OPTIMIZATION OF A CHEMICAL HEAT-PUMP - ENERGETIC DENSITY AND POWER

For a chemical heat pump based on reversible solid-gas reactions, two criteria are very important to reach good performances i.e. the energetic density and power, both linked to the reactive medium implementation. An experimental optimization is done on the solid gas pair CaCl2/CH3NH2 adding a filling material (expanded graphite) which improves the heat and mass transfer. The results obtained under fixed conditions of temperature and pressure present a maximum in the curve power vs packing density of the solid beyond 25% (in mass) of binding material. The interpretation of the behaviour that the reactive mixing of the solid-gas reactor undergoes could be explained by the theory of percolation.