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Optimal design study of cylindrical finned reactor for solar adsorption cooling
machine working with activated carbon–ammonia pair

Article  in  Applied Thermal Engineering · November 2006

DOI: 10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2006.01.021

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Ahmed Al Mers Abdelaziz MIMET

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 ARTICLE IN PRESS

Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2006) xxx–xxx

www.elsevier.com/locate/apthermeng

Optimal design study of cylindrical finned reactor for solar adsorption

cooling machine working with activated carbon–ammonia pair
A. Al Mers a, A. Azzabakh b, A. Mimet b,*
, H. El Kalkha b

a
Energetic and Fluid Mechanics Laboratory, Moulay Ismail University, Ecole Nationale Supérieure d’Art et Métiers (ENSAM-MEKNES)
P.O. Box 4024, Meknès, Morocco
b
Energetic Fluid Mechanics and Materials Sciences Laboratory, Abdelmalek Essâadi University, Faculty of Sciences,
P.O. Box 2121, B.P. 2121 Mhannech II, Tetouan 93002, Morocco

Received 9 November 2004; accepted 28 January 2006

Abstract

This paper presents a model describing the heat and mass transfer in cylindrical finned reactor of solar adsorption refrigerator. Giving
the meteorological data as boundary conditions on the reactor; the model computes the solar coefficient of performance (COPs). The
validity of the model has been tested by using experimental results.
An analysis of the sensitivity of the COPs versus the geometrical parameters of the reactor (radius of the reactor, fins thickness and
fins number) is mad. Then the model is applied to optimize the solar reactor. The COPs is used as an optimization criterion. The geo-
metrical parameters where the COPs of the machine reach a maximum have been calculated.
 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Solar refrigeration; Adsorption; Thermodynamic optimization; Activated carbon; Ammonia; Heat and mass transfer

1. Introduction
Solid adsorption cooling machines constitute very
attractive solutions using heat source of industrial heat
waste at medium temperature and to use renewable energy
source such as solar energy [1–3]. The adsorption cooling
machine consists essentially of an evaporator, a condenser
and a reactor containing a solid adsorbent. The develop-
ment of the technology of adsorption cooling machines
can be carried out by experimental studies and by mathe-
matical modelization [4]. This last method allows to save
time and money because it is more supple to use for simu-
late the variation of different parameters.
This article focuses on performances analysis and opti-
mization of solar reactor of adsorption cooling machine
working with activated carbon–ammonia pair. The study
*
Corresponding author. Tel.: +212 39 97 24 23; fax: +212 39 99 45 00.
E-mail address: mimet@fst.ac.ma (A. Mimet).
is limited to the case of cycle with simple effect, when the
machine consists essentially of an evaporator, a condenser
and a solar reactor containing a reactive medium. Other
cycles with height performance has been studies by several
authors [5] such as cycles with vapour recovery process
(also called mass recovery process) [5,6] and cycles with
heat recovery process [7,8]. The application of these
advanced adsorption cycles concern mainly the system
using a continuous heat source, the application in the field
of solar energy is difficult, because of the intermittent char-
acter of solar energy when the machine necessitates other
components, the size and the economic cost become
prohibitive.
Cycles with simple effect is more easy to use in the field
of solar energy. But suffer from low power density because
of poor heat transfer through the adsorbent bed, the ther-
mal flux from the absorbent surface of the collector is lim-
ited by two resistances: The first is the contact thermal
resistance at the interface between the metal wall and the
adsorbent (1/hw), the second into the adsorbent, is depen-

1359-4311/$ - see front matter  2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2006.01.021
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2 A.A Mers et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2006) xxx–xxx

