Adsorption Cooling-energy Conversion with Encapsulated Sorbents (ACCESS)

Lead Research Organisation: University of Birmingham
Department Name: Chemical Engineering

Abstract

Cooling energy is a vital foundation of modern society for refrigeration and air conditioning processes of various kinds. Currently cooling consumes up to 14% of the UK's electricity, with an annual cost of more than £5 billion. Therefore only the use of solar thermal energy or low-grade waste heat instead of electricity to generate cold can lead to a sustainable way of cooling. However both present absorption refrigeration and adsorption refrigeration technologies are unsuitable for domestic application due to their complexity and inefficiency.

This project will develop a new adsorption approach that combines the advantages of absorption processes and adsorption processes by encapsulating the liquid sorbents. The encapsulated sorbents offer not only a much higher sorption quantity but also a much higher sorption rate, which in combination enables the adsorption refrigeration system to be more compact and efficient for domestic applications.

This project will address different levels of the scientific and technological challenges of such a new adsorption cooling technology. At a material level a two-step microencapsulation-coating approach will be developed to produce encapsulated sorbents. At the device level, the adsorption/desorption dynamics of a sorption bed based on encapsulated sorbents will be investigated both numerically and experimentally to achieve optimal designs. At a system level, an advanced system will be developed with encapsulated sorbents and related sorption beds. A lab-scale integrated system will also be constructed to investigate and demonstrate its performance for domestic applications.

Planned Impact

The impact of the research will be wide and varied. It is highly relevant to various sectors including: (i) Academics: The fundamental investigation on encapsulated sorbents will benefit the research in microencapsulation, new sorbents synthesis, heat and mass transfer process intensification, CO2 capture, gas separation etc.; (ii) Industry: Cooling equipment companies will be able to develop more efficient and compact products; Other cold related industries will also be able to integrate the technology to their existing systems for more efficient operation; (iii) Government and Society: Household electrical energy consumption will be reduced to decrease the electricity bill, which as a whole will contribute to UK's emissions reduction. Furthermore UK will be placed a leading position for even bigger international markets; (iv) the cross-boundary nature of the project will attract students' passion and excite students' creativity to this field.

The academic impact will be achieved by article publications and conferences/events. We will keep publishing our findings in a timely manner in top peer-reviewed journals and conferences. We will also report our outcomes to other relevant programmes such as i-Stute and SuperGen programme to attract attentions in this new area. The industrial and governmental impacts are achievable through direct knowledge transfer. The outcomes from the proposed work will be patentable, for which the existing exploitation mechanisms of the University of Birmingham will be used. Patents will be considered prior to any publications. We will then continue communicating results and engaging with not only the project partners, but also other potential industrial partners. Our outcomes will also be disseminated through various knowledge transfer networks as well as application-oriented magazines to maximize the impact.

We will put mechanisms in place to ensure that each member of the team benefit from the development of their career into new areas resulting in new publications, collaborations, exposure and skills. In particular, we shall pay specific attention to the training of PDRFs with a goal of their development into independent researchers. The project will also support the training and development of visiting scholars in the related aspects at the University of Birmingham.
 
Description We had successfully developed a route and recipe for the formulation of microcapsules with selective permeability for sorption/desorption processes and also the potential applications in energy storage, refrigeration, and water-retaining pavement.
Exploitation Route Research publications
Sectors Chemicals

Construction

Energy

 
Description The research work of this project has also contributed to the formulation of an EPSRC-funded project GREEN-ICEs (EP/T022701/1), which also uses phase change slurry as a heat transfer fluid and a cold storage medium. The research outcomes from this project, together with another project EP/N000714/1 (Cryogenic-temperature Cold Storage using Micro-encapsulated Phase Change Materials in Slurries), have contributed significantly to the creation of a research and innovation staff exchange platform (CO-COOL) in collaboration with 17 academic and industrial partners globally. Part of the findings from this project were also used for a Master level module on sustainable cooling and energy storage at the University of Birmingham.
First Year Of Impact 2020
Sector Education,Energy
Impact Types Economic

 
Description The Royal Society Briefing Note for COP26 - CLIMATE CHANGE : SCIENCE AND SOLUTIONS: Low-carbon heating and cooling: overcoming one of world's most important net zero challenges
Geographic Reach Multiple continents/international 
Policy Influence Type Participation in a guidance/advisory committee
 
Description (CO-COOL) - Collaborative development of renewable/thermally driven and storage-integrated cooling technologies
Amount € 892,400 (EUR)
Funding ID 101007976 
Organisation European Commission 
Sector Public
Country European Union (EU)
Start 05/2021 
End 05/2025
 
