Advanced Barocaloric Systems for Sustainable Commercial Cooling Applications

Información del proyecto

BAROCAL

Identificador del acuerdo de subvención: 101218476

DOI

10.3030/101218476

Fecha de la firma de la CE 4 Junio 2025

Fecha de inicio 1 Julio 2025

Fecha de finalización 30 Junio 2027

Financiado con arreglo a

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Coste total

Sin datos

Aportación de la UE

€ 2 447 375,00

Coordinado por

Barocal Ltd
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BAROCAL (Advanced Barocaloric Systems for Sustainable Commercial Cooling Applications)

Período documentado: 2025-07-01 hasta 2026-06-30

Resumen del contexto y de los objetivos generales del proyecto

Founded in 2019 in Cambridge (UK), Barocal is revolutionizing the heating and cooling industry with cutting-edge technology based on solid barocaloric materials. This innovative approach offers a low-emission alternative to traditional vapor-compression methods by utilizing barocaloric materials and applying pressure to change temperature.
Barocal aims to lead the market in eco-friendly heating and cooling technologies, leveraging its scientific leadership.

Committed to developing ultra-high energy efficiency, low-emission systems, Barocal’s solutions benefit customers, the industry, and the planet. The company’s solid refrigerants are safe, have zero global warming potential, and aim to reduce CO2 emissions by 75% compared to the market standard by 2026, achieving 2-3 times higher energy efficiencies.

Barocal’s R&D efforts have resulted in a prototype with a high Coefficient of Performance (COP), comparable to traditional vapor compression units. Currently, the company is developing technology, targeting a temperature range of 40 degrees, and a cooling power of 1000 Watts. The prototype aims to transition commercial air-conditioning units into more efficient and cost-saving systems, featuring a modular design for wider applicability and installation. Barocal's journey involves engineering and material science challenges, with application focus tailored through collaborations with OEM partnerships. The commercial ambitions include demonstration projects to test the units in real-life scenarios, providing crucial customer data on return on investment, and de-risking planned scale-up.

Trabajo realizado desde el comienzo del proyecto hasta el final del período abarcado por el informe y los principales resultados hasta la fecha

Barocal moved into our own premises in September 2025, which were empty labs requiring to be fully kitted and are now fully fitted and operational. Using the enhanced funding, we expanded our headcount to 20, in line with the growth plans described in the Description of Action. The team has developed several new low-cost high performing barocaloric materials, developed several advanced methodologies that permit full characterisation of barocaloric materials, and designed, built and tested key engineering components that underpin high-system performance and low-cost of manufacturing.

Avances que van más allá del estado de la técnica e impacto potencial esperado (incluida la repercusión socioeconómica y las implicaciones sociales más amplias del proyecto hasta la fecha)

We developed a new technology that permits applying high pressures to ultra thin-wall pressure vessels that are based on composite materials. By switching from thick-wall pressure vessels that are based on structural steel, we have achieved highly flexible and modular heat exchangers with small values of thermal resistance that permit cooling powers in the kilowatt regime and above.

We achieved rapid pressurisation and depressurisation of our barocaloric refrigerants by assembling a new hydraulic system. Using this system in combination with our ultra-thin-wall pressure vessels and our new barocaloric refrigerants we demonstrated temperature differences of 60 K when applying and removing our standard operating pressure.

We have developed a pre-commercial prototype modular design for commercial cooling applications.