Nomenclature

AL parameter of Wilson model t time

ap absorption coefficient u internal energy
COPs solar coefficient of performance V control volume
c specific heat ~
v gas velocity
ef fin thickness a volume fraction of the adsorbed phase
G global solar irradiance (w/m2), c activity coefficient of the vapour phase
Hcv convection heat transfer coefficient between the D Laplacian
collector and the ambiance ~
r gradient operator
hw coefficient of heat transfer at the interface be- DHads heat of sorption
tween the metal and the solid bed e porosity of the activated carbon
hg enthalpy of the gas q density
ha enthalpy of the adsorbate ke equivalent thermal conductivity of the solid bed
ma max maximal adsorbed mass km conductivity of metal
~_
m mass flow l emissivity of the absorbent surface
Nf number of fins r Stefan–Boltzman constant
P pressure uv fugacity coefficients of the vapour phase
PS pressure of saturation
R2 tube radius Subscripts
r radius a adsorbed phase
S contour surface g gas
T temperature s solid
Tam ambient temperature m metal

dent on the equivalent thermal conductivity of the solid
bed (ke).
These limitations of heat transfer engender an important
gradient of temperature in the bed and a large difference of
temperature between the metal wall and the adsorbent bed,
because the heat flux diffuse badly inside the bed, it results
the creasing of the heat losses of the reactor towards the
ambience, that are directly linked to wall temperature
(the difference of temperature between the wall and the
ambiance becomes important). Then, the improvement of
the machine performances is conditioned by the quality
of heat transfer in the reactor. To achieve this goal two
ways can be adopted:
• Improvement of the properties of heat transfer of the
solid adsorbent, by using for example a consolidated
composite adsorbents [9], these adsorbents are obtained
from the powders of the solid adsorbent mixed with
other materials which have a large thermal conductivity
[10,11].
• Improvement of the contact surface between the exter-
nal metallic wall of the reactor and the solid adsorbent
by using internal fins [12]. This way can be carried out
from an analysis resulting from the mathematical mod-
elization of the process and an optimization based on
the optimal control techniques.
This last solution is adopted in this work. We analyse
the optimization problem of a cylindrical finned reactor
according to its geometrical configuration. This analysis
is carried out by taking into account the thermals con-
straints related to the system and the constraints related
to the use of the solar energy.
The solar reactor studied in this work is represented in
Fig. 1; it is constituted of a transparent cover, a lateral
and rear insulation and a steel adsorber containing the acti-
vated carbon. The adsorber is constituted of a cylindrical
finned tubes, the grain of activated carbon are distributed
between fins that are radially disposed.
The modelization of the solar reactor presented in this
work take into account the heat and mass transfers phe-
nomena. The reactive bed is characterized by an equivalent
thermal conductivity and assumed to be at chemical and
thermodynamical equilibrium. The bed pressure is assumed
to be uniform. The model behaviour is controlled by heat,
mass and sorption equilibrium equations.
2. Adsorption refrigeration cycle principle
The adsorptive cycle is intermittent. The adsorber con-
taining the adsorbent is alternatively connected with a
condenser and with an evaporator. The cycle is a succes-
sion of two periods: a period of heating/desorption/
condensation followed by a period of cooling/adsorp-
tion/evaporation. For solar adsorptive cycle, the first per-
iod consists of regeneration of the adsorbent by solar
energy (during the day), the second period occurs nightly
when the adsorber is cooled by free convection and by
radiation (heat exchange between the adsorber and the
atmosphere).
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A. Al Mers et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2006) xxx–xxx 3

Fig. 1. Sketch of the solar reactor studied.

