□ Unemployed Ph.D.

Current Status
 Postdoctoral Candidate

Application Form for “Postdoctoral

International Exchange Program of China
Western Overseas Postdoc Innovation
Demonstration Center”

Applicant Najam ul Qadir

Primary discipline Institute of Refrigeration and Cryogenics

Recommended School School of Energy Engineering

E-mail najmul.qadir@smme.nust.edu.pk

Mobile +92-321-5102384

Date of application 2021 (Y) 11 (M) 14 (D)

China Western Overseas Postdoc Innovation Demonstration Center

 I Personal information

Najam 4．Date of
1．Name 2．Gender M 3．Nationality Pakistani 1978-11-05
ul Qadir birth

Refrigeration
5. Recommended School of Energy 7.Collaborating HAN
6.Discipline and Built
School and Environment mentor Xiaohong
Environment

8．Current status

University of
Discipline
Unemployed study/graduate
Ph.D.
Issue date of Degree
Date of PhD viva
certificate

University of King Fahd University of

Postdoctoral Discipline Renewable Energy
graduate Petroleum and Minerals
candidate
Date of PhD viva 9th Nov, 2016 National Postdoctoral ID

9. Duration of research Two years

10．Educational background (Bachelor onwards)

Date University Degree Discipline

29th May, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Metallurgy and Materials
B.S.
2002 Sciences and Technology Engineering

17th Feb, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Materials Science and
M.S.
2006 Technology Engineering

17th Dec, Mechanical and

University of Missouri, Columbia M.S.
2010 Aerospace Engineering

King Fahd University of Petroleum and

25th Jan, 2017 PhD Mechanical Engineering
Minerals

11．Working and research experience

Date Nationality Employer Sponsor Position

08-2018 to National University of

Pakistan NIL Assistant Professor
Present Science and Technology

01-2012 to National University of

Pakistan NIL Lecturer
08-2012 Science and Technology

1
II Research background

12．Major projects, funds, and research topics

Projects/funds/research
Date of approval Commissioner Funding Responsibility
topics
Integrated Solar-
Higher Education Powered 0.7 million
March, 2021 PI
Commission of Pakistan Absorption/Adsorption RMB
Refrigeration System
Development of a
Higher Education Solar-powered 0.65 million
January, 2020 PI
Commission of Pakistan adsorption refrigeration RMB
system
Fundamental Research
on Heat and Mass
National Science Foundation Transfer and High 5 million
January, 2016 Co-PI
of China Efficient RMB
Thermodynamic
Systems
Presiding project of State
Industry Heat Pump for 3 million
July, 2016 Science and Technology Co-PI
Waste Heat Recovery RMB
Support Program

13．Research outcomes (Verification required for papers, monographs, patents and thesis abstract)

⑴ Papers

Date of Publication or Impact Inclusion in Order of

Title
publication Conference Factor key database authors

Performance Prediction of a Two-

Bed Solar-Powered Adsorption
Chiller with Heat and Mass Recovery Applied
ISI-indexed
June, 2021 Cycles and Adaptive Cycle Time – A 4.026 Thermal 1
Journal
First Step Towards the Design of Engineering
Fully Autonomous Commercial-Scale
Adsorption Chillers

Influence of Principal Component

Global
Analysis as a Data Conditioning
Copernicus- Journal of
Approach for Training Multilayer
Nov, 2020 indexed NA Technology 1
Feedforward Neural Networks with
Journal and
Exact Form of Levenberg-Marquardt
Optimization
Algorithm

2
 Performance Comparison of a Two-
bed Solar-Driven Adsorption Chiller
ISI-indexed Renewable
Apr, 2020 with Optimal Fixed and Adaptive 4.357 1
Journal Energy
Cycle Times using a Silica Gel/Water
Working Pair

Direct Differentiation Based Hessian

Global
Formulation for Training Multilayer
Copernicus- Journal of
Feedforward Neural Networks using
Jan, 2018 indexed NA Technology 1
the LM Algorithm – Performance
Journal and
Comparison with Conventional
Optimization
Jacobian-Based Learning

Synthesis, Characterization, and CO2 Journal of

ISI-indexed
Dec, 2017 Breakthrough Adsorption of a Novel 4.292 CO2 2
Journal
MWCNT/MIL-101(Cr) Composite utilization

Numerical simulation of a Two-bed

Solar Adsorption Chiller with International
ISI-indexed
Oct, 2017 Adaptive Cycle time using a MIL- 2.779 Journal of 1
Journal
100(Fe)/water pair – Influence of Refrigeration
Solar Collector Configuration

Modeling the Performance of a Two-

bed Solar Adsorption Chiller using a ISI-indexed Renewable
Aug, 2017 4.357 1
Multi-walled Carbon Nanotube/MIL- Journal Energy
100(Fe) Composite Adsorbent

Synthesis, and Water Sorption

ISI-indexed
Mar, 2017 Properties of a Series of Exfoliated 3.108 RSC Adv. 2
Journal
Graphene/MIL-100(Fe) Composites

Synthesis, Characterization, and

Water Adsorption Properties of a ISI-indexed
Sep, 2016 4.029 Dalton Trans. 1
Novel Multi-Walled Carbon Journal
Nanotube/ MIL-100(Fe) Composite

Structural stability of metal organic

Microporous
frameworks in aqueous media –
ISI-indexed and
Jan, 2015 Controlling factors and methods to 3.615 1
Journal Mesoporous
improve hydrostability and
Materials
hydrothermal cyclic stability

Characterization of ISI-indexed
Apr, 2014 2.654 Materials 2
Nanoreinforcement Dispersion in Journal

