My research project focus is to identify and optimise refrigeration cycles in which air is used as the refrigerant. The technology is most widely used in air conditioning and cabin pressurisation packs within aircraft and the same thermodynamic cycle can be applied to alternative refrigeration cycles in a multitude of applications.
The origins and motivations behind the work are two-fold:
- As technology progresses and becomes more powerful, the generation of heat proportionally rises. The project sponsor, BAE Systems, wish to manage the thermal loads on their aircraft effectively and efficiently.
- The Montreal Protocol is phasing out the use of environmentally harmful refrigerants used within the vapour compression cycle - the most widely used refrigeration cycle. As a result, alternative refrigeration methods or fluids are required to meet increasing thermal management and energy demands.