[FRIAM] new thermal tech

[Steve Smith]

Gary Schiltz wrote:
> Amusing indeed (the PV magazine article). The pump “reportedly
> produces 3 kW to 4 kW of heat for every kilowatt of power it
> consumes”. Say what?

this is just the typical way that a "heat pump" works, not by creating 
the energy in the power, just by concentrating it... ejecting 
warmer/cooler air/water on the opposite side of the system...

The wider range of air-source functioning: -15 to 50C  and being 
hydromechanically suitable for liquid-sourcing (e.g. run water through a 
pipe buried in the ground, or ground-water being pumped for irrigation) 
makes it yet more suitable.

First glance on the article suggests a better duty cycle with(out) the 
kinds of moving/friction parts compressors come with (conventional 
heat-pump)...

I don't know much about the environmental or practical implications of 
using Helium as a working fluid...  huge molecular size compared to H, 
but a fraction of most other working gasses?

The 3-4/1 coefficient of performance implied by the article numbers is 
roughly 10-14EER  or 12-17SEER  to compare with commercial 
HVAC/Mini-Split numbers...   so in the same general range?

I've never looked hard, but have been curious about an 
ammonia-working-fluid heat-source refrigeration system (usually used as 
an off-grid/RV Propane fridge).  Seems like concentrated solar-thermal 
driving refrigeration (or heat pumping in reverse?) would be pretty 
elegant?   Ammonia as a working fluid also seems lower-industrial and 
presumably more environmental than it's more industrial cousins?  I knew 
people growing up who lived without electric service who had these funny 
looking refrigerators which had a pilot-light-sized flame in the back 
that "made them cool"... from a propane tank... crazy talk I thought  then!

>
> On Fri, Jan 6, 2023 at 8:28 AM Roger Critchlow <rec at elf.org> wrote:
>> I was amused to see an announcement of a thermoacoustic heat pump  the other day:
>>
>>    https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/01/02/residential-thermo-acoustic-heat-pump-produces-water-up-to-80-c/
>>
>> then an ionocaloric refrigerator announcement turns up this morning
>>
>>    https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2023/01/03/cool-new-method-of-refrigeration/
>>
>> It seems that you won't recognize your air conditioner in a few years.
>>
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