The Future of Air Conditioning: Thermoacoustics

Can sound really make you cooler? Researchers at Pennsylvania State University sure thing so! They’ve used sound waves to make some serious cooling power, and many experts wonder if the future of air conditioning will be moving in this direction.

The phenomenon is called thermoacoustics and it’s been used to a cool an ice cream freezer at the famed Ben & Jerry’s factory. When researchers found it could cool a cooler of that size, they moved on to air conditioning. Much like vapor-compression cooling, thermoacoustic cooling takes advantage of the normal relationship that exists between temperature and pressure.

While a refrigerant moves heat, a thermoacoustic cooler would theoretically use a gas – most likely helium – which is neutral environmentally. A loudspeaker would then transform electricity into sound waves. This would move the gas back and forth repeatedly within a resonator. The result would be a compression on one side and an expansion on the other. Because the gas would absorb heat when compressed, and release it as it expanded, it could be used to remove heat from an enclosed space.

Ben & Jerry’s actually gave the research group money to try and develop an ice cream freezer that was environmentally friendly. Now a group called ARPA-E has given the research group almost $3 million in grant money and asked them to scale up the system they’ve already created. They’re hoping the result will be a full 1-ton prototype.

Keep in mind that one ton is a measure of air conditioning capacity that’s about equal to 3.5 kilowatts. Residential systems tend to use between one and five tons. So this prototype could potentially be big enough to power an entire home.

Matt Poese, one of the lead engineers on the project, and a student of acoustics, said that increasing energy efficiency of the process is one of their main goals. He also says that making air conditioners efficient is more challenging than creating efficient freezers.

At AC-World we know that the future of air conditioning is up in the air. However, we also believe that today’s best options are ductless air conditioning systems. We provide quality systems designed with both consumers and businesses in mind. If you or your company is looking for the best option on the market then AC-World should be your one-stop shop. Visit our website or contact us today for more information.