3
 Inorganic Nanocomposites: A
Review

Modeling Fiber Orientation in Short

ISI-indexed Composites
Oct, 2009 Fiber Suspensions Using the Neural 4.075 1
Journal Part A
Network Based Orthotropic Closure

The Effect Of BaCeO3 Nano-

particles on the Current Density of a ISI-indexed
Oct, 2007 1.404 Physcia-C 2
Melt-Processed YBCO Journal
Superconductor

⑵ Monographs

Date of publication Title Publisher Order of authors

NA NA NA NA

⑶ Patents

Country of
Name Patent No. Type Date Ranking
approval

Najam Ul Qadir, Syed Ahmed 2020/0340

Application U.S.A 29th Oct, 2020 1
M. Said, Rached Ben Mansour 717 A1

Syed Ahmed M. Said, Rached

10040052 Grant U.S.A 7th Aug, 2018 3
Ben Mansour, Najam Ul Qadir

Syed Ahmed M. Said, Shakeel

9 480 967 Grant U.S.A 1st Nov, 2016 3
Ahmed, Najam Ul Qadir

14. Awards and Honor

⑴ Science and technology awards

Date Project Name of Award Award Level Ranking

NA NA NA NA NA

⑵ Honor

Date Honorary title Awarding organization

NA NA NA

4
III Postdoctoral research proposal

15. Research topic Hybrid Absorption-Adsorption Chiller for Postharvest Cooling

Research plan (Please summarize the key content, new ideas, expected goals, scientific significance, and
prospects of application for your research. No Less than 3000 words.)

Objective of Research

Global postharvest fruit and vegetables losses are accumulate up to 30 to 40% and even noticeably higher in
some developing countries [1]. The proposed research is focused on the development of a cost-efficient solar-
powered hybrid absorption/adsorption refrigeration system so as to minimize the post-harvest losses occurring
in China. These are explained in more detail below:

Post-harvest losses occurring in China

Although China has offered subsidies and taken other measures to reduce the loss of agricultural products
caused by problems with storage and processing, post-harvest losses still amount to over 300 billion yuan ($46
billion) each year. Statistics show that the annual grain loss caused by poor storage is about 20 million tons, and
that the number for potatoes is about 16 million tons. The post-harvest loss of fruit and vegetables amounted to
about 14 million and 100 million tons respectively. The total post-harvest loss of agricultural products in China
exceeds 300 billion yuan each year, which comes out to 10 million hectares of cultivated land.

Reasons for Post-harvest losses

These losses are a result of improper/insufficient storage conditions of the postharvest produce including fruits,
vegetables, and grains which are not able to provide the minimum temperature and the appropriate humidity
level required to prevent the attack of microorganisms and bacteria, yeast, insect infestations and mould growth.
High temperature and relative humidity conditions currently prevailing in the postharvest storage cabins favour
the development of postharvest decay organisms.

Focus of Proposed Research

The proposed research aims on addressing these postharvest losses of fruits, vegetables, and grains by providing
an environment with proper temperature and humidity levels in order to minimize the postharvest losses
currently incurred in China’s agricultural sector. The majority of cold storage and grain storage sites in China
are located in the near vicinity of harvest fields which generally receive a high intensity of sunlight. If this
sunlight can be exploited to drive a solar-powered adsorption refrigeration system linked to the cold-storage
and grain storage cabins, it can be utilized to provide the minimum temperature and humidity levels required to
protect the fresh produce from the postharvest decay organisms mentioned above. In order to achieve this
objective, a two-chamber solar-powered hybrid absorption/adsorption refrigeration system has been proposed
which will utilizes silica gel as the adsorbent, LiBr salt as the absorbent and water as refrigerant and will
consume only a negligible amount of electricity to operate the electronic valves and the control box which can
be easily provided via solar rechargeable batteries. In this context, the proposed system will not be only able to
reduce the currently incurred postharvest losses in China but also avoid any further increases in the retail price
of the produce due to negligible electric power consumption.

5
Post-harvest Technological Problems in China

From 2012 to 2015, the Chinese government spent 2.6 billion yuan to subsidize 49,000 households and 5,200
cooperative communities in more than 20 provinces, helping to build facilities to store and process agricultural
products like vegetables and fruit. However, though a great deal of money has been invested, actual demand
has not yet been met. China’s preliminary processing capability remains too low; even in subsidized areas, the
present capability is far from meeting actual demands.

Provinces including Sichuan, Hubei, Hebei, Gansu and Fujian complain about insufficient subsidized facilities.
In addition, with the amendment of environmental protection laws, all drying facilities are required to be fueled
by clean energy in order to qualify for government subsidies. Experts are now calling for more support in
improving the storage and processing of agricultural products, as the current bottleneck is restraining China’s
efforts to modernize its agriculture industry. According to Cheng Qinyang, a fellow researcher from the Ministry
of Agriculture, measures to promote improved conditions may include expanding the favorable policies to more
areas, increasing the subsidies and diversifying the subsidized facilities [2]. Local officials from agricultural
departments also recommend that the government accelerate the construction of processing facilities by
incentivizing concerned departments and farmers.