3. Activated carbon–ammonia pair with:

 
ma AL12
Many different pairs have been evaluated by various X ¼ ; K1 ¼ ma max exp and
ma max T
authors. In this work, activated carbon (BPL)–ammonia  
pair was selected. Indeed, in adsorption cycle the prime 1 AL2
K2 ¼ exp
requirement of the refrigerant is a high latent heat per unit ma max T
volume. The best refrigerants available on this basis alone where ma max is the maximal adsorbed mass, AL1 and AL2
are water, ammonia, and methanol. Whilst it is possible to are the parameters of the model.
boil water at temperatures below 0 C in laboratory scale c is the activity coefficient of the vapour phase, it is
equipment, there are likely to be problems in doing this obtained from the relation:
in a machine working under the natural conditions, and
so water has been excluded as refrigerant for temperatures P uv ðT ; P Þ
¼ X cðT ; P ; X Þ ð2Þ
lower than 0 C. The choice between methanol and ammo- P S uvS ðT ; P S Þ
nia is not so clear cut, several authors shown that the where uv(T, P) and uvS ðT ; P S Þ are the fugacity coefficients of
adsorptive properties of activated carbon with methanol the vapour phase, respectively, at T and P and at the satu-
gives higher COP’s than ammonia with carbon adsorbents. ration. PS is the pressure of saturation at temperature T.
However, The pressure of methanol is far from ideal, being
too low, that require to put the machine in depression. This 4. Modeling
problem can be avoided by using ammonia.
The isotherm characteristics of activated carbon (BPL)- In the reactive bed three phases are present (Fig. 2): a
ammonia was compiled and presented by Mimet [13]. solid phase constituted by carbon grains (s), adsorbed
Three models P–ma–T are tested: Brunauer, Emmet and
Teller (BET) model based on the theory of Langmuir
[14], the Dubinin–Radushkevich (D–R) model [15] and
the Wilson model based on the solutions theory [16]. A best mout adsorbate (a)
description of the isotherm is obtained by using The Wil-
son model [13,16]; the error that results is about (8%).
The (BET) model yields an error of (9%) and (D–R) solid (S)
(12%). On this basis, The Wilson model have been used S
in this study. The relationship giving the amount ma of gas (g)
adsorbed gas on a mass unit of microporous solid is given
by V
Ln c ¼ LnðX þ K1 ð1  X ÞÞ
  m in
K2 K1
 ð1  X Þ  ð1Þ
ð1  X Þ þ K2 X X þ K1 ð1  X Þ Fig. 2. Control volume representing the reactive porous medium.
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4 A.A Mers et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2006) xxx–xxx

