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ATP
FOCUSED PROGRAM: Vapor Compression Refrigeration Technology
Potential for U.S. Economic Benefit.The technology for making things and places cooler has come a long way since the 1920s when icemen still delivered heavy blocks of ice from central ice-making facilities to household iceboxes. Now, air conditioners are as commonplace in developed countries as telephones and light bulbs, and they constitute big business. Manufacturing of air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment in the United States alone each year amounts to a $22 billion industry (about 40 percent of the world's production), and employs about 125,000 people. Conventional technology, however, is falling short on enough engineering, environmental, consumer, and technological fronts that refrigeration and air-conditioning engineers have entered an innovate-or-wither phase. According to industry projections, new demand for air- conditioning and refrigeration products by developing countries will fatten the global market by an estimated $150 billion over the next 10 years. With competition from Japanese makers, who now have 40 percent of the market, and from those in Europe, China, and Korea, the U.S. share of this emerging market will depend heavily on who innovates faster and better. The goal of the ATP focused program in Vapor Compression Refrigeration Technology is to help U.S. manufacturers build the technical basis for developing lower cost and better performing products than all foreign competitors. Besides bolstering industrial competitiveness for these manufacturers, the program promises additional broad-based benefits. Increasing the average energy efficiency of air-conditioning and refrigeration equipment could simultaneously save industry users billions of dollars in energy costs and significantly reduce the emission of carbon dioxide and other pollutants as a result of reduced fuel consumption at power plants. Moreover, the focused program includes air-cleaning technologies, including chemical systems that absorb or catalytically destroy many of the indoor air pollutants thought to be responsible for the "sick building syndrome." The Environmental Protection Agency estimates that as many as 50 percent of commercial buildings have problems with their indoor air and that improving air quality could yield annual savings of several billion dollars in the form of improved worker productivity, decreased public health costs, and reduced maintenance costs. Technology Challenge. The key to success for U.S. corporations in future international competition in this sector will be the ability to develop more efficient, quiet, and compact air-conditioning and refrigeration systems with the lowest achievable environmental impact. The technical challenge centers on the vapor compression cycle, which is the principle of operation for most of the cooling equipment now manufactured and in use both in individual residences and industrial settings. During the cycle, liquid refrigerants—among them the soon-to-be-phased-out chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs)—expand in a metal coil. This is an energy-absorbing process that extracts heat from the space to be cooled. A mechanical compressor then consolidates the expanded gas and pushes it into a condenser where the vapor liquefies, which is an energy-releasing procedure that prepares the refrigerant for another run of the cooling cycle while releasing the heat associated with the condensation process away from the cooling system. The overall technical goals are to increase system efficiency by 25 percent, to reduce the noise levels and size of refrigeration components by the same amount, and to design and manufacture a system in which no refrigerant leaks. Better efficiency translates into lower operating costs for users and less environmental impact. Compactness and quiet operation are critical user-convenience factors in the competition for the global consumer base. The no-leak goal is important for several reasons. One is to reduce maintenance costs due to leakage, which has been a chronic problem for decades. Another reason leakless systems are necessary is that new, more environmentally friendly refrigerants often consist of several components that can escape from leaky systems with different degrees of ease, yet the system's optimal efficiency depends on maintaining the balance of the refrigerants. Industry Commitment. Following several meetings and workshops of industry members in 1994, the air-conditioning and refrigeration industry approached NIST with a proposal for an ATP focused program. Industry spends about $63 million each year on R&D, almost all of which is devoted to product changes associated with the imminent phaseout of CFCs, efficiency improvements mandated by energy legislation, and testing candidate refrigerants for their long-term potential to affect the global climate. In December 1993, 170 companies represented by the Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Institute submitted a "white paper" to the ATP articulating the riskier technological challenges their industry faces, the commercial opportunities these advances could create, and their eagerness to share the costs in a program that would greatly leverage their own commitment. Significance of ATP Funds. Most of each company's R&D resources are devoted to environmental and regulatory needs and the international agreement to phaseout CFCs. By providing a solid basis for industry collaboration on high-risk, cutting-edge technologies, the ATP can catalyze development that no individual company can undertake. ATP support will assist the industry in its own efforts to get a jump on the emerging worldwide markets that are rapidly developing. Additional Information. For information about eligibility, how to apply, and cost-sharing requirements, contact the Advanced Technology Program: (800)-ATP-FUND
(800)-287-3863 For technical
information, contact: Date created:
January 1999 |
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ATP
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