Sustainable cooling research using activated carbon adsorbents and their environmental impact

Abstract

Conventional vapour compression system is one of the most utilized cycles in refrigeration and air conditioning systems, due to its compact size, the relatively low running cost, the high coefficient of performance and the wide range of the operating temperatures. Nevertheless, the system suffers from the high initial cost and the high-energy consumption. Unlike the vapour compression cycle, adsorption heat pumps have the advantage of utilizing waste heat reducing the energy consumption and the carbon emissions. Activated carbon is a porous adsorbent material that can be efficiently used in low temperature adsorption refrigeration systems. This chapter reviews the recent developments in the compact adsorption cooling systems using activated carbon regarding the enhancement of the material properties, the design of the sustainable adsorption systems and their environmental and cost perspectives.