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Theoretical and experimental investigation on the thermal energy storage of an open adsorption system is presented. Laboratory experiments have been conducted, using silica gel as adsorbent, to study the effect of flow rate and inlet relative humidity on the amount of energy stored. The theoretical model, used to describe the mass and energy transfers in the system, was solved using COMSOL TM software. The model was validated against laboratory experiments performed at varying conditions. Temperature and energy density profiles during the adsorption process have been analyzed for various conditions. Results show that the storage density increases with the increase of the flow rate. However, at higher flow rates lower discharge