ATLANTA - With the approval of projects at its 2006 Winter Meeting, the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE) announced that it has now funded $50 million in research since the merger of its two predecessor societies in 1959.

"ASHRAE research furthers technology to help keep indoor environments comfortable and productive, deliver healthy food to consumers, and preserve the natural environment," said Lee Burgett, P.E., ASHRAE president. "Only an organization such as ASHRAE has the continuity, the ability to generate research funding, and the expertise to attract researchers from disparate backgrounds and institutions. Only ASHRAE provides a forum to integrate their knowledge and transfer that knowledge to the industry to advance the science of engineering and the art of human comfort."

The first project contracted by ASHRAE was a study of condensing refrigerants in horizontal and inclined tubes at Kansas State University for $7,600. Since that time, ASHRAE has funded some 700 projects. A complete listing of the projects funded since 1960 can be viewed at www.ashrae.org/research.

ASHRAE recently approved funding totaling $1.4 million for 12 research projects. These are:

Revised Heat Gain and Capture and Containment Exhaust Rates from Typical Commercial Cooking Appliances, 1362-RP, researcher Donald Fisher, Fisher-Nickel Inc., San Ramon, Calif., 2 years, $261,000, sponsored by ASHRAE technical committee (TC) 5.10, Kitchen Ventilation.

Develop a Standard for Testing and Stating the Efficiency of Industrial Pulse Cleaned Dust Collectors, 1284-RP, Robert Burkhead and Charles Rose, Blue Heaven Technologies Inc., Louisville, Ky., 18 months, $114,617, TC 5.4, Industrial Process Air Cleaning.

Incident-Response Monitoring Technologies for Aircraft Cabin Air Quality, 1306-RP, J.B.G.A. Havermans, TNO, Delft, the Netherlands, 10 months, $98,000, TC 9.3, Transportation Air Conditioning.

Identification and Evaluation of Working Fluids for High Temperature Heating Applications (including Replacements for R-114), 1308-RP, J. Steven Brown, Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C., 1 year, $68,497, TC 3.1, Refrigerants and Secondary Coolants.

Algorithm for Smoke Modeling in Large, Multi-Compartmented Buildings, 1328-RP, A. Kashef, National Research Council Canada, Ottawa, 18 months, $80,000, TC 5.6, Fire and Smoke Control.

Intelligent Control of Combined Heat and Power Systems, 1340-RP, Itzhak Maor, PWI Energy, Philadelphia, 18 months, $100,563, TC 7.4, Building Operation Dynamics.

Common Data Definitions for HVAC&R Industry Applications, Jason Glazer, GARD Analytics Inc., Park Ridge, Ill., 18 months, $127,500, TC 1.5, Computer Applications.

Generation of Hourly Design-Day Weather Data, 1363-RP, Roger Hedrick, GARD Analytics Inc., Park Ridge, Ill., 18 months, $78,400, TC 4.2, Climatic Information.

Characterization of Effluents from Additional Cooking Appliances, 1375-RP, Thomas Kuehn, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, 18 months, $124,779, TC 5.10, Kitchen Ventilation.

Development of Design Guidelines for Hybrid Ground Source Heat Pump Systems, 1384-RP, Greg Nellis, Sandy Klein and Jeff Thornton, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wis., 18 months, $98,135, TC 6.8, Geothermal Energy Utilization.

Heat Gains from Electrical and Control Equipment in Industrial Plants, Part 2, 1395-RP, Warren White, Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kans., 2 years, $192,101, TC 9.2, Industrial Air Conditioning.

Scientific Review of Existing Information Related to the Impact of Ventilation Related to Health, 1443-RP, Hal Levin and Jan Sundell, Indoor Air Institute, Santa Cruz, Calif., 18 months, $50,000, Environmental Health Committee.

Publication date: 02/13/2006