Adsorption heat pumps have considerably sparked attentions in recent years. The present paper covers the working principle of adsorption heat pumps, recent studies on advanced cycles, developments in adsorbent-adsorbate pairs and design of adsorbent beds. The adsorbent-adsorbate pair features for in order to be employed in the adsorption heat pumps are described. The adsorption heat pumps are compared with the vapor compression and absorption heat pumps. The problems and troubles of adsorption heat pumps are classified and researches to overcome the difficulties are discussed

The effects of coupling agents on the mechanical, morphological, and water sorption properties of luffa fiber (LF)/polypropylene(PP) composites were studied. In order to enhance the interfacial interactions between the PP matrix and the luffa fiber, three different types of coupling agents, (3-aminopropyl)-triethoxysilane (AS), 3-(trimethoxysilyl)-1-propanethiol (MS), and maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) were used. The PP composites containing 2-15 wt% of LF were prepared in a torque rheometer. The tensile properties of the untreated and treated composites were determined as a function of filler loading. Tensile strength and Young's modulus increased with employment of the coupling agents accompanied by a decrease in water absorption with treatment due to the better adhesion between the fiber and the matrix. The maximum improvement in the mechanical properties was obtained for the MS treated LF composites. The interfacial interactions improved the filler compatibility, mechanical properties, and water resistance of composites. The improvement in the interfacial interaction was also confirmed by the Pukanszky model. Good agreement was obtained between experimental data and the model prediction. Morphological studies demonstrated that better adhesion between the fiber and the matrix was achieved especially for the MS and AS treated LF composites. Atomic force microscope (AFM) studies also showed that the surface roughness of LFs decreased with the employment of silane-coupling agents

Using natural Luffa cylindrica fibers as adsorbent removal of methylene blue dye from aqueous solutions at different temperatures and dye concentrations was investigated in this study. Thermodynamics and kinetics of adsorption were also investigated. The adsorption isotherms could be well defined with Langmuir model instead of Freundlich model. The thermodynamic parameters of methylene blue (MB) adsorption indicated that the adsorption is exothermic and spontaneous. The average MB adsorption capacity was found out as 49 mg/g and average BET surface area of fibers was calculated as 123 m(2)/g.

The thermal degradation and flammability of intumescent fire-retardant polypropylene matrix composites consisting of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) as an acid source and blowing agent, pentaerythritol (PER) as a carbonisation agent and natural zeolite (clinoptilolite rich, Gördes II) as a synergistic agent were examined. APP and PER combinations were examined at different ratios (0.25, 0.33, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 4) for optimisation of the formulation for flame retardancy. The zeolite was incorporated into flame retardant formulation at four different concentrations (1, 2, 5, and 10 wt%) to investigate the synergism between the flame retardant materials. The thermal degradation and flammability of composites were characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and by limiting oxygen index (LOI) measurement and horizontal burning (HB) tests. A synergistic effect in flame retardancy was observed when natural zeolites were used in combination with APP and PER.Izmir Institute of Technology (IYTE-34- 2002

An intumescent system consisting of ammonium polyphosphate (APP) as an acid source and blowing agent, pentaerythritol (PER) as a carbonific agent and natural zeolite (clinoptilolite, Gördes II) as a synergistic agent was used in this study to enhance flame retardancy of polypropylene (FR-PP). Zeolite was incorporated into flame retardant formulation at four different concentrations (1, 2, 5, and 10 wt%) to investigate synergism with the flame retardant materials. Filler content was fixed at 30 wt% of total amounts of flame retardant PP composites. Zeolite and APP were treated with two different coupling agents namely, 3-(trimethoxysilyl)-1-propanethiol and (3-aminopropyl)-triethoxysilane for investigation of the influence of surface treatments on mechanical properties and flame retardant performance of composites. Maleic anhydride grafted polypropylene (MAPP) was used for making polypropylene hydrophilic. Flammability of FR-PP composites was measured by the determination of limiting oxygen index (LOI). The LOI values reached to a maximum value of 41% for mercapto silane treated APP:PER (2:1) PP composite containing 5 wt% zeolite. The tensile strength of composites was increased by the addition of MAPP and elongation at break of composites was increased with silane treatments

The effects of metal piece additives on effective thermal conductivity and diffusivity of an unconsolidated adsorbent bed in which adsorbent is silica gel were investigated. The metal piece additives were copper, brass, aluminum and stainless steel with two different sizes as 1.0-2.8 mm and 2.8-4.75 mm. The effective thermal conductivity and diffusivity of the mixed bed were predicted by comparison of the experimental results with the solution of dimensionless heat conduction equation for the bed. The performed experiments showed that the addition 15wt% of aluminum pieces with sizes between 1.0 and 2.8 mm enhances the effective thermal diffusivity and conductivity of a pure silica gel bed by 157% and 242%, respectively. © 2010 Elsevier Ltd and IIR.State Planning Organization of Turke