VERFAHREN ZUM KÜHLEN EINES PRODUKTS, BESONDERS ZUR VERFLÜSSIGUNG EINES GASES UND VORRICHTUNG FÜR DIE DURCHFÜHRUNG DIESES VERFAHRENS

Cooling comprises a series of N sequential cycles (100, 200, 300), carried out in a vacuum, N being a whole number greater than 1 and each cycle comprising the following stages: expansion of a fluid coolant in a liquid phase from a condenser (101, 201, 301) in an evaporator (103, 203, 303) to vaporise at least part of the coolant; adsorbing the vapour phase of the fluid in at least one adsorption/desorption chamber (120, 220, 320) containing a zeolite adsorbent (Z); regenerating the adsorbent by heating to a given temperature to release the coolant vapour phase, and returning the latter to the condenser. Also included are stages in which N-1 heat exchanges are effected between the coolant fluid in the evaporator (103, 203) of one cycle and the coolant fluid in the condenser (201, 301) of the following cycle to condense and cool the fluid to an intermediate temperature between the low and high temperatures of the corresponding cycle. The product is cooled by an exchange of heat with the coolant fluid at least in the evaporator (303) of the final cycle.