THERMAL MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF A METAL HYDRIDE CHILLER FOR AIR-CONDITIONING

Abstract

Thermal modelling and analysis of a metal hydride chiller have been carried out to investigate the transient transport processes of hydrogen and heat between two reactor modules and to predict the performance of the system. The hydride reaction beds are considered as coupled cylindrical tube modules in the modelling. The effects of various governing operating conditions, such as time for the cooling or regeneration processes, driving heat-source temperature, cooling water temperature, and chilled water temperature, on system performance have been extensively investigated. The optimal time of the cooling and regeneration periods could be chosen from the numerical results, considering the COP and the cooling capacity. It is also found that the COP is increased and then decreased above a certain driving heat-source temperature at a given cycle period, whereas the cooling capacity is continuously increased as the heat-source temperature is increased. The cooling water temperature has a negligible effect an the COP, but a strong effect on the cooling capacity. Both the COP and the cooling capacity are increased with an increase in chilled water temperature.