Two research teams from the Universitat Jaume I of Castelló and the Public University of Navarre have developed a passive thermoelectric subcooling device for self-contained refrigeration units that improves the efficiency and performance of the refrigeration circuit.
The invention is particularly applicable to the commercial refrigeration sector, specifically to self-contained refrigeration units used to preserve perishable products, as it not only reduces the energy consumption of the equipment but also increases its control capacity.
The new device can be easily integrated into self-contained refrigeration units. It is compact, robust and silent, offers a high level of control thanks to thermoelectric mechanisms, and has no moving parts, which means minimal maintenance. Its main advantages include improved energy efficiency of the refrigeration unit, ease of integration, low maintenance requirements and the absence of noise.
The device, which has been validated at experimental scale in a laboratory environment and protected by a European patent application, is seeking collaboration with companies to further develop and adapt the technology to specific applications through tailored agreements, followed by a licensing agreement.
The research carried out to develop this new device has been funded by the Spanish State Research Agency (Knowledge Generation Projects 2021) through the coordinated project "Advanced multistage refrigeration systems for low-temperature applications" (HELTHA), with reference numbers PID2021-126926OB-C21 and PID2021-126926OB-C22. Within this coordinated project, the research teams have also tested new mixtures of natural CO₂-based refrigerants with significant efficiency improvements, as well as new configurations of cascade refrigeration cycles incorporating the thermoelectric subcooling devices described above.
The research team, led by Daniel Sánchez García-Vacas and Rodrigo Llopis Doménech from the Thermal Engineering Group (GIT) , includes at the Universitat Jaume I Ramón Cabello López, Daniel Calleja Anta, Laura Nebot Andrés, Rafael Larrondo Sancho and Manel Enric Martínez Ángeles. The Thermal and Fluid Engineering Group (ITF) at the Public University of Navarre participates in the project with a research team made up of Patricia Aranguren Garacochea, Álvaro Casi Satrústegui and Iñaki Alzuguren Larraza, with Antonio Rodríguez García as the principal investigator.
The Universitat Jaume I, through the Research and Knowledge Transfer Service (SEGIT) and the Vice-Rector's Office for Transfer, Innovation and Scientific Outreach, facilitates the scientific and technological transfer of its research staff with the aim of advancing its mission to transmit and disseminate scientific, technical, social and humanistic knowledge.