Is Barocaloric an Eco-Friendly Technology? A TEWI Comparison with Vapor Compression under Different Operation Modes

Aprea Aprea,Maiorino Maiorino,Masselli Masselli,Greco Greco

doi:10.3390/cli7090115

Aprea Aprea, Maiorino Maiorino + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/cli7090115

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Journal: Climate	Publication Date: Sep 18, 2019
Citations: 5	License type: CC BY 4.0

Affiliation: University of Salerno, University of Naples Federico II

Abstract

Barocaloric is a solid-state not-in-kind technology, for cooling and heat pumping, rising as an alternative to the vapor compression systems. The former is based on solid-state refrigerants and the latter on fluid ones. The reference thermodynamical cycle is called active barocaloric regenerative refrigeration (or heat pumping cycle). The main advantage of this technology is to not employ greenhouse gases, which can be toxic or damaging for the environment and that can contribute to increasing global warming. In this paper, the environmental impact of barocaloric technology was evaluated through a Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI) analysis carried out with the help of a numerical 2D model solved through a finite element method. Specifically, we propose a wide investigation on the environmental impact of barocaloric technology in terms of TEWI index, also making a comparison with a vapor compression plant. The analysis focuses on both the cooling and heat pump operation modes, under different working conditions and auxiliary fluids. The results revealed that a barocaloric system based on ABR cycle could provide a reduction of the environmental impact with respect to a vapor compression system. The addition of nanofluids contributes in reducing the environmental impact up to –62%.

Highlights

Barocaloric belongs to the solid-state not-in-kind (NIK) [1,2,3] caloric technologies for cooling and heat pumping that are rising because of their prerogative of employing solid-state materials as refrigerants [4,5,6]
The environmental impact of barocaloric technology was evaluated through a Total Equivalent Warming Impact (TEWI) analysis carried out with the help of a numerical 2D model solved through a finite element method
Scientific literature accounts only a small number of investigations on the environmental impact of caloric systems [18,19]. In this context we propose a wide investigation on the environmental impact of barocaloric technology in terms of TEWI index and we make a comparison with a vapor compression plant

Summary

Introduction

Barocaloric belongs to the solid-state not-in-kind (NIK) [1,2,3] caloric technologies for cooling and heat pumping that are rising because of their prerogative of employing solid-state materials as refrigerants [4,5,6]. The solid-state nature of the refrigerants avoids that a system based on barocaloric cooling or heat pumping could contribute in the accidental release of refrigerants in the atmosphere, contrary to what happens with vapor compression whose refrigerants have a fluid nature. Barocaloric is counted among the caloric cooling and heat pumping class of technologies, all having the common denominator of being based on solid-state refrigerants exhibiting a caloric effect [7]. BCE occurs as a solid-state transformation generated by a variation of the hydrostatic pressure of the system [14]. Such transformation could provoke an isothermal entropy change (∆ST ) or an adiabatic temperature variation (∆Tad ) in the barocaloric material, despite of the isothermal or adiabatic nature of the process

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