Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH)

环境应用冷媒技术中心工程研究中心（EARTH）第1部分：PG: EARTH将汇集研究界、工业界和教育机构的领导人，解决与制冷和空调（RAC）未来相关的关键科学、工程、劳动力发展和政策问题。RAC系统在现代社会广泛应用，使新鲜食品的运输、药品的储存和建筑物的冷却成为可能。美国在设计和制造RAC系统方面处于全球领先地位，美国化学工业在制造氢氟碳化物（HFC）制冷剂方面一直是一个重要的创新者，这种制冷剂取代了消耗臭氧层的氯氟碳化物（CFCs）。考虑到RAC现在占全球能源消耗的近20%，迫切需要开发新的更节能的冷却技术。与此同时，由于对全球变暖的担忧，目前的氢氟烃制冷剂正在逐步淘汰。因此，有必要开发对环境安全的创新制冷剂和冷却技术，以及能够经济、安全地回收和再利用数百万公斤已使用的氢氟烃制冷剂的高效工艺。地球资源将是应对这些挑战的关键国家资源。这项计划拨款将使利益相关者能够评估影响替代制冷剂和新型冷却循环发展的各种重要主题。全球制冷剂市场的创新通常是由美国大公司主导的，但它们的产品市场是全球性的，而且增长迅速。了解这一全球市场格局和开发这一领域的尖端技术是EARTH的关键组成部分，将有助于美国在具有重要战略意义的制冷剂行业保持其创新和制造的领导地位。EARTH将促进教育机构、工业、国家实验室、贸易团体和政策制定者之间建立伙伴关系。据估计，在未来20年逐步减少氢氟碳化物的使用将创造15万个新的就业机会，并使美国的制造业增加390亿美元，同时防止全球气温上升0.5摄氏度。ERC的基本组成部分将超越研究，包括所有参与阶段的技术培训和劳动力发展。它将培养一种多元化和包容性的文化，并在创新生态系统中创造价值，这将超越ERC的生命周期。第2部分：我们设想的ERC将解决基础科学、工程、教育和政策问题，这些问题对于应对RAC基础设施面临的许多挑战至关重要。三个主要问题将决定地球的发展方向。首先，当前一代制冷剂（HFCs）的高全球变暖潜力要求RAC行业再次考虑平衡性能，效率，安全性，环境问题和许多其他因素的新流体。可能用于RAC循环的小分子及其混合物的数量几乎是无限的，但只有一小部分已被合成和测试。其次，绝大多数RAC系统都是基于已有百年历史的蒸汽压缩技术，但包括利用磁热、电热和机械热效应的固态技术在内的新方法可能会给该领域带来革命性的变化。第三，目前世界各地正在使用数百万公斤价值数十亿美元的高全球变暖潜能值氢氟碳化物，其中大多数是共沸混合物。目前还没有办法分离和回收这些有价值的化合物。EARTH将汇集高保真实验、先进原子模拟、数据科学方法和工艺设计方面的专家，以开发新型制冷剂、节能冷却设计和优化HFC回收工艺。来自堪萨斯大学、圣母大学、马里兰大学、里海大学和南达科他大学的核心规划小组拥有所需的专业知识和经验，可以将来自学术界、工业界、国家实验室、专业组织和政策制定者的多学科团队聚集在一起，准备这项提案。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Abstract for Planning Grant: Engineering Research Center for Environmentally Applied Refrigerant Technology Hub (EARTH)Part 1:PG: EARTH will bring together leaders from the research community, industry, and educational institutions to address critical scientific, engineering, workforce development, and policy issues related to the future of refrigeration and air conditioning (RAC). RAC systems are widespread throughout modern society, enabling transportation of fresh foods, storage of medicines, and cooling of buildings. The U.S. is a global leader in designing and manufacturing RAC systems, and the U.S. chemical industry has been a major innovator in creating the hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants that replaced ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Given that RAC now accounts for nearly 20% of worldwide energy consumption, there is an urgent need to develop new and more energy efficient cooling technologies. At the same time, current HFC refrigerants are being phased out due to global warming concerns. There is thus a need to develop innovative new refrigerants and cooling technologies that are safe for the environment and efficient processes that enable the economical and safe recovery and reuse of millions of kilograms of deployed HFC refrigerants. EARTH will be a critical national resource to address these challenges.This planning grant will enable stakeholders to assess a variety of important topics impacting the development of alternative refrigerants and novel cooling cycles. Innovation in the global refrigerants market is often led by major U.S. companies, but the markets for their products are global and growing rapidly. Understanding this global market landscape and developing cutting edge technologies in this space are critical components of EARTH and will help the U.S. maintain its leadership in innovation and manufacturing in the strategically important refrigerants industry. EARTH will facilitate the formation of partnerships between educational institutions, industry, national labs, trade groups, and policy makers. The phase down of HFCs over the next two decades is estimated to create 150,000 new jobs and increase manufacturing by $39 billion in the U.S. while preventing global temperature from rising by 0.5 ºC. The ERC’s foundational components will go beyond research to include technical training and workforce development at all participant stages. It will foster a culture of diversity and inclusion and create value within an innovation ecosystem that will extend beyond the lifetime of the ERC.Part 2:The ERC we envision will address the basic science, engineering, education, and policy issues that are essential for meeting the many challenges facing the RAC infrastructure. Three major issues will shape the thrusts of EARTH. First, the high global warming potential of the current generation of refrigerants (HFCs) is requiring the RAC industry to again consider new fluids that balance performance, efficiency, safety, environmental concerns, and a host of other factors. The number of small molecules and their mixtures that could potentially be used in RAC cycles is almost limitless, but only a small subset have been synthesized and tested. Second, the vast majority of RAC systems are based on hundred-year-old vapor-compression technology, but new approaches including solid-state technologies that utilize magnetocaloric, electrocaloric, and mechanocaloric effects could revolutionize the field. Third, millions of kilograms of high global warming potential HFCs valued in the billions of dollars are currently in use around the world, and most consist of azeotropic mixtures. There is currently no means of separating and recovering these valuable compounds. EARTH will bring together experts in high fidelity experiments, advanced atomistic simulations, data science methods, and process design to develop novel refrigerants, energy-efficient cooling designs, and optimized HFC recovery processes. The core planning group from the University of Kansas, University of Notre Dame, University of Maryland, Lehigh University, and University of South Dakota has the needed expertise and experience to bring together a multi-disciplinary team composed of participants from academia, industry, national laboratories, professional organizations, and policy makers to prepare this proposal.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.