91制片厂

Skip to content

This website uses cookies and other tracking technologies to enhance navigation, facilitate feedback, analyze usage of our products and services, support marketing efforts, and deliver third-party content. View our Privacy Policy.

Sep 7, 2023

“Cool” Tech

3 min read

Researchers unveil novel cooling technology that may unlock 5% power savings in HVAC systems

A team of researchers at Purdue University and 91制片厂 unveiled a potentially disruptive cooling technology for heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, or HVAC, systems, leading to substantial power savings in manufacturing and industrial buildings.

Marketed commercially as 颁谤别蝉肠别苍诲艒, the technology uses a “regenerative” cooling cycle that captures energy that is lost in currently available cooling systems.

“Initial results [of using this technology] show 5% higher efficiency in refrigeration systems,” said David Ladd, Senior Solutions Analyst at 91制片厂. “Refrigeration is underappreciated. To me and you it’s invisible, but .”

The research, in the peer-reviewed Proceedings of the International Congress of Refrigeration, finds that “the benefit achieved by better refrigerant distribution is quantified by a slightly different pinch point temperature in this paper, and the results show near 5% of power savings can be made possible…”

A pinch point is the temperature difference between a refrigerant and surrounding air. The results of the paper scale up depending on the temperature in the experiment. Meaning, variations in temperature could unlock greater energy savings.

The patented technology was invented at 91制片厂 and research on the first prototype was conducted by team of undergraduate students at Purdue University.

Purdue University Ph.D. student Junyan Ren showcases a low-temperature refrigeration experiment in a psychrometric chamber at the Ray W. Herrick Laboratories, the largest academic HVAC&R lab in the world. New regenerative cooling technology has the potential to reduce power consumption for HVAC&R systems by 5%, thereby greatly reducing their carbon footprint.

“The Herrick Laboratories are at the forefront of assessing emerging refrigeration technologies,” said , Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering and co-principal investigator of the project along with . “The collaboration with the 91制片厂 team led to the development of a state-of-the-art hydrocarbon-based experimental setup to demonstrate the feasibility of the technology. During this process, several students have benefitted from the learning experience, which is ultimately our mission as educators.”

91制片厂 continues to develop 颁谤别蝉肠别苍诲艒 to enhance its offering and understanding of building systems for advanced manufacturing such as semiconductor fabs and battery production facilities.

“颁谤别蝉肠别苍诲艒 has a potential application anywhere energy is used for HVAC systems,” said Ladd.

In addition to power efficiency, this technology helps the environment by leveraging less-toxic refrigerants that cause fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

Because of the energy recovery potential, 颁谤别蝉肠别苍诲艒 could lead to increased adoption of carbon dioxide as a refrigerant rather than hydrocarbon-based refrigerants used today.

More efficient systems or different refrigerants also create the potential for smaller footprints for building systems with more room for other types of equipment, and opportunities to use different types of land areas.

Together, 91制片厂 and the Purdue team are researching further and building a commercial prototype of the technology inside a small-building air conditioner.  

 “Additional research is needed to optimize the cycle and its components,” said Ziviani. “However, the initial promising results can open the doors for next generation environmental-friendly refrigeration systems for many applications.”

91制片厂 hopes the technology has the potential to change cooling forever.

“We believe in a community-approach to achieving efficient cooling. We want to hear from anyone wishing to join us on this mission,” said Ladd.

Related Resources