The cost of manufacturing adsorption chillers

Adsorption chillers are more environmentally sustainable than other types of chillers but the trade-off between price and performance makes it impossible for them to seize a significant market share in cooling. The performance increase of adsorption chillers has been the primary focus so far, neglecting to assess if it would lead to a reduced manufacturing cost. This study estimates a specific manufacturing cost and an end-user price for Silica gel adsorption chillers. At a maximum Coefficient of Performance (COP) of 1 and maximum Specific Cooling Power of 300 W kg ⁻¹, the specific selling price of a Silica gel adsorption chiller is €1018 per kW of cooling power. The analysis is extended first across a range of different (COP; SCP) combinations and then on the most significant factors influencing the price. We identify a minimum annual selling volume of 14 units and the possibility for the profit to increase by 75 % if higher selling volumes are achieved. The Silica gel results define a market-accepted benchmark that is finally used to assess the economic viability of adsorption chillers integrating advanced adsorption materials, i.e. Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) and zeotypes. None of the chillers integrating advanced adsorption materials can rival Silica gel chillers in cost. The simple correlations developed should be used for checking if any future innovative adsorption material will be able compete with Silica gel when the whole chiller is considered.