Experimental evaluation of a multi-tubular adsorber operating with activated carbon-methanol

It is the purpose of this work to present an experimental analysis of the thermodynamic cycles in a multi-tubular adsorber of a solar-powered icemaker that uses activated carbon-methanol pair. The experimental cycles were obtained from tests made under different meteorological conditions-mainly the conditions pertaining to cloud cover degree. The system was tested in a Brazilian region close to the Equator (7 degrees 8'S, 34 degrees 50'WG) during the period October-December 2003. On a typical clear sky day, the regenerating temperature reached 94 degrees C, the condensed methanol mass amounted to 3 kg, and the machine produced 6 kg of ice/m(2) day at -3.3 degrees C, with a net solar coefficient of performance (COPs) of 0.085. These results were compared to those obtained from a similar prototype that utilizes the same adsorptive pair and an usual flat adsorber, tested in Tunisia (35 degrees 45'N, 10 degrees 45'WG).