Cool, dude! Save the Earth!

[unixronin]

Penn State University, in cooperation with Unilever and Ben & Jerry's, demonstrated an environmentally-friendly thermoacoustic chiller today that uses helium gas and acoustic pressure waves instead of fluorocarbon refrigerants.  The system also, apparently, has no moving mechanical parts such as valves or compressors, which should mean increased reliability.

Comments

[radarrider.livejournal.com]

This is pretty cool stuff. It sounds like it's a much more tightly-sealed system as well so gas replacement wouldn't be necessary as often, if ever.

It doesn't say anything about the relative cost, though. Helium is relatively plentiful and inexpensive since it has so many other uses so that part wouldn't cost much. Even if it takes 20 times as much as a regular helium balloon, it would still be cheap.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

It sounds like it's a much more tightly-sealed system as well so gas replacement wouldn't be necessary as often, if ever.

With helium, it'd have to be. I suspect gas top-ups will still be necessary though -- the damned stuff is so mobile it'll gradually diffuse out through the steel.

[tww1fa]

Hmmm... it doesn't say anything about the relative efficiency of the device - whether it uses more or less energy per unit of heat transferred. If the efficiency is at least as good as the current systems, then great. If we're gonna end up with something that's going to cause more fossil fuel to be burned to generate the electricity to cool the ice-cream...

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I would guess that the efficiency oughta be pretty high.  No mechanical friction, no pumping losses, and the whole system is resonant.