Adsorption refrigeration
Have you ever noticed that when you touch something cold, it feels nice and cool? Well, sometimes we need things to be cold, but it's not easy to make them that way. One way we can make things cold is by using something called adsorption refrigeration.
Adsorption refrigeration is like putting something in the fridge, but instead of using your fridge's compressor, we use a special material called a sorbent. The sorbent is like a sponge that can soak up or adsorb a certain gas called a refrigerant. This refrigerant is what makes things cool.
So, imagine you have a big container with one side that's really hot and one side that you want to make cool, like a drink or some food you want to keep chilled. You put the sorbent material on the hot side of the container and the refrigerant gas on the cool side.
The sorbent then starts to soak up the refrigerant gas, and as it does, it releases heat. That heat is carried away by the air around the container, so the hot side stays hot. Meanwhile, the refrigerant gas that isn't adsorbed by the sorbent travels through a tube to the cool side of the container where it expands and cools down the food or drink that you want to keep cool.
To make the sorbent start releasing the refrigerant gas so it can start absorbing more, we can heat it up. So, we use another heat source to heat up the sorbent material and get it ready to adsorb more refrigerant gas. This process can be done again and again, making sure that the cool side of the container stays cool and the hot side stays hot.
In a way, it's like playing a game of "catch and release" with the refrigerant gas. The sorbent material catches it, then releases it once it's been heated up, so it can absorb more. This way, we can keep our food and drinks cool without using a traditional fridge compressor, which can save energy and reduce our carbon footprint.
Adsorption refrigeration is like putting something in the fridge, but instead of using your fridge's compressor, we use a special material called a sorbent. The sorbent is like a sponge that can soak up or adsorb a certain gas called a refrigerant. This refrigerant is what makes things cool.
So, imagine you have a big container with one side that's really hot and one side that you want to make cool, like a drink or some food you want to keep chilled. You put the sorbent material on the hot side of the container and the refrigerant gas on the cool side.
The sorbent then starts to soak up the refrigerant gas, and as it does, it releases heat. That heat is carried away by the air around the container, so the hot side stays hot. Meanwhile, the refrigerant gas that isn't adsorbed by the sorbent travels through a tube to the cool side of the container where it expands and cools down the food or drink that you want to keep cool.
To make the sorbent start releasing the refrigerant gas so it can start absorbing more, we can heat it up. So, we use another heat source to heat up the sorbent material and get it ready to adsorb more refrigerant gas. This process can be done again and again, making sure that the cool side of the container stays cool and the hot side stays hot.
In a way, it's like playing a game of "catch and release" with the refrigerant gas. The sorbent material catches it, then releases it once it's been heated up, so it can absorb more. This way, we can keep our food and drinks cool without using a traditional fridge compressor, which can save energy and reduce our carbon footprint.