Experimental Investigation of a MOF-Based Adsorption Heat Pump for Data Center Waste Heat Utilization

An experimental study was conducted on cooling performance of an adsorption heat pump (chiller) using water as working fluid for low-temperature waste heat utilization. A finned-tube heat exchanger was coated with a metal–organic framework (MOF) adsorbent and integrated into an adsorption heat pump system. The system was experimentally evaluated using low-grade waste heat as the desorption heat source, while cooling energy generated at the evaporator was utilized to assess cooling performance. Performance tests were conducted under various operating conditions, and the system performance was quantified in terms of specific cooling power (SCP) and coefficient of performance (COP). The experimental results confirmed that the adsorption heat pump system using a MOF-coated finned-tube heat exchanger can stably produce chilled water at 20 °C even at a desorption temperature of 50 °C. Based on these results, the proposed configuration shows potential for application in cooling systems utilizing low-temperature waste heat, such as data centers, photovoltaic power generation, and other waste-heat-producing facilities.