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.