A survey was recently conducted in which 1890 grain sellers were interviewed across 54 regions in 9 provinces
of China, to investigate the factors affecting post-harvest grain loss during sales [3]. The results of the survey
revealed that grain storage conditions have the greatest impact on post-harvest grain loss, followed by
transportation. In the survey, post-harvest grain were examined loss involving the sellers and channels specified
in Figure 1. The results of the statistical analysis of the 1662 sellers’ judgment on the factors affecting grain
loss in the different subcategories (transportation, storage, and display and sales) during the grain sales process
are shown in Table 1. The survey showed that, in terms of transportation, 13.60% and 36.16% of respondents
believed that weather conditions during the (un)loading had a great and relatively important impact,
respectively, on grain loss. In terms of storage, 11.67% and 35.68% of respondents indicated that storage
equipment conditions had a great and relatively important impact, respectively, on grain loss; and 15.88% and
42.18% of respondents thought that ventilation and humid and hot conditions in the storage warehouse played
a significant and intermediate role, respectively, on grain loss; 19.73% and 33.21% of respondents believed that
mold contamination had a great and relatively important impact, respectively, on grain loss. Furthermore, in
terms of display and sales, 40.01% and 32.37% of respondents indicated that the display method had limited or
relatively little impact, respectively, on grain loss. The shelf life of grains puts a time limit on grain sales, as
29.18% and 28.64% of respondents believed that shelf life had limited or relatively little impact, respectively,
on grain loss.

Proposed Solution to Post-harvest Technological Problems

In order to cater for the economic losses currently faced by China due to lack of appropriate post-harvest
facilities, the provision of an economical cold storage facility maintained at proper levels of temperature and
humidity can help in minimizing the currently incurred postharvest losses of fruits and vegetables. In this
context, if the harvested fruits and vegetables could be cooled at a facility at or very close to the field and

6
maintained at sufficiently lower temperatures to avoid rotting/infection before being transferred to the local
market, this facility would greatly reduce the currently incurred postharvest losses in China in general, and also
increase the harvest quality. This alternative cold storage facility would work in the rural areas close to the farm
and could also provide additional employment for women. However, the most demanding aspect required of
the newly proposed cold-storage facility is that it should be able to operate at a minimum electrical power
consumption so that the post-harvest produce can be sold to the market

at a minimum retail price.

In this context, a solar-powered hybrid absorption/adsorption refrigeration system seems to be a reasonable

alternative, since the cooling load inside the storage room is roughly in phase with the solar energy availability.
The minimum driving temperature of such a system is expected to be 50–60oC while the only use of electric
power will be to operate the control box and electronic valves which is negligibly small as compared to the
magnitude required to operate a vapor compression system of a similar capacity. Hence, in the context of the
ever-increasing electricity prices, the establishment of such a cold-storage/grain storage facility can help the
agricultural sector to minimize the post-harvest losses coupled with minimum consumption of electrical power.
This research project focuses on the development of an efficient and economically viable solar-powered air
refrigeration/conditioning system so as to address the currently occurring cold-storage and grain storage
problems in China with the aim of minimizing both the post-harvest losses as well as the consumption of
electrical power to operate the proposed system.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BASICS OF THE VAPOR COMPRESSION CYCLE

The Vapor Compression Refrigeration Cycle involves four components: compressor, condenser, expansion
valve/throttle valve and evaporator. It is a compression process, whose aim is to raise the refrigerant pressure,
as it flows from an evaporator. The high-pressure refrigerant flows through a condenser/heat exchanger before
attaining the initial low pressure and going back to the evaporator.

A more detailed explanation of the steps is as explained below.

STEP 1: COMPRESSION

The refrigerant (for example R-717) enters the compressor at low temperature and low pressure. It is in a
gaseous state. Here, compression takes place to raise the temperature and refrigerant pressure. The refrigerant
leaves the compressor and enters to the condenser. Since this process requires work, an electric motor may be
used. Compressors themselves can be scroll, screw, centrifugal or reciprocating types.

STEP 2: CONDENSATION

The condenser is essentially a heat exchanger. Heat is transferred from the refrigerant to a flow of water. This
water goes to a cooling tower for cooling in the case of water-cooled condensation. Note that seawater and air-
cooling methods may also play this role. As the refrigerant flows through the condenser, it is in a constant
7
pressure. One cannot afford to ignore condenser safety and performance. Specifically, pressure control is
paramount for safety and efficiency reasons. There are several pressure-controlling devices to take care of this
requirement

STEP 3: THROTTLING AND EXPANSION

When the refrigerant enters the throttling valve, it expands and releases pressure. Consequently, the temperature
drops at this stage. Because of these changes, the refrigerant leaves the throttle valve as a liquid vapor mixture,
typically in proportions of around 75 % and 25 % respectively. Throttling valves play two crucial roles in the
vapor compression cycle. First, they maintain a pressure differential between low- and high-pressure sides.
Second, they control the amount of liquid refrigerant entering the evaporator.

STEP 4: EVAPORATION

At this stage of the Vapor Compression Refrigeration Cycle, the refrigerant is at a lower temperature than its
surroundings. Therefore, it evaporates and absorbs latent heat of vaporization. Heat extraction from the
refrigerant happens at low pressure and temperature. Compressor suction effect helps maintain the low pressure.

The typical single-stage vapor compression refrigeration cycle is shown in Figure 2.

PROBLEMS IN THE VAPOR COMPRESSION CYCLE

Some of the Vapor Compression Refrigeration Cycle Problems that may affect Coefficient of Performance
(COP) are:

1. COMPRESSOR LEAKAGE/FAILURE

The failure of an industrial refrigeration compressor can be expensive affair to the company and
damaging to the manufacturer’s reputation. Often, manufacturers will tear down returned
compressors in search faults. Over years of studies, some common reasons for compressor failure
have been identified to include lubrication problems, overheating, slugging, flood back and
contamination.