phase of ammonia (a) and gaseous phase (g). Under the v is the velocity of the gas we have: ~
If ~ m_ ¼ q~
v. Then by
action of solar radiation, the mixture of activated car- using the divergence theorem, Eq. (3) becomes:
bon–ammonia has a transitory behaviour; the properties
du ~
are dependent on the time and localisation. The principle ¼ ke DT  hdivðq~
vÞ  q~
vrh ð4Þ
dt
of heat and mass transfer inside the porous bed can be
described as follows: when the metallic wall temperature The internal energy u may be expressed as a function of
is modified, an inhomogeneity of temperature appears, that internal energy of solid, adsorbent and gaseous phases:
induces by adsorption/desorption process a mass transfer u ¼ ð1  eÞqs us þ ðe  aÞqg ug þ aqa ua ð5Þ
and consequently a gradient of concentration of adsorbed
ammonia. Because of the exothermic character of adsorp- where qi is the density of the phase i (i = s, g, a), a the vol-
tion phenomena, this mass transfer affects the mechanism ume fraction of the adsorbed phase, e the porosity of the
of heat transfer in the medium. activated carbon, ma the adsorbed mass (kg/kg carbon)
For the modelization of heat and mass transfer in the and DHads the heat of sorption (kJ/kg).
reactive bed, the following assumptions have been adopted: Hysteresis phenomena caused by the capillary condensa-
tion during the adsorption/desorption process is negligible.
• The porous medium is treated as an equivalent medium: Therefore in this study, if DHads is the heat of sorption (kJ/
the three phases (solid (s), adsorbed phase (a) and gas kg), we assume that the relation hg(T) = ha(T) + DHads is
(g)) are considered at an equivalent temperature T. verified at all time.
Then, the conduction heat transfer in the medium can
be characterized by an equivalent thermal conductivity 6. Mass conservation
(ke);
• pressure drop is neglected; The difference between the gaseous mass entering in a
• heat transfer is supposed two-dimensional; control volume and the gaseous mass outgoing, is equal
• resistance to mass transfer in micropores, macropores to the mass in gaseous or adsorbed form accumulated in
and interstitial spaces is neglected. the same control volume. The mass conservation can be
expressed as
For short cycle times (cycle with high power density), o
The resistance to mass diffusion has a significant effect on ~_ ¼ 0
ððe  aÞqg þ aqa Þ þ div m ð6Þ
ot
the distribution of concentration of adsorbed ammonia,
then when the refrigerant is a slow diffusing adsorbate,
the application of the equilibrium model (without mass 7. General heat and mass transfer equation
transfer limitations) will result in an overestimation of
the performance of the machine. On the other hand, for By using the relations du = c dT and hg = ug + p/qg,
long cycle times, as the case of solar refrigeration cycle combination of Eqs. (4)–(6) yields after simplifications:
(cycle with low power density), this limitation of mass ð1Þ
ð2Þ
transfer can be ignored, because the intraparticle mass oT ~_ rT
~
ðqs cs ð1  eÞ þ ðe  aÞqg cg þ aqa ca Þ þ cg m
transfer is assumed to be sufficiently rapid so that no con- ot
centration gradient exists in adsorbent particles [8]. The ð4Þ ð5Þ ð6Þ
ð3Þ o p oma p oma
gaseous and solid phases are thermodynamically in equilib-
¼ ke DT þ ½ðe  aÞqg  þ qapp þ DH ads qapp
rium. The adsorbed amount is simply related to the gas ot qg ot qa ot
pressure and the adsorbent temperature. ð7Þ
The model of heat and mass transfer in the reactive bed
is obtained by application of energy and mass conservation where ci is the specific heat of the phase i (i = a, g, s), qapp
laws. the adsorbent apparent volume mass, ke the equivalent
thermal conductivity of the medium and D is the Laplace
5. Energy conservation operator.
The six terms of Eq. (7) represents, respectively:
To obtain the heat transfer equation in the reactive med-
ium, we use the first thermodynamic principle applied from (1) gas, adsorbate and solid heating;
the control volume V (Fig. 2). (2) energy transmitted by convection;
Z Z Z Z Z Z Z (3) energy transmitted by conduction;
du ~ ~_ s (4) gas elastic energy;
dV ¼ ðke rT Þd~
s ðhmÞd~ ð3Þ
V dt S S
(5) adsorbate elastic energy;
(6) adsorption energy.
where u is the internal energy, h the enthalpy of the gas, T
the temperature, m~_ the mass flow of the gas and S is the For simplifying the model, the convective term (2) can
contour surface of the control volume V. be neglected while comparing with the term due to the heat
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A. Al Mers et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2006) xxx–xxx 5

pipe effect (6). This scan be justified as follows: If we
consider for example an elementary in one-dimensional
case an elementary control volume DV = Dx Dy Dz where
~_ is parallel to rT
m ~ . In this control volume the terms (2)
and (6) can be written, respectively: cg m_ DTDx
Dx Dy Dz and
DH ads qapp om
ot
a
Dx Dy Dz. The mass flow _
m crossing the section
S = Dy Dz is always of the same order of magnitude than
that of the variation of adsorbed mass qapp om ot
a
Dx Dy Dz in
oma
this control volume. DH ads qapp ot Dx Dy Dz.
Therefore, for comparing between the term (2) and the
term (6), it is enough to compare cgDT and the isosteric
heat of adsorption DHads. If we suppose that the variation
of temperature in the control volume is of order DT = 2 C
(as a maximum value)[13], the isosteric heat of adsorption
is of order 1600 kJ/kg, it is noted that DHads P cgDT.
Therefore, the term of convection can be ignored in the
calculation.
The heat transfer on the metal (wall and fins) is
expressed by the equation:
oT m
qm cm ¼ km DT m
ot
where Tm is metal temperature, qm, cm, and km are the den-
sity, the specific heat and the conductivity of the metal.
8. Boundary conditions
where 1/hw is the contact thermal resistance between
metal and the porous medium.
2. When r = R1 we have: oT
or
¼ 0.
9. The mathematical modelization of a flat-plate collector
The mathematical model describing the properties of a
flat-plate collector sketched in Fig. 1 has to be as simple
as possible. On the other hand, no essential properties of
the collector should be neglected beforehand. A reasonable
compromise between the two opposite requirements is
found by a two-node model representing the absorbent sur-
face and the solid adsorbent, the heat losses through the
insulation is ignored. Applying heat balances in a suitable
way, the following differential equation can be derived.

