Research conducted at the University of Warwick, U.K., could accelerate the commercial development of technology that uses waste carbon for “green” domestic heating products and automobile air conditioning systems. Adsorption technology, which uses heat from a gas flame or engine waste to power a closed system that contains only active carbon and refrigerant, has long been considered a more efficient way to drive heat pumps or air conditioning. The process alternately heats or cools the carbon, either extracting heat from the outside air and forcing it into radiators or hot water tanks or extracting the heat from inside a car to cool the air. Until now, the big problem with the technology has been its size. An automobile air conditioner requires roughly 300 liters of volume to operate, and domestic heat pumps must be even larger. University of Warwick researchers miniaturized the technology, creating adsorption-based equipment that is up to 20 times smaller than previously possible. Bob Critoph, professor of engineering and lead researcher on the project, says the technology will create heat pumps that will reduce domestic fuel bills and CO2 emissions by more than 30%, compared to the best condensing boiler. In auto air conditioning systems, the technology is expected to reduce both fuel consumption and CO2 emissions by nearly 5%. The researchers have entered a technical partnership with Centro Richerche Fiat (Fiat Central Research) to develop the technology. A spinoff company, Sorption Energy Ltd, also is being established by Warwick Ventures, the university’s TTO, and H2O Venture Partners. Critoph expects to have an automobile air conditioning system that uses the technology ready for market in less than three years, with a gas heat pump to follow.
Source: GreenWise