Eurammon, an advocate for the use of natural refrigerants, has announced the winners of its Natural Refrigeration Award dedicated to refrigeration technology using the natural refrigerant R-744 (carbon dioxide).

First place went to Jörg Nickl, who wrote his doctorate on “Development of an expander/compressor for the transcritical refrigeration process with carbon dioxide as refrigerant” at the Technical University of Dresden, Germany. The coefficient of performance (COP) of transcritical refrigeration circuits with carbon dioxide can be improved by 20 percent by replacing the throttle valve with an expander, Nickl said. So he designed a low-frequency, three-stage expander that is directly connected to a compressor. In practical trials, the doctoral student was able to demonstrate the increased efficiency.

Christine Junior, from the Technical University Carolo-Wilhelmina in Brunswick, Germany, won second place with her diploma thesis entitled “Energetic evaluation of different R-744 loop concepts.”

Arash Soleimani Karimabad, who obtained his Masters of Science degree from the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Sweden, with a thesis entitled “Experimental investigations of an ammonia/carbon dioxide cascade system for supermarket refrigeration” came in third.

“All three prize winners addressed technical issues relating to the natural refrigerant carbon dioxide,” said Thomas Spänich, member of the executive board of Eurammon.

“Operators, designers and manufacturers are greatly interested in refrigeration technology using carbon dioxide, as it is an ideal refrigerant in today’s energy and environmental situation. Carbon dioxide does not affect the ozone layer and, with a reference value of 1, has a low direct global warming potential. The winners’ findings all contribute towards making carbon dioxide practical as a refrigerant for an increasing number of applications.”

Eurammon’s Natural Refrigeration Award recognizes the best scientific dissertation or thesis on the topic of natural refrigerants. By awarding this prize, the European initiative for natural refrigerants hopes to encourage young scientists to work on sustainable refrigeration and air conditioning solutions.

Publication Date: 01/21/2008