oT  2
km  ¼ ap GðtÞ þ H cv ðT am  T Þ þ lrðT 4am  T 4 Þ
or r¼R2 p
ð9Þ
ð8Þ
where G(t) is the solar global irradiance (w/m2), ap and l
are the absorption coefficient and the emissivity of the
absorbent surface, the Stefan–Boltzman constant and Hcv
the convection heat transfer coefficient between the collec-
tor and the ambiance supposed at temperature Tam.

Eqs. (7) and (8) are completed by the following bound- 10. Resolution
ary conditions:
The resolution of Eqs. (7) and (8), taking into account
1. Continuity of heat flux at the interface between the por- the initial and the boundary conditions is carried out by
ous medium and metal: means of the implicit finite difference method.
If T1 and T2 are, respectively, the temperatures of the
metal and the porous medium at the interface, we have: 11. Validation of the model
hw ðT 2  T 1 Þ ¼ ke rT 1 (at the interface on the
The validity of the model has been tested with a cylindri-
porous medium) cal reactor constructed for this purpose (Fig. 3). This reac-
hw ðT 1  T 2 Þ ¼ km rT 2 (at the interface on the metal) tor consists of a double stainless steel envelope heated by

Oil out
Heat exchanger
r

Tubular
reactor 53 mm Z
Solid adsorbent

25 cm

Oil in

Fig. 3. Sketch of the experimental cylindrical reactor.

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6 A.A Mers et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2006) xxx–xxx

Table 1
Respective thermocouples positions in the cylinder
Ti T1 T2 T3
ri (cm) 1 1.5 2.65
zi (cm) 18 12 12

thermal oil emanating from a thermostat. The temperature

thermostat is ranged between 20 and 250 C. The reactor
contains 274 g of the activated carbon in a volume of
548 cm3. Six thermocouples were installed in the adsorber
along the axial and radial directions to measure the temper-
ature in different positions. This experimental reactor is not
equipped with fins. Then the heat transfer is only consid-
ered in radial direction. By using this experimental device,
the model is tested only in one-dimensional case.
The reactor is heated at isosteric phase (closed reactor).
By using the measured temperature of the internal wall of
the reactor as boundary condition in our model, the
numerical resolution allows to obtain the computed tem-
peratures Ti at positions ri of thermocouples numbers 1,
2 and 3 (Table 1). The coefficients ke and hw used here
was evaluated in the previous work by Aghbalou et al.
[17] (ke = 0.32 W/m C, hw = 33.65 W/m2 C). We have
compared the experimental results and the computed ones
(Fig. 4), the relative deviation between experience and
model obtained is less than 1.5%. Then the validity of the
model in one dimensional case is proven.
For testing the two-dimensional case of heat and mass
transfer (finned reactor) we have used the experimental
results mentioned in Ref. [12]. The experimental device rep-
Fig. 5. Sketch of experimental finned reactor using activated carbon–
methanol pair [12]: Ti represents the positions of thermocouples;
T1T4 = 5 mm, T1T6 = 45 mm.
resents a rectangular reactor using activated carbon–meth-
anol pair (Fig. 5). The reactor is heated, respectively, at
isosteric phase (closed reactor) and at constant pressure
with P = 120 mbars (open reactor or desorption phase).
The model is adopted easily to the geometry of this reactor.
The wall temperature T1 is used as boundary condition in
our model. The results are presented in Fig. 6. A good
agreement between experiments and computed results is
obtained.
12. The optimal design of the cylindrical finned reactor
Physically, the existence of an optimal design of the
reactor is explained by the existence of a compromise
between the various terms of the heat balance on the reac-
tor, these terms are: sensible heat (of metal, carbon and
refrigerant), heat losses of the rector towards environment

