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Department of Engineering, ICT and Technologies for Energy and Transport Patent Title Method for the production of zeolite-based adsorbent foams and related applications. Ref. CNR 10456 Assignee (s): CNR, Università di Messina CNR Institute: ITAE Main Inventor: Angelo Freni Countries: IT Priority date: 14/08/2015 Abstract The present invention refers to a method for the production of zeolite-based foams, by reacting a hydride and silanol silane mixture with water and ethanol as solvent. The final product is mechanically and thermally stable and can be effectively applied on different heat exchanger types (e.g. «shell and tube», «finned tubes») made of various materials (steel, aluminium, copper, thermoplastic or thermosetting polymers). The adsorber resulting from the integration of the zeolite-based foams into the heat exchanger possesses improved heat and mass transfer properties, which can be translated to higher power density and compactness. Optimal use of the developed product is in adsorption technologies for application in the field of thermal energy utilization (adsorption heat pumps, heat recovery and heat storage). Background Nowadays, use of zeolite-based polymeric foams is limited to low-temperature applications (25-30°C), such as filtering systems. This product was on-purposely developed to guarantee high thermal and mechanical stability for application in the field of thermally driven adsorption heat pumps, activated by solar heat or waste heat, and in dehumidification and waste heat recovery (40-110°C). Technology The developed technique permits to obtain highly-porous zeolite-based foams by reacting a hydride – silanol silane mixture with water and ethanol as solvent, then adding alumino-phosphate zeolites such us SAPO34. The final product is properly treated thermally to guarantee high mechanical and thermal stability. Advantages and Applications The developed technique allows to realise heat exchanger with embedded zeolite foams presenting high mechanical and thermal stability, with the aim of improving mass transfer properties (for example, of water vapour), thanks to the highly porous framework of the foam. Such a product is suitable for applications in adsorption heat pumps, sorption storage and heat recovery systems. Development stage Invention has already been realised and tested (TRL 4). A prototype based on the invention is under development. 83