2. FOULING – EVAPORATOR AND CONDENSER

Fouling is any insulator hinders transfer between the water and the refrigerant. It could result from
algae growth, sedimentation, scale formation or slime. As this problem increases head pressure, it
can lead to increased energy use by the compressor.

3. MOTOR COOLING

The motor is easily the highest energy consumer in the vapor compression cycle. Most times when
efficiency drops in this device, it is because of a cooling problem. Many issues could lead to this-

8
 blocked air filters, dirty air passages etc. Regular checks of the chiller logs should unearth any
anomaly, specifically the comparison between amperage and voltage.

4. COMMERCIAL-SCALE REFRIGERATION

Vapor compression systems prove to be very costly when used for refrigeration or air-conditioning
very large spaces like crop storage cabins, and industrial shop floors.

5. MISCELLANEOUS PROBLEMS

There might be some other problems which can frequently occur in a vapor compression system and
can be listed as follows:

(a) Abnormally high discharge temperature

(b) Low current draw
(c) High superheats
(d) Low condensing pressures
(e) Local frost close to the restriction
(f) Bubbles in sight glass
(g) Liquid line restriction resulting in low evaporator pressure
In such cases, absorption chillers powered by solar energy prove to be a commercially viable solution
as they are characterized by relatively higher commercial values of COP as compared to adsorption
chillers. However, they also suffer from drawbacks listed below:

DRAWBACKS OF COMMERCIAL-SCALE ABSORPTION CHILLERS

1. Require a large and consistent stream of waste heat in order to function

2. Require High driving temperature (minimum hot water temperature required for regeneration is 90oC)
3. Require Higher solution concentration difference between the absorber and the generator for lower
work input required for solution pumping and thus higher cooling efficiency
4. Require Higher evaporating temperature of refrigerant inside the evaporator
5. Require Higher temperature of cooling water circulation inside absorber
6. Require lower chilled water temperature circulating inside the evaporator to avoid crystallization
7. The coefficient of performance of the absorption refrigeration systems is very low compared to the
vapor compression systems. For instance, the COP of the two stage lithium bromide system is about
1.1, while that of the vapor compression system used for the air conditioning applications it is about
4 to 5. Thus the absorption refrigeration system becomes competitive only if the ratio of the electricity
to fuel (oil, gas or coal used to generate the steam in the boiler) becomes more than four. If this ratio
is lesser there are chances that excess fuel would be required to generate the steam.
8. The most common maintenance issue with an absorption chiller is crystallization. Because lithium
bromide is chemically a salt, if the solution ever falls below the saturation temperature the salt
becomes a solid.

9
Similarly, the advantages and drawbacks of commercial-scale adsorption chillers can be listed as under:

ADVANTAGES OF COMMERCIAL-SCALE ADSORPTION CHILLERS

1. Start-up time 5 to 7 minutes compared to 15 minutes for Absorption

2. Chilled water output 5°C-10°C (40°- 55°F)
3. No crystallization, corrosion, hazardous leaks, or chemical disposal issues
4. No vibration or noise
5. Simple and continuous operations
6. Regeneration temperature as low as 50ºC

DRAWBACKS OF COMMERCIAL-SCALE ADSORPTION CHILLERS

1. COP of 0.55 (Coefficient of Performance)

2. No cooling during the MR/HR cycle
3. Lower density of adsorbent materials thus requiring larger required adsorbent mass
4. Lower thermal conductivity of adsorbent materials thus necessitating larger cycle times and thus
resulting in lower Specific Cooling Power (SCP).

INTEGRATED ABSORPTION/ADSORPTION CHILLER CYCLE

The integrated design combines a single-effect absorption chiller with a two-bed adsorption chiller in which
solar power serves as the heat source for desorption purpose. It combines the advantages of both adsorption and
absorption chillers in order to raise the COP of the integrated system with the provision of minimum driving
temperature. Both the types of subchillers are housed in a single casing but share common sources of heating
water, cooling water and chilled water circulations. The adsorption chiller ceases to produce the cooling effect
during the Mass Recovery/Heat Recovery (MR/HR) cycle, but the absorption chiller continues to operate during
this time, thus resulting in a full-time continuous cooling production of the integrated design.

PRELIMINARY DESIGN

Figure 3 demonstrates a schematic of the preliminary design of the integrated chiller proposed in this work. The
salient features of this design are as follows:

(1) The design consists of two adsorption/desorption (ads/des) beds, one generator or boiler, one
absorber, two evaporators and two condensers
(2) The absorption subchiller of the integrated design yields continuous refrigeration, while the
adsorption subchiller only results in cooling during the ads/des cycle as there is no refrigeration during
the heat recovery/mass recovery (HR/MR) cycles
(3) The duration of the ads/des stage of the adsorption subchiller equals the total cycle time of the
adsorption subchiller. Similarly, the combined durations of the MR and HR cycles also equal the total
cycle time of the adsorption subchiller. In this way, the total cycle time of the adsorption subchiller is
twice that of the absorption subchiller in the integrated design.
(4) The performance evaluation of the integrated design is based upon the cycle time of the adsorption
subchiller (not the cycle time of the adsorption subchiller).