75

wall temperature
70

65

60 T3

55 T2
T (˚C)

T1
50

45

40 model (temperature at position Ti)

experience (thermocouple T1)
35 experience (thermocouple T2)
experience (thermocouple T3)
30

25
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60
time (min)

Fig. 4. Comparison between experience and model: case of cylindrical adsorber without fins using activated carbon/ammonia pair.
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A. Al Mers et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2006) xxx–xxx 7

90 closed reactor phase open reactor phase 140

80
120
computed temperature
70 T4 experience wall temperature
T6 experience 100
60 Computed pressure

measured pressure
80
50

P (mbar)
Pressure
T (˚C)

40
60

30
40

20

20
10

0 0
0.0 12.5 25.0 37.5 50.0 62.5 75.0 87.5 100.0 112.5
times (min)

Fig. 6. Comparison between experience and model: case of rectangular finned reactor using activated carbon/methanol pair: ke = 0.20 W/m C,
hw = 16 W/m2 C [12].

and the energy of phase change (gaseous phase M adsorbed desorbed mass at the condenser. The COPs is defined as the
phase). These different quantities depend on the geometri- ratio of the necessary heat to evaporate the desorbed mass
cal configuration of the reactor, characterized by the fol- over the overall solar irradiation.
lowing parameters: number of fins (Nf), fin thickness (ef) To be able to highlight, in a clear way, the sensitivity of
and the tube radius (R2) (Fig. 1). The procedure of optimi- the machine performances versus the geometrical parame-
zation consists in seeking the geometrical configuration of ters of the reactor, we present the isovalues of COPs on
the reactor, which carries out the extremum of an optimal- the diagram (ef–R2) (Figs. 7–9).
ity criterion. So the problem consists in finding the optimal The analysis of these diagrams makes it possible to note
triplet (N 0f ; e0ai ; R02 Þ, making as possible to better an aim. that:
Here, the solar coefficient of performance (COPs) can be
used as an optimization criterion.
In our simulation, we use the solar data measured in
Tetouan (Morocco) for a clear type day of July 1991, the
total solar energy during the day is about 26,000 kJ/m2.
The solar collector studied is normal simple-glazed. The
different parameters used in our simulation are summarized
in Table 2. By using the solar data, the model computes the

Table 2
Different parameters used in the simulation procedure
G Global irradiance of the solar flux 26,000 kJ/m2/day
Hcv Heat losses coefficient of the solar reactor 4 W/m2 K
ap Absorption coefficient of the solar collector 0.8
ke Equivalent conductivity of the adsorbent 0.32 W/m K
hw Heat transfer coefficient between 33.65 W/m2 K
the metal and the adsorbent
DHads Latent heat of adsorption 1600 kJ/kg
Te Evaporating temperature 273 K
Tc Condensing temperature 300 K
T0 initial temperature 298 K
Fig. 7. Isovalues of solar COP on the diagram (radius tub, fins thickness):
Tam Ambient temperature 300 K
case of reactor with three fins.
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8 A.A Mers et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2006) xxx–xxx

Fig. 8. Isovalues of solar COP on the diagram (radius tub, fins thickness): Fig. 9. Isovalues of solar COP on the diagram (radius tub, fins thickness):
case of a reactor with five fins. case of a reactor with eight fins.

• Exists an optimal design of the reactor. For a given 13. Evaluation of optimal dimensions of the reactor
number of fins the optimum obtained is single. This
can facilitate the choice of the optimization algorithm. For each number of fins, the optimum must verify the
• When the number of fins increases, the optimum moves equation:
towards the area where the fins thickness is lower and
the tube radius is larger. However, the increase of the oCOPs 0 0
dCOPsðe0f ; R02 Þ ¼ ðef ; R2 Þdef
optimal radius becomes increasingly delicate when the oef
number of fins increases. oCOPs 0 0
þ ðef ; R2 ÞdR2 ¼ 0 ð10Þ
• The performances of the machine are less sensitive to the oR2
variation of the fins thickness. Indeed, when the fin
thickness varies, there is compensation of two opposites we obtain:
effects which are: the sensible heat, and the quantity of oCOPs 0 0 oCOPs 0 0
energy transmitted through the fins; these two quantity ðef ; R2 Þ ¼ 0 and ðef ; R2 Þ ¼ 0
oef oR2
increase at the same time when the fins thickness
increases. The optimal thickness is that which carries Here, the COPs is not given by simple and explicit expres-
out the compromise between these two effects. sion, the introduction of approximation and discretization

