DEVELOPING A SILICAGEL-WATER ADSORPTION CHILLER FOR MICRO-TRIGENERATION
Recently small-scale thermally driven chillers have gained a lot of interest because their potential to save primary energy, to reduce electricity peaks on the grids and to improve cost-benefit ratio of micro-CHP units when combined into tri-generation systems. ECN has developed a small-scale (output < 5 kW) silicagel-water adsorption chiller for comfort cooling for both stationary and mobile applications. At the moment a new prototype is being built (output 2.5 kW) for application in a micro-trigeneration system for residential application. The adsorption chiller will be driven by heat from a Stirling micro-CHP. The total system will be installed in an ECN research house, including the option of so-called solar cooling with solar collectors, and monitored extensively. A search for partners to commercialize the chiller for the built environment is ongoing.