An Ionic Liquid/Refrigerant Absorption Refrigeration/Air Conditioning System for Increased Fuel Efficiency and Reduced Emissions

One common form of vehicle inefficiency is due to air-conditioning (refrigeration). The common vapor compression refrigeration (VCR) system diverts power from the drive-train to run a compressor to pressurize the refrigerant. This increases fuel usage (~10%), creates more pollution, and increases dependence on oil. An alternative is a vapor absorption refrigeration (VAR) system which uses heat to evaporate and pressurize a refrigerant dissolved in a liquid absorbent solution. However, absorption refrigeration has been confined to industrial applications due to corrosive or toxic refrigerant/absorption solvent combinations and the need for more complex equipment due to absorbent volatility. Here, a completely novel absorption refrigeration system is proposed for vehicles based upon ionic liquids. Ionic liquids (ILs) are organic salts that are liquid near ambient conditions and, as ions, have no volatility. Thus, they have been touted as environmentally-benign "green" solvents. These properties will be utilized for the first time to use waste heat from a vehicle to power the refrigeration/air-conditioning system. The goal of this investigation is to measure and model the solubility of two model refrigerants, R-134a and CO2, in a model ionic liquid and a newly designed ionic liquid with enhanced molecular interactions with refrigerants. This data will then be used to confirm the feasibility and indicate potential applications and future research directions for vehicle use. This could dramatically decrease fuel consumption and pollution for a variety of vehicles in the US and worldwide.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Sponsor Organizations:

  University of Kansas, Lawrence

  Transportation Research Institute
  2117 Learned Hall, 1530 W 15th Street
  Lawrence, KS  United States  66045
• Performing Organizations:

  University of Kansas, Lawrence

  Transportation Research Institute
  2117 Learned Hall, 1530 W 15th Street
  Lawrence, KS  United States  66045
• Principal Investigators:

  Scurto, Aaron

• Start Date: 20071000
• Expected Completion Date: 0
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• Source Data: RiP Project 16728

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Absorption; Air conditioners; Liquids; Poisons; Pollutants; Refrigeration (Structures); Research projects
• Uncontrolled Terms: Vapor absorption refrigeration
• Subject Areas: Highways; Vehicles and Equipment; I15: Environment;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01460034
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: University of Kansas, Lawrence
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Jan 3 2013 1:17PM