go to top scroll for more

Projects


Projects: Projects for Investigator
Reference Number EP/N021142/1
Title Adsorption Cooling-energy Conversion with Encapsulated Sorbents (ACCESS)
Status Completed
Energy Categories Other Power and Storage Technologies(Energy storage) 100%;
Research Types Basic and strategic applied research 100%
Science and Technology Fields ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY (Chemical Engineering) 100%
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation Not Cross-cutting 100%
Principal Investigator Dr Y Li
No email address given
Chemical Engineering
University of Birmingham
Award Type Standard
Funding Source EPSRC
Start Date 01 June 2016
End Date 31 December 2019
Duration 43 months
Total Grant Value £609,488
Industrial Sectors Energy
Region West Midlands
Programme Energy : Energy
 
Investigators Principal Investigator Dr Y Li , Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham (99.998%)
  Other Investigator Professor Z Zhang , Chemical Engineering, University of Birmingham (0.001%)
Dr Y Ding , Inst of Particle Science & Engineering, University of Leeds (0.001%)
  Industrial Collaborator Project Contact , Dearman Engine Company Ltd (0.000%)
Project Contact , Hubbard Products Limited (0.000%)
Project Contact , Anna University, India (0.000%)
Web Site
Objectives
Abstract Cooling energy is a vital foundation of modern society for refrigeration and air conditioning processes of various kinds. Currently cooling consumes up to 14% of the UK's electricity, with an annual cost of more than 5 billion. Therefore only the use of solar thermal energy or low-grade waste heat instead of electricity to generate cold can lead to a sustainable way of cooling. However both present absorption refrigeration and adsorption refrigeration technologies are unsuitable for domestic application due to their complexity and inefficiency.This project will develop a new adsorption approach that combines the advantages of absorption processes and adsorption processes by encapsulating the liquid sorbents. The encapsulated sorbents offer not only a much higher sorption quantity but also a much higher sorption rate, which in combination enables the adsorption refrigeration system to be more compact and efficient for domestic applications.This project will address different levels of the scientific and technological challenges of such a new adsorption cooling technology. At a material level a two-step microencapsulation-coating approach will be developed to produce encapsulated sorbents. At the device level, the adsorption/desorption dynamics of a sorption bed based on encapsulated sorbents will be investigated both numerically and experimentally to achieve optimal designs. At a system level, an advanced system will be developed with encapsulated sorbents and related sorption beds. A lab-scale integrated system will also be constructed to investigate and demonstrate its performance for domestic applications.
Publications (none)
Final Report (none)
Added to Database 09/08/16