Description (iclimabuilt) - Functional and advanced insulating and energy harvesting/storage materials across climate adaptive building envelopes
Amount € 16,431,778 (EUR)
Funding ID 952886 
Organisation European Commission 
Sector Public
Country European Union (EU)
Start 03/2021 
End 02/2025
 
Description A multi-scale, high-resolution, tri-beam facility for fast machining and 3D characterisation
Amount £1,970,212 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/T031379/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2020 
End 09/2025
 
Description Flexible Air Source Heat pump for domestic heating decarbonisation (FASHION)
Amount £1,149,351 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/V042033/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 08/2021 
End 08/2024
 
Description Flow boiling heat transfer behavior of microencapsulated phase change materials slurry and its application on battery pack thermal management
Amount £6,500 (GBP)
Organisation University of Birmingham 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 07/2019 
End 07/2021
 
Description GREEN-ICEs: Generation of REfrigerated ENergy Integrated with Cold Energy storage
Amount £1,204,098 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/T022701/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 08/2020 
End 08/2024
 
Description Heat Accumulation from Renewables with Valid Energy Storage and Transformation - HARVEST
Amount £1,504,773 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/V041665/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 09/2021 
End 03/2025
 
Description Industrial project
Amount £52,808 (GBP)
Organisation Guangzhou HY Energy Technology Limited Corp 
Sector Private
Country China
Start 03/2018 
End 03/2020
 
Description Investigation of thermo-mechanical performance of PCM incorporated Geothermal Energy Pile (PCMinGEEP)
Amount £214,354 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/S037349/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 11/2019 
End 10/2022
 
Description PATCH: Plasma Assisted Thermo-CHemical energy storage for Carnot batteries
Amount £1,065,178 (GBP)
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 06/2022 
End 06/2024
 
Description Solar-driven thermochemical fuel conversion from carbon dioxide for energy accumulation and storage
Amount £12,000 (GBP)
Organisation The Royal Society 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2021 
End 03/2023
 
Description Supergen Storage Network Plus 2019
Amount £1,012,009 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/S032622/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 08/2019 
End 09/2024
 
Description The University of Birmingham and Aggregated Micro Power Holdings PLC
Amount £153,086 (GBP)
Funding ID 511767 
Organisation Innovate UK 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 03/2020 
End 03/2022
 
Description UK-China Workshop on Renewable Energy and Latent Heat Storage Integration for Buildings
Amount £24,000 (GBP)
Funding ID 2019-RLWK11-10724 
Organisation British Council 
Sector Charity/Non Profit
Country United Kingdom
Start 01/2020 
End 12/2021
 
Description nano-Structured PCM Composites for Compact Space Heating: n-CoSH
Amount £924,591 (GBP)
Funding ID EP/P003435/1 
Organisation Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) 
Sector Public
Country United Kingdom
Start 11/2016 
End 04/2021
 
Company Name Kelvin Thermotech Ltd 
Description  
Year Established 2019 
Impact Just started, to be updated next year
 
Description Advisory Board member of 'UK Thermal Energy Challenge Network' 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach National
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact 50 participants each time to discuss the research needs and commercial opportunities of thermal energy technology.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2016,2017,2018
 
Description BBC TV World News interview 
Form Of Engagement Activity A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press)
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Public/other audiences
Results and Impact It was about global cooling challenges
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description China-UK Workshop on Renewable Energy Systems in Zero Carbon Villages 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact I was the mentor of this event
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2018
 
Description Energy Sub-Alliance in University Alliance of the Silk Road (ESA-UASR) 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Invited as a Plenary Speaker to deliver a lecture entitled 'Microencapsulation of phase change materials for cold energy storage applications'.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description IEA Task 36 - Carnot Batteries 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Study participants or study members
Results and Impact This is an international Energy Agent activities, I led of the Sub-tasks, leading to a report to be submitted this month.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2019,2020,2021,2022,2023
URL https://www.eces-a36.org/
 
Description International Summer School Lecture - Shandong University, China 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact guest lecture entitled: Phase change based Thermal Energy Storage and applications
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2021
 
Description International Summer School Lectures - Tianjin University, China 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Development and applications of phase transition based thermal energy storage and conversion technologies
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2020
 
Description Joint UK-China prospective workshop on Building Energy Efficiency 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Industry/Business
Results and Impact I was a mentor of this event held in Xi'an China
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2017
 
Description MSc module - Sustainable Cooling and the Cold Chain 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach Local
Primary Audience Postgraduate students
Results and Impact Give a guest lecture entitled: Overview of technologies for sustainable cooling and the cold chain
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2022