Current progress in adsorption technologies for low-energy buildings

Abstract

More than half of the world's population currently lives in cities. An essential constituent of future sustainable cities is energy efficient and ecologically sound buildings which ensure high levels of comfort and convenience without reducing the standards of living. At present, a significant part of primary fossil fuels is spent for heating/cooling of buildings, thus, greatly contributing to total GHG emissions. In this paper, typical heat losses in dwellings are considered taking the United Kingdom and the Russian Federation as examples. The role of adsorption-based technologies for more rational use of heat in buildings is discussed. Fundamentals of inter-seasonal adsorptive heat storage (AHS) are briefly considered. A tentative upper limit of the AHS storage density is estimated. Current practice of inter-seasonal AHS and novel smart adsorbents promising for this emerging technology are overviewed. Since a portion of the heat losses in ventilation system significantly increases in modern buildings, a new approach to regenerating heat and moisture in this system is discussed. Finally, optimization trends of the AHS in buildings are briefly considered.

Experimental evaluation of the hydrothermal stability of a silicone/zeolite composite foam for solar adsorption heating and cooling application

“…At components level, the main activity is dedicated to the optimization of the adsorber configuration, namely, the way to integrate the adsorbent material inside an efficient heat exchanger (HEX) . There are three main possible adsorber configurations: the loose grains ones, in which the adsorbent, shaped in grains, is put in contact with the HEX; the binder‐based coating, in which the HEX is coated by a mixture of adsorbent material and a binder; the in situ crystallization coating, in which the adsorbent material is directly synthesized over the HEX surface.…”