Abstract: A heat pump providing semi-continuous or substantially continuous refrigeration and/or heating in which liquid working fluid in a vaporizer vaporizes at a low pressure by extracting heat from a cold heat source and the vapors are adsorbed in at least one solid adsorbent body. The adsorbent is subsequently heated to desorb vapors at a high pressure, and the vapors condense by giving up heat to a heat sink at a relatively high temperature. The condensed liquid is returned via pressure-reducing means to the vaporizer, and the adsorbent body is cooled. There may be several adsorbent bodies undergoing heating and cooling out of phase with each other.

Abstract: Heat is transferred from a cold heat source to a hot heat sink by an absorption type heat pump wherein the working fluid and the absorbent liquid are capable of forming a solution having a lower critical solution temperature t.sub.c. The working fluid at a low pressure extracts heat from the cold source and is reabsorbed in the absorbent liquid to form a solution which, at a higher pressure, is heated above t.sub.c to separate the working fluid from the solution. The heat requirement for this separation is less than that for distillation in prior heat pumps.