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

规划资助摘要：环境应用制冷剂技术中心工程研究中心(地球)第1部分：PG：地球将汇集来自研究社区、行业和教育机构的领导人，以解决与制冷和空调(RAC)未来相关的关键科学、工程、劳动力发展和政策问题。RAC系统在现代社会中广泛存在，使新鲜食品的运输、药品的储存和建筑物的降温成为可能。美国在设计和制造制冷空调系统方面处于全球领先地位，美国化学工业在创造氢氟碳(HFC)制冷剂取代消耗臭氧的氯氟烃(CFCs)方面一直是主要的创新者。鉴于RAC目前占全球能源消耗的近20%，迫切需要开发新的、更节能的制冷技术。与此同时，由于全球变暖的担忧，目前的HFC制冷剂正在逐步淘汰。因此，需要开发对环境安全的创新的新制冷剂和冷却技术，以及能够经济和安全地回收和再利用数百万公斤已部署的氢氟碳化物制冷剂的有效工艺。地球将是应对这些挑战的关键国家资源。这笔规划赠款将使利益攸关方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专题。全球制冷剂市场的创新通常是由美国大公司引领的，但他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并在这一领域开发尖端技术是地球的关键组成部分，将有助于美国保持其在具有重要战略意义的制冷剂行业的创新和制造方面的领先地位。地球将促进教育机构、行业、国家实验室、贸易团体和政策制定者之间的伙伴关系的形成。据估计，未来20年逐步减少氢氟碳化物将在美国创造15万个新的就业机会，增加390亿美元的制造业，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。它将培养一种多样性和包容性的文化，并在创新生态系统中创造价值，这种生态系统将延伸到ERC的整个生命周期。第2部分：我们设想的ERC将解决基本的科学、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。三个主要问题将塑造地球的推进力。首先，当前一代制冷剂(HFC)的高全球变暖潜力要求制冷和空调行业重新考虑平衡性能、效率、安全、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，但只有一小部分被合成和测试。其次，绝大多数RAC系统是基于百年前的蒸汽压缩技术，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，价值数十亿美元的数百万公斤高全球变暖潜力氢氟碳化合物目前正在世界各地使用，其中大多数是共沸混合物。目前还没有分离和回收这些有价值的化合物的方法。地球将汇集高保真实验、先进的原子模拟、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的氢氟碳化物回收工艺。来自堪萨斯大学、圣母大学、马里兰大学、利哈伊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，可以汇集一个由来自学术界、工业界、国家实验室、专业组织和政策制定者的参与者组成的多学科团队来准备这项提案。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势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.