10
 (5) At the end of each ads/des stage of the adsorption subchiller, the condenser from the two condensers
with the lower vapor pressure is connected with the generator or boiler of the absorption subchiller,
while the evaporator from the two evaporators with the higher vapor pressure is connected with the
absorber of the absorption subchiller. This is to ensure maximum vapor transfer rate and thus lowest
possible cycle time of the absorption subchiller.
(6) The chilled water circulation is common in the two evaporators as well as the cooling water circulation
is common in the two condensers
(7) The hot water is first circulated inside the generator from where it is directed towards either of the
two ads/des beds depending upon which one is currently undergoing the desorption phase
(8) During the MR stage:
(a) The adsorption and desorption beds of the adsorption subchiller are disconnected.
(b) Vapor transport or Mass transfer takes place from the desorption bed of the adsorption
subchiller to the absorber of the absorption subchiller. The vapors will condense as soon as
they will enter the absorber and will further dilute the LiBr/water solution. This will help for
easier transport of the diluted solution to the generator of the absorption subchiller as lesser
energy will be required for pumping hence resulting in a higher expected COP of the
absorption subchiller.
(c) At the same time, refrigerant vapors resulting from vaporization taking place inside the
Generator of the Absorption subchiller will be transferred to both the condenser of the
absorption subchiller as well as the adsorption bed of the adsorption subchiller. The rate of the
former type of mass transfer will depend upon the generator/condenser pressure difference
while the latter will depend upon the generator/adsorption bed pressure difference.
(9) During the HR stage, the heat exchange will take place as usual between the desorption and the
adsorption beds of the adsorption subchiller.

CYCLE TIME OPTIMIZATION

The most important thing in the integration of the design is that the cycle time is not the same for the absorption
subchiller and the adsorption subchiller. More specifically, each of the durations of the adsorption/desorption
stage as well as the combined duration of the MR and the HR stages of the adsorption subchiller are each equal
to the duration of cycle time of the absorption subchiller. In this context, each of the individual durations of the
MR and the HR stages of the adsorption subchiller need to be optimized with the constraint that their combined
duration is equal to the cycle time of the absorption subchiller while resulting in maximum cooling efficiency
of the integrated design. This constrained cycle optimization will be performed in advance before the design
and manufacturing phases of chiller construction are able to commence. However, the performance parameters
of the integrated design like COP, and SCP will be calculated based on the cycle time of the absorption
subchiller. The scheme for the evaluation of the cooling efficiency of the integrated design based on the
optimized cycle time as well as optimized heat exchanger design is shown in Figure 4.

11
DESIGN FOR MANUFACTURABILITY

The design for manufacturability is shown in Figure 5. It is basically an extension of the design proposed earlier
by D.C. Wang [6–8]. There are two vacuum chambers in the proposed design and each one encases one
evaporator, one adsorption bed, one absorber, one generator, and one condenser. In the design proposed
originally, each chamber was composed of one evaporator, one adsorption bed, and one condenser. However,
the design shown in Figure 4 only consists of three additional switching valves over the originally proposed
design [6–8]. Each of the two chambers is an independent absorption/adsorption (ads/des) refrigeration unit,
and each of the two units does not include valves between the ads/des beds and the evaporator, ads/des beds
and the absorber, as well as between the generator and the condenser. There are two vacuum valves specifically
for mass recovery installed outside the vacuum chambers of which one is used for mass recovery between the
two ads/des beds while the other is used for mass recovery between the two generators. In order to reduce the
complexity of the chilling water circuit for the evaporator and improve the reliability of the whole system, the
two vacuum chambers are tightly integrated together through a gravity heat pipe type evaporator. The optimal
working fluid for the heat pipe needs to have low latent heat of vaporization and high evaporation pressure due
to which methanol is selected. For the design of the evaporator, two evaporating-heat exchangers are merged
into a methanol evaporator, thus the chilling water circuit only needs to exchange heat with methanol evaporator,
which the system extremely simply yet highly efficient. In order to make heat with methanol evaporator,
which the system extremely simply yet highly efficient. In order to make the arrangement of various
components in the refrigerator reasonable and compact, the layout of the condenser, a generator, an absorber, a
ads/des bed, and an evaporator in a vacuum chamber is vertically from the upper side to the lower side which
satisfies the requirement of a compact structure, as well as making the level of the condensate liquid in the
liquid distributor keep at a certain level which will make the liquid uniformly distributed. The mass transfer
channels in the vacuum chamber create the large cross section due to which the flowrate of water circulation is
low, which will reduce the vapor pressure drop and thus the loss of the cooling capacity. Taking into account
that the actual flowrate of the cooling water for the condenser cannot be as big as the condenser requires, and
the cross-sectional area required for mass transfer will be reduced by the installation of a condenser with a large
condensing area, the connection of the two condensers included in the design is in series rather than in parallel.
The cooling water first flows into the two condensers, and then flows through the switching valves to enter
either of the two absorbers and the adsorption bed. The hot water flow directly into one of the two generators
as well as the desorption bed also through switching valves. Using the thermal insulation provision of the heat
pipe, the whole evaporator has one chilled water inlet and one outlet, and the chilled water directly circuits
between the methanol evaporator and the user side. Therefore, the absence of switching valves in the evaporator
greatly simplifies the design and also improves its robustness. The p-T diagram of the working cycle of the
proposed integrated design is yet to be understood.

The operational principle of the working cycle of the chiller design shown in Figure 5 can be summarized as
under:

1. Assuming the left bed (Adsorber1) is in desorption mode and the right bed (Adsorber2) is in
adsorption mode, the hot water is switched to the left bed through the valves thus raising both

12
 the temperature and pressure of the bed until the saturated vapor pressure reaches the vapor
pressure of the left absorber.

2. At this point, the vapors enter the left absorber (Absorber1) thus diluting the LiBr/H2O solution.
Then a mixture of around 50% lithium bromide and 40% water, is pumped from Absorber1
through the solution heat exchanger and then up into Generator1. This line is referred to as the
weak solution line because the lithium bromide is mixed with water. The generators are
partially filled to form a reservoir for the mixture of lithium bromide and water.

