Latest prototype being constructed of a compact Thermoelastic Cooling System. Image courtesy of Maryland Energy and Sensor Technologies and BTO Peer Review.
Lead Performer: Maryland Energy and Sensor Technologies, LLC – College Park, MD
DOE Total Funding: $614,592
Cost Share: $153,648
Project Term: July 1, 2015– June 30, 2017
Funding Opportunity: Building Energy Efficiency Frontiers and Innovation Technologies (BENEFIT) –2015, DE-FOA-0001166
Project Objective
Thermoelastic cooling (TEC) is recognized as one of the most promising non-vapor-compression HVAC technologies because of its high efficiency (COP~11 for TEC materials), large temperature lift (ΔT~21°C), and elimination of global warming refrigerants. Currently, the biggest hurdle preventing TEC from commercialization is difficulties in achieving an efficient way to apply large compression load (~ 900 MPa) with a small footprint with full recovery of the unloading energy. We propose to develop a novel loading mechanism that reduces the system size by a factor of 10.
Project Impact
The project aims to push the technology readiness level (TRL) of the TEC technology from 3 to 5 and to demonstrate that TEC is a commercially viable technology. Assuming the TEC technology is commercially accepted by the market with 50% market penetration and 40% energy saving by 2025, the overall savings will be 1.48 quads of primary electricity and 74 million metric tons of CO2 emissions.
Contacts
DOE Technology Manager: Antonio Bouza
Lead Performer: Dr. Ichiro Takeuchi, Maryland Energy and Sensor Technologies