SBIR Phase I: Hydrologic Open Cooling System (HOCS) for low-energy refrigeration

该小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是开发一种能够实现低能耗，弹性冷却的技术，该技术能够减轻环境影响和传统制冷的高成本。迫切需要可持续的冷却解决方案，为依赖二氧化碳（CO2）排放系统的氢氟碳化合物制冷剂提供替代品。该项目旨在开发一种水文开放式冷却系统（HOCS），该系统可以利用传统系统10%或更少的电力将冷却室保持在1.5-5°C。该项目释放了环境热量作为能源储备，并抵消了传统冷却系统的巨大能源成本。该技术可以支持高效制冷，而运营成本和电力需求仅为传统系统的一小部分。中小型超市采用这种冷却技术将大大节省电力成本。在更广泛的范围内，在各种制冷应用中广泛实施这一创新将减少温室气体排放和能源消耗，满足可持续技术的需求，以支持粮食和能源安全，同时维护气候目标。SBIR第一阶段项目开发了一种可再生的封闭容器冷却系统，包括可充电真空绝缘和新型两级热泵。该项目涉及1）开发一种不使用真空泵的可充电真空隔热技术; 2）创建一个连接到完全可再生冷却系统的改进型杜瓦瓶，以实现冷却内腔;以及3）评估使用环境热量恢复为冷却系统供电的解决方案的能力，以允许其重复使用。这种新型热泵技术基于两个异步阶段：第一阶段利用浓度梯度作为驱动机制，实现热传递，而第二阶段利用环境热量在第一阶段稀释后重新浓缩盐溶液。这两个阶段一起实现了封闭容器的冷却。该项目将研究能够产生大的热梯度的系统配置，使杜瓦瓶内的温度保持在1.5-5°C。该系统的优点包括1）系统在没有电力的情况下继续冷却的能力，使得其对来自流动天气、野火和地震的停电有弹性; 2）冷却能力的无损存储;和3）该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的学术价值和更广泛的影响评审标准。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is the development of a technology enabling low-energy, resilient cooling that is capable of mitigating the environmental impacts and high costs of conventional refrigeration. There is a critical need for sustainable cooling solutions that provide an alternative to hydrofluorocarbon-based refrigerants that rely on carbon dioxide (CO2)-emitting systems. This project seeks to develop a Hydrologic Open Cooling System (HOCS) that can maintain cooling chambers at 1.5-5°C utilizing 10% or less of the electrical power of conventional systems. This project unlocks environmental heat as an energy reservoir and offsets significant energy costs of conventional cooling systems. The technology can support highly efficient refrigeration at a fraction of the operational cost and electrical demand of traditional systems. Adoption of this cooling technology by small- to mid-size supermarkets would enable significant cost savings for electricity. On a broader scale, widespread implementation of this innovation across a variety of refrigeration applications would reduce greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption, meeting the need for sustainable technologies to support food and energy security while upholding climate goals.This SBIR Phase I project develops a renewable, closed container cooling system incorporating a rechargeable vacuum insulation and a novel two-stage heat pump. This project involves 1) developing a rechargeable vacuum insulation technology that does not use vacuum pumps; 2) creating a modified dewar connected to a fully renewable cooling system enabling cooled inner chambers; and 3) evaluating the ability to use environmental heat to restore the solutions that power the cooling system allowing their reuse. The novel heat pump technology is based on two asynchronous stages: the first utilizes concentration gradients as a driving mechanism enabling thermal transfer, while the second uses environmental heat to re-concentrate saline solutions after dilution during stage one. Together, these two stages enable cooling of a closed container. The project will examine system configurations able to generate large thermal gradients, enabling maintenance of 1.5-5°C temperatures within the dewar. Advantages of this system include 1) the system’s ability to cool continues in the absence of electricity making it resilient to power outages from itinerant weather, wildfires, and earthquakes; 2) lossless storage of cooling capacity; and 3) significantly reducing the greenhouse gas footprint compared to conventional refrigeration.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.