Initialisation of ef and R2

Nf = 1,…., Nf max

News values of e f and R2 Calculation of the cycle and the COPs

No
Maximization of COPs ?

Yes
No
Nf = Nfmax ?

Yes
END

Fig. 10. Flow chart for the optimization process.

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A. Al Mers et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2006) xxx–xxx 9

70 12

Optimal Dimensions: Fin Thickness and Tube

60 11

50 10

Radius (mm)

COPs x 100
Tube radius
40 9
Fin thickness x 10

COPs

30 8

20 7

10 6
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Number of fins

Fig. 11. Optimal dimensions (fins thickness, tube radius) and the corresponding COPs versus the fins number.

methods is necessary. The principal steps of the optimiza- The analysis of different terms of energy balances on the
tion procedure are summarized in Fig. 10. reactor (sensible heat, losses towards the external medium,
latent heat of phase change) shows that the increase of the
14. Results and discussion fins number implies the decreasing of the heat losses
towards environment and then the increasing of heat trans-
Fig. 11 presents, according to the number of fins, a max- fer inside the reactor. On the other hand, the calculation
imum COPs and the corresponding optimal geometrical shows that the heat losses towards environment are most
parameters (ef, R2). These results correspond to the same dominant: for an adsorber without fins, they represent
conditions summarized in Table 2. We thus note the approximately 61% of incident energy in the heating phase,
increase of a maximum COPs when the number of fins and 54% for an adsorber with 10 fins. However, the great-
increases. However, it seems that the passage from a reac- est part of energy absorbed by the collector is used only to
tor without fins to a reactor with 5–6 fins presents a very increase the temperature of the reactor (sensible heat): for
significant increasing in the performances: the COPs an adsorber with five fins, the sensible heat represents
increases from 0.072 for a reactor without fins to 0.105 approximately 61% of energy absorbed by the reactor.
for a reactor with six fins, this corresponds to a profit of
more than 45%. The same figure highlights an asymptote 15. Conclusion
for the optimal radius and for the maximal COPs, which
correspond to the maximum performances that can be A model giving the thermodynamic performances of a
obtained by this type of reactor (COPs = 0.112). This result cylindrical finned reactor of adsorption refrigerator using
is very interesting, because it shows that only the variation activated carbon–ammonia pair was established. The
of low number of fins (from 1 to 6) modifies notably the model has been validated by using experimental results.
performances of the machine, and that from a certain We have study the sensitivity of the machine performances
value, the modification of the fins number in the reactor versus the geometrical configuration of the reactor. So the
does not have any more consequence on the performances model is applied to optimize the cylindrical finned reactor.
of the machine. The optimization results are resumed in the following table:

Fins number 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Fins thickness (mm) – 2.25 2.11 1.98 1.84 1.75 1.67 1.57 1.50 1.40 1.30
Tube radius (mm) 42.5 48.0 52.0 56.0 59.0 61.1 62.6 63.0 63.5 64.4 64.8
COPs (%) 7.21 8.07 8.87 9.48 9.97 10.3 10.6 10.9 11.1 11.2 11.2
 ARTICLE IN PRESS
10 A.A Mers et al. / Applied Thermal Engineering xxx (2006) xxx–xxx
This results demonstrates that for an optimized reactor,
the rising of the fins number permits to reduce significantly
the heat losses of the reactor towards the ambiance. There-
fore, The optimization results show that the use of an opti-
mized reactor, when the number of fins varies between 5
and 6 permits to amplify the solar COP of the machine
of about 45%.
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