A method of operating a cooling system that has at least one evaporator containing a refrigerant and at least one adsorbent chamber containing adsorbent configured to provide adsorption of vaporized refrigerant from the at least one evaporator in a cooling mode and provide desorption of the refrigerant to the at least one evaporator in a recharging mode, the method including; controlling the adsorption and desorption of the refrigerant of the at least one adsorbent chamber between the cooling modes and recharging modes during a cooling cycle; ceasing desorption of the refrigerant from the at least one adsorbent chamber; allowing adsorption of the vaporized refrigerant from the at least one evaporator; and maintaining the at least one adsorbent chamber in an adsorbed state at the end of the cooling cycle in a storage mode.

Portage storage containers including controlled evaporative cooling systems are described herein. In some embodiments, a portable container including an integral controlled evaporative cooling system includes: a storage region, an evaporative region adjacent to the storage region, a desiccant region adjacent to the outside of the container, and an insulation region positioned between the evaporative region and the desiccant region. A vapor conduit with an attached vapor control unit has a first end within the evaporative region and a second end within the desiccant region. In some embodiments, the controlled evaporative cooling systems are positioned in a radial configuration within the portable container.

Provided is an adsorption refrigerator that achieves high cooling capacity while reducing the volume the device as a whole occupies. The adsorption refrigerator according to the present embodiment has a configuration in which only one adsorption reactor is positioned directly above a first lower-layer adsorption reactor and a second lower-layer adsorption reactor. In addition, the adsorption refrigerator according to the present embodiment performs sequence control in which one of the first lower-layer adsorption reactor and the second lower-layer adsorption reactor keeps performing an adsorption process, whereas the other one changes processes of preheating, desorption, precooling, and adsorption.

A method of operating a cooling system that has at least one evaporator containing a refrigerant and at least one adsorbent chamber containing adsorbent configured to provide adsorption of vaporized refrigerant from the at least one evaporator in a cooling mode and provide desorption of the refrigerant to the at least one evaporator in a recharging mode, the method including; controlling the adsorption and desorption of the refrigerant of the at least one adsorbent chamber between the cooling modes and recharging modes during a cooling cycle; ceasing desorption of the refrigerant from the at least one adsorbent chamber; allowing adsorption of the vaporized refrigerant from the at least one evaporator; and maintaining the at least one adsorbent chamber in an adsorbed state at the end of the cooling cycle in a storage mode.

A sorption heat pump having an evaporator containing a working fluid to evaporate the fluid to produce a gas, a sorber containing a sorption material to sorb the gas during a sorption phase, a vapor pathway connecting the evaporator and sorber, and a thermal control unit controlling the rate of vapor flow between the evaporator and sorber through the pathway, and being selectively operable to permit, stop and restart the flow of gas through the pathway. The pump may be used with a compartment storing temperature sensitive material. The evaporator may be positioned inside and the sorber outside the compartment, or the sorber may be positioned inside and the evaporator outside the compartment. The pump may be used in an apparatus including both cool and warm compartments, with an insulation layer in each. A method is disclosed for reusing the pump after the sorption material has been sorbed.