In this study, a transient mathematical model of a 4-bed adsorption chiller using Maxsorb III as the adsorbent and CO2 as the refrigerant has been analyzed. The performances of the cyclic-steady-state system are presented for different heating and cooling water inlet temperatures. It is found that the desorption pressure has a big influence in the performances due to the low critical point of CO2 (T-c =31 degrees C). With 80 kg of Maxsorb III, the CO2 based adsorption chiller produces 2 kW of cooling power and presents a COP of 0.1, at driving heat source temperature of 95 degrees C along with a cooling temperature of 27 degrees C and at optimum desorption pressure of 79 bar. The present thermal compression air-conditioning system could be driven with solar energy or waste heat from internal combustion engines and therefore is suitable for both residential and mobile air-conditioning applications. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.