Composite adsorbent of CaCl2 and expanded graphite for adsorption ice maker on fishing boats

Adsorption performances and thermal conductivity were tested for three types of adsorbent: Pure CaCl2 powder, simple composite adsorbent and consolidated composite adsorbent. The simple composite adsorbents show better adsorption performance because the additive of expanded graphite in CaCl2 powder has restrained the agglomeration phenomenon in adsorption process and improved the adsorption performance of CaCl2. The consolidated composite adsorbent are suitable to be used as adsorbent for ice maker on fishing boats because they have higher thermal conductivity, larger volumetric cooling capacity, higher SCP values and better anti-sway performance than simple composite adsorbents. Thermal conductivity of the consolidated composite adsorbent is 6.5–9.8 W m−1 K−1 depending on the molding pressure, ranging from 5 to 15 MPa, which is about 32 times higher than the thermal conductivity of CaCl2 powder. The volumetric cooling capacity of consolidated composite adsorbent is about 52% higher than the best result obtained for CaCl2 at the evaporating temperature of −10 °C. The SCP of the consolidated adsorbent increases of about 353% than CaCl2 powder from simulation results at Tad=30 °C and Tev=−10 °C. The consolidated composite adsorbents have good anti-sway performance and they are not easy to be scattered out when the fishing boats sway on the sea.