Combined adsorption refrigeration and seawater desalination (ARSD) system is an emerging way to produce refrigeration and fresh water simultaneously. Focusing on several aspects that were not discussed in previous ARSD studies

the performance of refrigeration and water production and the energy benefit of two-bed ARSD under different conditions were studied using pure silica gel and composite CaCl2-in-silica gel as adsorbent. The results show that

comparing with separate refrigeration-only and water-only systems

the energy saving rate of cogenerated ARSD is significant

typically at 9.9%—26.2% and 22.4%—35.4% for the two adsorbents. The effects of the main parameters on cooling and water production and energy saving of the system are consistent

and concretely

higher evaporation temperature and peak desorption temperature

and lower condensation temperature and bottom adsorption temperature

are more favorable. Composite adsorbents are good for the performance of ARSD

but further study is needed to clarify the stability of composite adsorbents and the influence of the salt component on fresh water quality. Increasing water recovery rate leads to decreased performance of ARSD system. The decrease rate is marginal when the recovery rate is lower than 70%.