3. The hot water circulation flowing through copper coils within the reservoir of the generators
cause the lithium bromide and water to separate. The water will evaporate as vapor and rise into
the Condenser1 of the condenser section without the need of any switching valves leaving the
lithium bromide behind.

4. The lithium bromide salt particles then become concentrated inside the solution and finally sink
to the bottom due to the weight of the molecules. This causes a concentration of lithium bromide
liquid at the base of the generator and this will then flow down, through the solution heat
exchanger, and be sprayed over the absorber where it can mix with water molecules again to
make the LiBr/H2O solution with 50% lithium bromide and 40% water. However, unlike a
conventional absorption chiller where the source of water vapor entering into the absorber is
solely the generator, an additional source of water vapor in the proposed design is the desorption
bed located just below the absorber which will thus help to accelerate the dilution process of the
LiBr/H2O solution and will make a faster transport of the diluted solution from the absorber into
the generator thus saving both time and pumping energy and resulting in a higher efficiency.

5. Meanwhile, the water vapor is condensing into a liquid as in comes into contact with a cooling
coil in the Condenser1 of the condenser section. Water from a cooling tower passes through a
sealed pipe within the condenser to remove the heat of the water vapor which causes it to
condense into a liquid. This liquid water is then collected in a tray within the condenser and this
will flow through a pipe down into Evaporator1. The volume flow rate of water is controlled via
a fixed orifice. The evaporator is at a very low pressure, near vacuum condition, which causes
the water to flash and drop in temperature due to the rapid drop of pressure.

6. The water reduces temperature to an expected value of less than 4°C (40°F). The “chilled water”
line runs through the evaporator, just like a typical air- or water-cooled chiller, and this carries
all the unwanted heat of the building from the Air-handling units (AHU’s) and fan coil units, etc.
This passes through a cooling coil where the cold water from the condenser is then sprayed over
the surface to extract the unwanted thermal energy. The “chilled water” will enter the
evaporator heat pipe at around 12°C (54°F) and as the spray of the cold condensate comes into
contact with the tube of chilled water line, it will transfer its thermal energy out of the “chilled
water” and into the condensate coming from Condenser1. As the heat transfers through the tube
wall and into the condensate on the outside of the tubes, it will evaporate into steam due to the
low pressure of the chamber. As it evaporates it carries the unwanted thermal energy away with

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 it. The chilled water circuit has now given up its heat and by the time it leaves the evaporator it
is expected to be less than 7°C (45°F) and is ready to be pumped around the building to collect
more heat.

7. Another loop will recirculate any water that missed the tubes and didn’t boil. This will be pumped
back to the top of the evaporator and sprayed again until it all evaporates into steam.

8. The mass recovery process from Adsorber1 to Adsorber2 will now proceed. When the ads/des
process for both beds is complete (based upon a pre-optimized ads/des time), the hot and cold
water circulation inside the two beds is ceased and the mass recovery (MR) vacuum valve is open
following which the water vapor from the left chamber will rapidly transport to the right chamber
under the pressure and temperature gradient. By virtue of such a process, the temperature of
the left water evaporator will decrease while the temperature of the right water evaporator will
increase. The process will continue until the vapor pressures of the left and the right chambers
reach a roughly equilibrium state. Meanwhile, the water vapor desorbed from the left bed flows
into the right bed through the mass recovery valve and will be adsorbed by the adsorbent there
which can be considered as the more pressure-dependent ads/des process as compared to the
more temperature-dependent process in the preceding ads/des cycle. During the MR cycle, since
the temperature of both water evaporators is higher than that of the methanol in the methanol
evaporator, they will be thermally isolated from the methanol evaporator.

9. The secondary mass recovery process from the high-pressure generator to the low-pressure
generator will also occur simultaneously with the traditional MR cycle between the two ads/des
beds. This also occurs with the help of switching valves installed between the two generators and
will only take place if there were some residual water vapor left behind before the
commencement of the MR process in the two generators. If that is really the case, the vapor will
be transported from the generator in the high-pressure chamber to the generator in the low-
pressure chamber. This will further assist in reducing the difference in the dynamics of cooling
power generation contribution from the left chamber and that from the right chamber. Again,
during this secondary mass recovery process, the hot water circulation inside the two generators
is stopped.

10. The heat recovery (HR) process from the left bed (Adsorber1) to the right bed (Adsorber2) will
commence at the completion of the MR cycle. When the pressure in the left and the right
chambers reaches the equilibrium pressure, the mass recovery vacuum valves are closed and
cold water is circulated between the two beds in order to transport heat from the desorption
bed to the adsorption bed till a equilibrium state of temperatures between the two beds is
roughly reached. This will complete one half-cycle of the working cycle of the proposed
integrated design.

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 11. To complete the full working cycle, the steps from 1 to 10 will be repeated except that the
desorption process will take place in Adsorber2 and the adsorption process will occur in
Adsorber1.

