Advanced Barocaloric Systems for Sustainable Commercial Cooling Applications

Informations projet

BAROCAL

N° de convention de subvention: 101218476

DOI

10.3030/101218476

Date de signature de la CE 4 Juin 2025

Date de début 1 Juillet 2025

Date de fin 30 Juin 2027

Financé au titre de

• The European Innovation Council (EIC)

Coût total

Aucune donnée

Contribution de l’UE

€ 2 447 375,00

Coordonné par

Barocal Ltd
United Kingdom

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

Période du rapport: 2025-07-01 au 2026-06-30

Résumé du contexte et des objectifs généraux du projet

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.

Travail effectué depuis le début du projet jusqu’à la fin de la période considérée dans le rapport et principaux résultats atteints jusqu’à présent

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.

Progrès au-delà de l’état des connaissances et impact potentiel prévu (y compris l’impact socio-économique et les conséquences sociétales plus larges du projet jusqu’à présent)

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.