Objective
The HEAHP project is concerned with research leading to a new type of reversible heat pump particularly adapted to the climatic conditions of the countries of the European South. The generation of year round comfort conditions in the European South requires in most cases heating in Winter and cooling in Summer. Typical solutions for homes, small offices and shops leads usually to the installation of window units, at least one per room. This creates the aesthetically unbearable profusion of air conditioning devices, protruding from most facades of many buildings in this region of Europe. It also presents the electricity generation utilities with high demand peaks at times when they are less desirable, and represent in general a poor solution from the energetic efficiency point of view. Additionally, the brands currently present, or being agressively marketed in the region, originate outside Europe and use technologies, particularly refrigerants, that are being, or will in the near future be phased-out in Europe.
Typical manufacturers of heat pumps and air conditioning equipment in Europe are small to medium sized firms, that assemble parts of many provenances to build their products. Being small and dependent, mostly deprived of the means to develop their own technologies, they are at the whim of technology developers elsewhere. Therefore, the essential objective of this project is to provide European manufacturers, in particular those in the South of Europe, with modern technical solutions suitable and optimized for the climatic conditions of the region.
The means proposed to achieve this, involve the experimental characterization and computational optimization of the equipment components necessary to arrive at solutions for the above listed problems.
The other, no less important objectives are to:
1. Replace environment damaging refrigerants by a natural substance, such as propane, that is already being adopted in Northern and Central Europe;
2. Design, and test a machine size, that being able to serve several rooms or apartments, represents an advantageous alternative to the window units;
3. Support technologically the European manufacturers of heat pumps and air conditioning equipment in their development of new, competitive and more efficient products with the capabilities required in the markets of the European South;
4. Eventually endow the South European manufacturers of this kind of equipment with a technology, they may use to compete successfully in other world markets, where the solution developed is also adequate.
The proposal defines in detail the tastks and activities, as well as their allocation to the various partners, required to achieved the stated objectives. It shall be noted that while the essential activities will be carried out in and by institutions of South Europe, care has been taken to involve only European manufacturers of components, and the expertise of people from countries where some of the technologies here considered are also being developed
Fields of science
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
CSC - Cost-sharing contractsCoordinator
28003 2 Madrid
Spain