From the working processes of the proposed integrated absorption/adsorption chiller design, it can be
noticed that although the efficiency of the system will be lowered by the presence of two evaporators
and two condensers because each of amongst them only works for half cycle-time, both the reliability
and robustness is improved considerably since the switching valves are significantly lesser in number
than the conventional adsorption refrigeration units. Similarly the gravity heat pipe type evaporator
isolates the heat exchange between the high temperature water evaporator and methanol evaporator,
which reduces the number of valves and also reduces the loss of the refrigeration power as well as
improves the reliability of the proposed integrated design. Comparing the designs shown in Figure 3 and
Figure 5, it can be declared that the chiller design shown in Figure 3 offers a continuous chiller operation
as the absorption subchiller is still functioning when the adsorption subchiller has stopped refrigeration
during the mass and heat recovery processes. However, the design is just a research-based design and
cannot be considered for commercial manufacturing. In contrast, the chiller design shown in Figure 5
suffers from an intermittent chiller operation like a conventional adsorption chiller whereby the
refrigeration is interrupted during the mass and heat recovery processes. However, it can easily modified
into a commercially manufacturable design due to its high degree of compactness and much lesser
number of switching valves.

THE HEAT PIPE TYPE EVAPORATOR

The evaporator included in the integrated chiller design shown in Figure 5 is the heat pipe type
evaporator under the condition of low pressure which has been proposed earlier by D.C. Wang [17–20].
This type of evaporator uses the external rolling wire tubes as heat transfer tubes and the capillary
function of the evaporating surface is used for the enhancement of the heat transfer performance. The
finned ratio of the rolling wire tube is fixed in the design to be around 7.49. The schematic of the
evaporator is shown in Figure 6, while the principle of operation is demonstrated in Figure 7. In Figure 6,
WE1 and WE2 are the refrigerant (water) evaporators which are also the condensation sections of the
heat pipes, and ME is methanol evaporator which is also the evaporating section of the heat pipe. The
water evaporator is composed of the semi-immersive trays, and the pipes are horizontally arranged in
different layers of water tray. The numbers of water tray and the heat transfer tubes are chosen
corresponding to the desired cooling power. The condensate is uniformly arranged to water trays
through the liquid distributor by gravity with the ratio of 1:1, and almost two-thirds of each tube is
immersed inside the condensate whereby the capillary function of the rolled tube surface makes the
entire condensate surface area exposed towards evaporation as shown in Figure 6. One side of the rolled
tubing acts as the inlet for the methanol vapor while the opposing side is used to collect the methanol
condensate. The methanol evaporator is the immersion-type evaporator while the heat transfer tubes
are made up of brass which is the same metal used for the construction of fin-tube assembly in the
adsorption beds as well as the tube-shell assembly inside the condenser. The structure of the evaporator
is multi-row and multi-slice. Chilled water flows in from the bottom of the heat transfer tubes ad flows
out from the upside of the tubes. Therefore, the temperature at the bottom of the tubes is higher than
the temperature at the top of the tubes. The liquid distribution at the top of the heat transfer tubes
15
depends on the row of the tubes between the heat transfer tubes of the upside and the downside layers.
The principle of liquid distribution is similar to that of the thermosiphon heat pipe. The liquid distribution
of the intermediate layer depends upon the overflow at the top of the tray and the confluence of the
condensate. Due to the flow passages of the methanol vapor and the methanol condensate being
separated, the cycle operates as a heat pipe loop shown schematically in Figure 8.

CONCLUSIONS

The proposed work suggests two possible designs for integration of the absorption and adsorption chiller
cycles into a single cycle so as to combine the efficiencies of both these cycles and enhance the cooling
capacity of the integrated system. One of these designs offers a continuous chiller operation as the
absorption subchiller is still functioning when the adsorption subchiller has stopped refrigeration during
the mass and heat recovery processes. However, this design is just a research-based design and cannot
be considered for commercial manufacturing. In contrast, the other design suffers from an intermittent
chiller operation like a conventional adsorption chiller whereby the refrigeration is interrupted during
the mass and heat recovery processes. However, it can easily be modified into a commercially
manufacturable design due to its high degree of compactness and much lesser number of switching
valves which is expected to enhance the reliability and user-friendliness of this design. Hence, this study
suggests the design shown in Figure 4 as the design for manufacturability in the context of the proposed
research of integrating the absorption and adsorption cooling cycles into a single cycle. The commercial
cooling efficiency of this proposed integrated cycle can only be understood from the superposition of the
ideal and the practical p-T diagram of the working cycle which can only be done by actual manufacturing
of the integrated design.

RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGY

The potential risks that could imperil the progress and success of the proposed project, along with the
methodologies that will be used to minimize and address these risks are given as under:

1. Manufacturing Drawing Generation

The generation of manufacturing drawings of each of the components of the proposed adsorption
refrigeration system is the most vital and also laborious part of the proposed project which also involves
a certain amount of risk since each manufacturing of each component finally integrates into the
assembly of the whole system. If there is a sufficiently high degree of mismatch between the drawings
of any two components which have to be assembled together, then the system design will not match
the proposed design and performance will not meet the project objectives.

This risk can be mitigated by conducting an initial phase of “Dimensional analysis of proposed design”
and preestablish that all intended dimensions of each individual component are in agreement with the
dimension of the finally assembled system. This is also displayed as Phase 2 in the Gantt Chart.

2. Manufacturing Process Flowchart Generation

Prior to beginning the actual manufacturing of each of the system components, Manufacturing Process
Flowcharts for each component have to be generated which must be in accord with the manufacturing

16
 drawings within certain predefined degree of tolerances. If any of the steps in the flowchart is not
planned in accordance with the dimensional specifications of the corresponding manufacturing
drawing, the subsequent manufacturing process will not produce the desired dimensions of the
component.

This risk can be mitigated by conducting an initial phase of “Functional analysis of proposed design”
before the flowchart generation phase and preestablish that all intended functions of each individual
component are in agreement with the manufacturing drawings generated for that particular component.
This is also displayed as Phase 3 in the Gantt Chart.

