants like ammonia and methanol. (C) 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Methanol, and more recently ethanol, have been deeply employed as adsorbate phase (refrigerant) in adsorption chiller and heat pump applications (e.g. refrigerator adsorption ice maker). The use of anhydrous alcohols however can cause several problems related to the corrosiveness of such molecules towards light alloys (from titanium to aluminium). The problem was already highlighted in bio-fuel technology where bio-ethanol was considered as a promise alternative to fossil hydrocarbons. Water content was observed as one of the main factors influencing corrosion rate. In the present works several accelerated corrosion tests on 6061 Aluminium alloy have been carried out in autoclave in a temperature range from 110 to 135 degrees C with different ethanol to aluminium mass ratio. Highly exothermic reactions related to aluminium oxidation, coupled to hydrogen evolution, have been recorded. The main drawback of hydrogen evolution is the formation of a stagnant layer over the heat exchangers surface, which can limit the ethanol vapour diffusion, thus reducing adsorption condensation rate. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The corrosion behaviour of WE43 magnesium alloys using the mini cell system was studied. Voltammetry and impedance spectroscopy were applied to study on the one hand the effect of microstructure of the working electrode and on the other hand the effect of proteins in the electrolyte. Two types of alloy samples were produced (i) by permanent mould casting and (ii) by gas atomization followed by extrusion. The results showed that the microstructure was strongly influenced by the production process. The extruded samples showed an improved homogeneity of phase distribution compared with cast samples as it was aimed for. Due to increased homogeneity it was expected to find higher corrosion resistance. However, the electrochemical results are contradictory and suggest an additional phase in the extruded microstructure. Using energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX) the secondary magnesium rare earths (RE) phase of extruded samples showed differing composition than of cast samples as well as additional oxide phases. After the samples were electrochemically investigated in cell medium with and without fetal calf serum (FCS), an impact of FCS was detected in voltammetry due to the length of the polarisation curve. As the tip of the mini cell in contact with the working electrode is small, developing gases tend to spread on the working electrode and break the contact of liquid to the counter electrode; which results in disrupting the current flow. This effect was more pronounced when rising the voltage and was found reduced when using electrolytes with FCS. Impedance spectra were slightly deformed by FCS, seen as a kinetic effect but not as a basic differing corrosion reaction. The insight into the effects of FCS was provided by the mini cell system as this system enables to collect entire series of measurements. In contrast of two single measurements, those series reflected the slight difference caused by FCS. The focus of the electrochemical corrosion study was set on the first half hour of immersion.