Vancouver — Researchers at Washington State University Vancouver received a grant from the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning Engineers of close to $90,000 to try to update an old idea into new solutions for two modern environmental problems: excess carbon causing global warming, and ozone depletion.
Amir Jokar, assistant professor of mechanical engineering and his graduate students will spend the next two years collecting and analyzing experimental data using chevron plate heat exchangers to condense carbon dioxide for the purpose of creating refrigeration less harmful to the earth’s atmosphere.
“Early in the 20th century, C02 compression for refrigeration was common in industrial and marine applications,” said Jokar, “but its pressure requirements were very high. C02 was slowly put aside with the introduction of chlorofluorocarbons, which started depleting the earth’s ozone layer and adding excess carbon to the atmosphere. Once CFCs were outlawed, hydroflourocarbons and hyrdochlorofluorocarbons were more widely used.”
However, even these new refrigerants still produced excess carbon that increases the greenhouse effect of trapping solar radiation within the earth’s atmosphere.
“C02 is a nature-friendly refrigerant, a far less harmful substance produced by our breath and consumed by plants,” said Jokar, already a leading expert on the chevron plate heat exchangers he plans to use. “If we can use new technology to produce a less expensive way of condensing C02 for refrigeration purposes, especially in low temperature applications, it could have an enormous global effect. We are very fortunate to have this research project now at WSU Vancouver.”
For more information the ASHRAE and this grant, visit
https://www.ashrae.org/
and
https://www.ashrae.org/doclib/20070426_1394RFP.pdf
.
