Multi-bed adsorption cycle with the internal heat recovery between the condenser and the evaporator is investigated for desalination application. A numerical model is developed for a 4-bed adsorption cycle implemented with the master-and-slave configuration and the aforementioned internal heat recovery scheme. The present model captures the reversed adsorption/desorption phenomena frequently associated with the unmatched switching periods. Mesoporous silica gel and water vapor emanated from the evaporation of the seawater are employed as the adsorbent and adsorbate pair. The experimental data and investigation for such configurations are reported for the first time at heat source temperatures from 50 °C to 70 °C. The numerical model is validated rigorously and the parametric study is conducted for the performance of the cycle at assorted operation conditions such as hot and cooling water inlet temperatures and the cycle times. The specific daily water production (SDWP) of the present cycle is found to be about 10 m/day per tonne of silica gel for the heat source temperature at 70 °C. Performance comparison is conducted for various types of adsorption desalination cycles. It is observed that the AD cycle with the current configuration provides superior performance whilst is operational at unprecedentedly low heat source temperature as low as 50 °C.

Environment-friendly adsorption (AD) cycles have gained much attention in cooling industry and its applicability has been extended to desalination recently. AD cycles are operational by low-temperature heat sources such as exhaust gas from processes or renewable energy with temperatures ranging from 55 °C to 85 °C. The cycle is capable of producing two useful effects, namely cooling power and high-grade potable water, simultaneously. This article discusses a low temperature, waste heat-powered adsorption (AD) cycle that produces cooling power at two temperature-levels for both dehumidification and sensible cooling while providing high-grade potable water. The cycle exploits faster kinetics for desorption process with one adsorber bed under regeneration mode while full utilization of the uptake capacity by adsorbent material is achieved employing two-stage adsorption via low-pressure and high-pressure evaporators. Type A++ silica gel with surface area of 863.6 m2/g and pore volume of 0.446 cm3/g is employed as adsorbent material. A comprehensive numerical model for such AD cycle is developed and the performance results are presented using assorted hot water and cooling water inlet temperatures for various cycle time arrangements. The cycle is analyzed in terms of key performance indicators i.e.; the specific cooling power (SCP), the coefficient of performance (COP) for both evaporators and the overall system, the specific daily water production (SDWP) and the performance ratio (PR). Further insights into the cycle performance are scrutinized using a Dühring diagram to depict the thermodynamic states of the processes as well as the vapor uptake behavior of adsorbent. In the proposed cycle, the adsorbent materials undergo near saturation conditions due to the pressurization effect from the high pressure evaporator while faster kinetics for desorption process is exploited, subsequently providing higher system COP, notably up to 0.82 at longer cycle time while the COPs for low-pressure and high-pressure evaporators are recorded to be 0.33 and 0.51, respectively. © 2016 Elsevier Ltd.