PNNL has received the funding as a part DOE’s Advanced Research Projects Agency–Energy’s (ARPA-E) Building Energy Efficiency Through Innovative Thermodevices, or BEET-IT program.
PNNL will work with Power Partners of Athens, Georgia, and Arkema of Philadelphia over the next three years on this research project that will involve the designing, assembling and testing of an adsorption chiller by using PNNL’s metal-organic heat carrier technology and new types of refrigerants.
Cooling is one of the primary sources of energy consumption in buildings, which account for 40% of energy use in the US and for approximately 40% of the nation’s carbon dioxide emissions.
The project aims to address this issue by conducting research on adsorption chiller, a type of air conditioner that is powered by waste heat or by heat from solar collectors using almost no electricity to operate and is commercially available.
The project is focused on making this system more suitable for commercial buildings application through the use of PNNL’s advanced materials to make them smaller, efficient and affordable.
Mike Davis, associate laboratory director of energy and environment at PNNL, said: “Improving building energy efficiency may well be our fastest and lowest-cost method of meeting increasing demand for energy. PNNL is pleased to be a recipient of ARPA-E funding for this work, as well as participating in two additional and related ARPA-E projects.”
