2021 Fiscal Year Final Research Report
Making cold from natural rubber: a low-cost and environment friendly refrigeration alternative
| Project/Area Number |
19K04230
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Multi-year Fund |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Review Section |
Basic Section 19020:Thermal engineering-related
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| Research Institution | Tohoku University |
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Principal Investigator |
SEBALD Gael 東北大学, 高等研究機構等, 客員教授 (10792161)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
小宮 敦樹 東北大学, 流体科学研究所, 教授 (60371142)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
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| Keywords | refrigeration / rubber / elastomer / regenerative |
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| Outline of Final Research Achievements |
In order to make a refrigeration device from a so-called caloric material like natural rubber, it is necessary to convert time variations of temperature into a spatial gradient. To do so, the project focused on regenerative systems, where a fluid moves cyclically in contact to the rubber when it is cyclically stretched and unstretched. The complex heat and mass transport was solved analytical, leading to figures of merit from materials properties and geometry. The nature of the flow plays an important role, and the impact of the frequency and velocity was assessed. The importance of the heat transfer between the fluid and the rubber was quantified, and the low thermal conductivity impact on the performance was discussed. Finally, a functional heat pump prototype was developed which proved that natural rubber is a valuable candidate for next generation refrigeration systems. A prototype of 10g of natural rubber showed a temperature span of 7°C and a cooling power of 2W, with a COP>5.
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| Free Research Field |
Solid-test cooling
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| Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements |
Current refrigeration systems uses refrigerant gases based on a tradeoff between environmental impact, toxicity, and performance. Alternatively, refrigeration using caloric materials may change this paradigm. Particularly, natural rubber is abundant, cheap, and environmentally friendly.
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