## 4 Conclusions  
Using a carbon-based composite in a consolidated form, which combines 50% carbon type Maxsorb III with 40% graphene nanoplatelets and 10% binder, was numerically examined on an adsorption system level. The system is used to produce ice from ethylene glycol at temperatures less than \(-2~{}^{\circ}\)C. The composite adsorbent was primarily proposed to enhance the thermal conductivity of Maxsorb III seeking out a higher overall adsorption system performance. The present study aimed to highlight, at the system level, the inconsistent effects of the heat transfer and mass transfer within the adsorbent bed due to using the consolidated form in an adsorption ice production system. The main outcomes can be deduced as follows:  
Using the composite adsorbent layer of 2 mm and cycle time of 430 s, which were the smallest in the investigated ranges, led to the highest specific daily ice production of \(33.27\,\mathrm{kg_{ice}\cdot kg_{ads}}^{-1}\cdot\mathrm{day}^{-1}\) with a corresponding COP of 0.115. The maximum COP of 0.3046 was attained when employing composite adsorbent thickness of 5 mm and cycle time of 1230 s. The largest adsorbent thickness of 10 mm reduced dramatically the SDIP and COP to be maximum at 11.01 \(\mathrm{kg_{ice}\cdot kg_{ads}}^{-1}\cdot\mathrm{day}^{-1}\) and 0.2632 at the cycle time of 1230 s.  
Although extending the cycle time increased the effective uptake, the kinetics played important role in determining the SDIP of the ice production system that uses carbon-based composite adsorbent in the consolidated form. On the other side, the reduction in the total number of tubes used in each adsorbent bed prompted the system energy conversion efficiency in terms of the COP due to using the use of a lower heating water flow rate and reduced energy share used for sensible heating at each cycle.  
The case of the best COP can be used when the source of energy is costly and takes the priority to be as minimum as possible. In the case of using solar energy to drive the system, the higher COP will reduce the system footprint and capital cost. From a practical point of view, using the adsorbent material in a consolidated form can ease the adsorbent bed assembling and avoid the blocking and the increase of the pressure drop due to the fine net used in the packing technique. However, future studies should focus on decreasing the mass transfer resistances of the adsorbent layer in the consolidated form to attain a higher system performance.  
The following supporting information can be downloaded at: [[https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app12157602/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app12157602/s1)]([https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app12157602/s1](https://www.mdpi.com/article/10.3390/app12157602/s1)).  
Conceptualization, M.B.E.; data curation, M.S.E., J.O., A.E.-L. and O.E.; formal analysis, J.O. and O.E.; funding acquisition, H.A.-A.; investigation, M.B.E., M.S.E. and J.O.; methodology, M.B.E.; project administration, H.A.-A.; resources, A.E.-L.; software, M.B.E. and M.S.E.; supervision, H.A.-A.; validation, M.S.E.; visualization, A.E.-L.; writing--original draft, M.B.E.; writing--review and editing, M.B.E. and O.E. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.  
This Project was funded by the National Plan for Science, Technology and Innovation (MAARIFAH), King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Award Number (ll-ENE1845-02).  
Not applicable.  
The authors declare no conflict of interest.