Descripción del proyecto
Calefacción y refrigeración con tecnología ecológica
La Unión Europea se enfrenta a un reto importante para descarbonizar el sector de la calefacción y la refrigeración, algo fundamental para alcanzar sus objetivos climáticos. Los sistemas actuales, incluidas las bombas de calor y los acondicionadores de aire, se basan en la tecnología de compresión de vapor que utiliza refrigerantes con un alto potencial de calentamiento global. La enmienda de Kigali al Protocolo de Montreal obliga a cambiar a refrigerantes ecológicos, pero estas alternativas naturales suelen presentar problemas como la inflamabilidad y una eficiencia reducida en climas cálidos. En este contexto, el equipo del proyecto E-CO-HEAT, financiado por el Consejo Europeo de Investigación, ofrece una solución innovadora mediante el avance de la tecnología elastocalórica, un método sin compresión de vapor que utiliza refrigerantes seguros de estado sólido. El equipo del proyecto E-CO-HEAT, desarrollado a partir del proyecto del Consejo Europeo de Investigación StG SUPERCOOL, pretende perfeccionar esta tecnología, mejorar su preparación y desarrollar una estrategia global para que la industria la adopte.
Objetivo
Decarbonization of the heating and cooling sector with renewables is a crucial step for the EU to achieve its energy and climate goals. Although heat pumps are considered renewable technology, they are all (as well as cooling and air-conditioning devices) based on relatively inefficient vapor-compression technology that still uses environmentally harmful refrigerants. The Kigali Amendment mandates phasing out high-global warming potential refrigerants, such as hydrofluorocarbons, in the EU by 2036 and replacing them with eco-friendly natural refrigerants. However, natural refrigerants have their own limitations, including flammability, toxicity, high operating pressure, and lower efficiency in hot climates. Recently, elastocaloric technology has emerged as the most promising non-vapor-compression alternative. It is based on safe, environmentally benign solid-state refrigerants and may offer higher efficiency than vapor-compression.
The ERC PoC E-CO-HEAT project evolved from the ERC StG SUPERCOOL project, in which we explored fundamental aspects of elastocaloric technology. Based on this research, we have developed a fatigue-resistant elastocaloric regenerative cooling and heating device with breakthrough performance and an efficient drive mechanism. This device serves as the foundation for the E-CO-HEAT project, with the main objective to elevate the readiness level of elastocaloric technology in various areas, including technical aspects, customer engagement, business strategy and IPR. After fine tuning the elastocaloric device, it will undergo industry-relevant testing to achieve Technology Readiness Level 5 and IP protection of the most innovative solutions. These achievements will form the basis for disseminating the results to our (future) potential industry partners, elaborating a comprehensive business model and pursuing later-stage funding opportunities to further improve the readiness level of the elastocaloric technology and bring it closer to the market.
Palabras clave
Programa(s)
- HORIZON.1.1 - European Research Council (ERC) Main Programme
Régimen de financiación
HORIZON-ERC-POC - HORIZON ERC Proof of Concept GrantsInstitución de acogida
1000 Ljubljana
Eslovenia