Experimental testing of a small sorption air cooler using composite material made from natural siliceous shale and chloride

A sorption air cooler experimental setup including a reactor and fin tube condenser/evaporator was built. The reactor was developed with inner copper fins and dual layers of curing copper meshes. Composite material made by impregnating LiCl into the mesopores of Wakkanai Siliceous Shale (WSS) micropowders was packed between the intervals of two fins. Heat transfer was enhanced by the attached fins, and the dual layers of curing meshes installed between each interval of two fins were designed to improve the sorbate mass transfer. On the other hand, the fin-tube evaporator/condenser with fins outside is valuable for improving the convective heat transfer between the functional water inside the evaporator/condenser and the flowing outside heat transfer medium, air. The sorption capacity of the composite material increased dramatically after being impregnated with LiCl. Among the four tested samples, WSS + 40 wt% LiCl exhibits the best performance. A regeneration temperature of 80 °C appears to be optimal for obtaining both a high COP and high specific cooling power. A lower condensation temperature can increase the cooling power. The sorption and desorption times of 60 min yield a reasonable compromise between cooling COP and mass specific cooling powers. The developed sorption air cooler system using WSS + 40 wt% LiCl can store heat at temperatures below 100 °C and produce cooling energy with a cooling coefficient of performance (COP) of approximately 0.3. - Highlights: • Mesoporous composite material was developed using natural siliceous shale and LiCl. • Properties of the developed material were measured. • A sorption air cooler experimental setup including an inner-fin reactor and a fin tube condenser/evaporator was built. • The performance of the composite material in the sorption air cooler was examined. • The sorption air cooler system can produce cooling energy with a cooling COP around 0.3