Dynamics and useful heat of the discharge stage of adsorptive cycles for long term thermal storage

Interest towards adsorption heat storage, especially for long-term (seasonal) applications, is growing. The previous studies have always treated the heat storage cycle as a fully temperature-initiated process, similarly to common adsorption cooling and heating cycles. However, in long term storage applications, the discharge stage of the cycle is initiated by a jump of pressure rather than by a traditional drop of temperature. This requires specific investigations on the useful heat recoverable as well as on the adsorption dynamics. In the present paper, an appropriate experimental methodology was applied for studying the heat discharge stage. Three well known adsorbents (Mitsubishi AQSOA FAM-Z02, silica Siogel and composite LiCl/silica) were experimentally tested in a lab-scale heat storage unit, evaluating the effect of cycle operating parameters. The results, elaborated in terms of useful heat recoverable from the charged adsorbent, highlighted that the evaporation temperature and the flow rate of heat transfer fluid have a great influence on the adsorption dynamics and the useful heat. For the silica gel and FAM Z02, the maximum heat storage capacity 450 kJ/kg is reached at the evaporation temperature of 25 °C. The composite performs better at low evaporation temperatures, allowing heat upgrade even at 5 °C. The flow rate of the heat transfer fluid has a more significant effect on FAM Z02 than on the other adsorbents, for which an optimal flow rate of 1.2 kg/min was found.