Feasibility Study of Solar Adsorption Technologies for Automobile Air-Conditioning

An adsorption system driven by solar heat or waste heat can help to eliminate the use of ozone depletion substances, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and hydro-chlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs). In recent years, adsorption system has witnessed an increasing interest in many fields due to the fact that this system is quiet, long lasting, cheap to maintain and environmentally benign. Although adsorption system is not commonly used for automobile air conditioning, adsorption-cooled mini-refrigerators have been marketed for recreational transports (motor homes, boats, etc). Hence, there exists a need for a creative design and innovation to allow adsorption technology to be practical for air conditioning in automobile. The objective of this paper is to present a comprehensive review on the past efforts in the field of solar adsorption refrigeration systems and also the feasibility study of this technology for automobile airconditioning purpose. It is a particularly an attractive application for solar energy because of the near coincidence of peak cooling loads with the available of solar power.