This article presents a transient distributed-parameter model for a two-bed, silica gel-water adsorption chiller. Compared with our previous lumped-parameter model, we found better agreement between our model prediction and experimental data. We discussed the important effect of heat recovery and the effect of extra system piping on the system performance. Time constants of sensors were also considered. We found that the chiller was able to maintain its cooling capacity over a fairly broad range of cycle times and the previous lumped-parameter model tended to under-predict the cooling capacity at long cycle times. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.