3. Allocation of Manufacturing Equipment and Personnel

The manufacturing process of each system component in accordance with the relevant manufacturing
drawing necessitates appropriate allocation of the manufacturing equipment as well as personnel who
are experienced in the manufacturing of the component. Allocation of improper equipment or personnel
can result in deviations in dimensions of the manufactured part from the dimensions specified on the
manufacturing drawing beyond the degree of allowable dimensional tolerances.

This risk can be mitigated by conduction of a feasibility study with the collaboration of the sectoral
collaborator so as to pre-allocate the most appropriate equipment and personnel for the manufacturing
of each design component in accordance with the preestablished manufacturing drawings and
flowcharts.

4. Design Optimization
Design Optimization is the process of using software(s) which use governing equations defining the
theoretical operation of the system to pre-establish the most optimum system design which can result
in the maximum achievable system performance (cooling efficiency in this case). However, even if the
software is capable of generating the most optimum design, the manufacturer is still at risk of adopting
the software-generated design for actual manufacturing purposes. The reason behind this risk are the
list of assumptions upon which the governing equations have been based in order to reduce the degree
of nonlinearity in the equations and render them solvable using numerical techniques. However, the
manufacturer has to keep in mind that these assumptions can differentiate the theoretical operation
from the real-time service operation up to an unknown limit and thus the numerically optimized design
cannot be adopted in the exact same manner for manufacturing purpose.

This risk can be mitigated by conducting the design optimization not before the actual manufacturing
but after it as dictated by the following steps:

a) Pre-establish the intended cooling capacity of the manufactured system

b) Reverse calculate the dimensions resulting in the intended cooling capacity of the manufactured system
(by heat exchanger theory)
c) Generate the manufacturing drawings based upon these dimensions
d) Manufacture the system based upon the generated manufacturing drawings
e) Measure the cooling capacity of the system and find the deviation from the intended cooling capacity

17
f) Use design optimization as a tool to bridge the gap between the experimentally measured cooling
capacity.

LIST OF REFERENCES

[1] Rawat, S., 2015. Food Spoilage: Microorganisms and their Prevention. Pelagia Research Library, Asian

Journal of Plant Science and Research, 5(4), 47–56.

[2] People's Daily Online, 15:04, March 30, 2016.

[3] Xiujuan Chen, Linhai Wu, Lijie Shan and Qiuxia Zang, Sustainability 2018, 10, 661-673;

doi:10.3390/su10030661.

[4] Prikhodko, D., Zrilyi, O., 2013. Pakistan: Review of the wheat sector and grain storage issues.

FAO/World Bank Cooperative Programme, 2013.

[5] Jan, I., Rab, A., Sajid, M., Ali, A., Shah, S.T., 2012. Response of Apple Cultivars to Different

Storage Durations. Sarhad Journal of Agriculture, 28(2), 219.

[6] D.C. Wang, Z.Z. Xia, J.Y. Wu, R.Z. Wang, H. Zhai, W.D. Dou, Study of a novel silica gel–water

adsorption chiller. Part I. Design and performance prediction, International Journal of

Refrigeration, Volume 28, Issue 7, November 2005, Pages 1073-1083.

[7] D.C. Wang, Z.Z. Xia, J.Y. Wu, R.Z. Wang, H. Zhai, W.D. Dou, Study of a novel silica gel–water

adsorption chiller. Part II. Experimental study, International Journal of Refrigeration, 2005,

28(7), 1084-1091.

[8] Jingyi Wu, Liwei Wang, and Ruzhu Wang, Adsorption Refrigeration Technology: Theory and

Application, 2014 John Wiley and Sons, Singapore Pte. Ltd.

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Figure 1. A diagram of China’s current major grain sellers and selling channels in the post-harvest period.

Table 1. Factors that affect the extent of grain loss at different steps of grain sales (9 provinces of China)

Figure 2 – Schematic Representation of the Vapor Compression Cycle.

19
Fig 3 - Preliminary design of the integrated chiller proposed in this work

20
Fig 4 – Proposed scheme for the evaluation of the cooling efficiency of the integrated design based on
the optimized cycle time.

21
 Fig. 5 – Design for manufacturability of Proposed Research.

Figure 6 – The schematic of the heat pipe evaporator used in design shown in Fig. 5 [6–8].

22
Figure 7 – The principle of operation of heat pipe evaporator [1–3].

Figure 8 – The schematic of heat pipe loop inside the evaporator.

23
Fig 9 – Gantt Chart for the proposed Research

24
 Fig 10 – Cost Allocation Chart for the Proposal

Fig 11 – Proposed Cashflow chart for the Proposal.

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IV Declaration

I have read my application. I hereby guarantee the authenticity of all information provided and am willing
to assume liability for all consequences resulting from fabrication and falsification. I hereby pledge that while
in China, I will abide by China’s laws and regulations and refrain from partaking in any activity that will harm
China’s sovereignty, social stability or the interests of its citizens.

Applicant： Najam ul Qadir Date: 14th Nov, 2021.

V、学院（部）意见

推荐学院（部）填写审核及推荐意见：

1.请根据申请人实际情况选择一项：

（1）博士毕业学校为世界排名前 100 名：□是 否；

（2）博士学位所属学科排名全球前 100 名：是 □否；

（2）博士毕业学校为“一带一路”沿线国家本国排名前 10 名：□是 否

（3）博士学位所属学科为“一带一路”沿线国家本国排名前 10 名：□是 否

推荐意见：

26
 负责人：

（公章）

年 月 日

VI、学校意见

浙江大学写审核及推荐意见：

负责人：

（公章）

年 月 日

27