advances in non-vapor-compression refrigeration systems

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Purdue University

Purdue e-Pubs

International Refrigeration and Air ConditioningConference

School of Mechanical Engineering

1992

Advances in Non-Vapor-CompressionRefrigeration Systems

T. G. StaU.S. Department of Energy

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Sta, T. G., "Advances in Non-Vapor-Compression Refrigeration Systems" (1992).International Reigeration and Air ConditioningConference. Paper 170.hp://docs.lib.purdue.edu/iracc/170
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emphasiz ing the heat recuperatio n between sta ges in the heat enginepartofthe cycle.Successful develo pment of this concept th rough Phase III could result in thedevelo pmentofa commerc ially viable , highly eff ic ient, heat-a ctu atedheat pumpfor thecommercial chil le r market or other sele cted markets. This will then lead in todevelopment effort s in to other markets, such as industrialrefr igeration, heat pumps, an

dair condit ioners.Free-Pis tonSti rl in gRefr ig erator

Stir ling TechnologyCompany is develo pinganin novativeStirlin g cycle householdrefrigera tor usingflexural bearings. In this project, a proto type ofa free-p iston Stir lingrefr ig erator is -under development. Under Phase I, a conceptual designwas completed.Itin dic ated th at the Stir ling refr ig erator could be efficient, reliable, and have a lowmanufa cturingcost.

-In Phase II, furtherdesign im pro vements weremade th at increased theoverall efficiency and reduced thesizeand weightofthe Stir lingunit.Figure 1 shows a detaileddiagram of th e Sti rl in g unit,wl!ere the linear moto r is on the bott om and the Stir lin gcoole r is on the top. Aftertesting of ind iv idualsubassemblie s, such as thelinear motor, the heat accepto rand rejector, and flexuralbearings, testin g of theproto type Stir ling r efr igerato rwas conducte d to map itsperform ance over a wide rangein opera ting cond it ions .Preliminary re sults indicatethat the performance of theprototy pe Sti rling refrig era tormay compete favorably withcurrent refr ig erators usingCFCs. Figure 2 shows thepro totype unit being benchtested in which fro st hasform edonth e heat accepto r ontopofthe unit.

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refrigerators, water heaters,clo thes washers , anddishwashers, as well asintegrated appliances andheating and air conditioningequipment. In this SBIR topic,DOE was seeking in novativeapproaches and novel conceptsthat could lead to more energyefficient, econom ical, and environmentally acceptable useof these com m on appliances.Such approaches may have thepotential of reducing energyconsumption by at least 30 percent--potentially saving asmuch as four quads of energyperyear in the U.S.

Research proposals weresubmitted onadvanced applianceconcepts, non-vaporcompressionrefrigerators, novel heat pumps,and advanced components. TenPhase I research grants weremade. Four projects onadvanced heat pumps and threerefrigerator projects aredescribedbelow. Theremainingprojects were on advancedappliance concepts. They arenot discussed in this paper.Advanced H eatPumps

Figure2. A DOE-developed, free-pistonStirlingrefrigeratorbeingtestedforperformance.

The four Phase I advanced heat pum p projects include an absorption cyclesproject, akinematicStirlingheatpump,andtwoVuilleum ierconcepts. 'IDAResearch,Inc. is conducting research on improvedabsorption cycles. They are investigating theperformanceadvanta gesofaunique refrigerant/absorbentpairwhichexhibitsapotentialfor higher CO Ps than currently known absorption fluids. T he Phase I research willmeasure the propertiesfor thisrefrigerant/absorbentpa irandwill use experimental datatocarryoutcycle analysesto evaluatetheperformanceim provementfor the new system.In Phase II, additional promising refrigerant/ absorbent pairs will be investigated tooptimize the absorptio n cycle. Then, a three-tonprototypeabsorptionm achinewill bebuiltand tested to experimentally confirm the performancebenefits.StirlingTechnology Company is developing a free-piston, Stirling-cycle unita ryheatpump. Theywill developand testaproof-of-principledemonstrationmodelofanelectrically-driven Stirling-cycle heat pump. The proposed concept will use a freepiston/linear alternator concept usin g flexural bearings as a low cost alternative to gasbearings. The Phase I objectives are to select a target size for the proposed system ,

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work ing modelof theinnovative metal-h ydride refr igerato r will be tested to demonstratetechnical feas ibility.Vacuum Energy Inc. is developingan innovative superinsula tion for re frigera tors .The Phase I goa l is to demonstrate the novel superinsula tion concept capable of

achieving insulating values o f at least R-20 per inch, with upside tech nical potential ofR-40 per inch . Even though this co ncep t m ay not exceed the perfo rm ance of the bes tvacuu m insula tion concepts, th is nove l superiiisula tion is considered to have su per ior life properties and bette r price -to-perform anc e ch arac teristics than many curren tly knownadvanced vacuum insulat ion concepts, such as multi-layer vacuum sy stems, powderinsulations, and aerogels.

ACKNOW1EDGEMENTSThe research projects discussed in this paper are sponso red by th eSBIR prog ramunder the direct ion ofthe Office of Energy Resea rch, U.S. Department ofEnergy . Theauthor would like to express his ap preciation to Dr. Samuel Barish, program manager for the D epartm ent's SBIR program , an d to Dr. Uw e Rockenfellerof Rocky Resea rchand Mr. Carl Bec kett of Stir lin g Technology Company for their invaluable technicalass istance indescrib ing their respective SBIR research projec ts.

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advances in non-vapor-compression refrigeration systems

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