Tuesday, 28 June 2016: 11:00 AM-12:30 PM
Research Summit
Chair:
Kishor Khankari, Ph.D., AnSight LLC
Sponsor: Research Administration Committee
The ASHRAE Innovative Research Grant (IRG) was established in 2011 to provide seed funding for novel research deemed to have the potential to significantly advance the state-of-the-art in HVAC&R engineering. The idea is to encourage out-of-the-box research to complement the research proposed and guided by technical committees. This session provides an update on the results from the first two and only grants awarded from the program and RAC's plans for this program in the future.
1 Irg-021: Smart Nanolubricants for HVAC&R Systems
 |
Lorenzo Cremaschi, Ph.D., Auburn University |
Nanolubricants are nanoparticles finely dispersed in a lubricant – are a potential cost-neutral technology that is able to increase the energy efficiency of HVAC&R systems. This talk focuses on the nanoparticles interaction with the working fluid during phase change processes. The speaker will provide a summary of the research conducted on smart nanolubricants with the support of the ASHRAE IRG. Nanolubricants provided augmented heat transfer rate in the heat exchangers with very small pressure drop penalization. The oil in circulation with the refrigerant in air conditioning system components was transformed from an unwanted contaminant to an effective energy efficiency promoter.
2 Irg-024, Biowall Research
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William Hutzel, P.E., Purdue University |
This talk focuses on how a new innovative technology - Biofiltration - can improve air quality in residential buildings by explaining how the clean air delivery rate is computed for a botanical filter and then will explain how a biowall was implemented in a research home.
3 Future Plans for the ASHRAE Irg Program
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Kishor Khankari, Ph.D., AnSight LLC |
The ASHRAE Innovative Research Grant (IRG) program was established in 2011, but the first two, and only grants issued to date, were awarded in 2012. After 2012, RAC chose to suspend the program and allow first two IRGs to run their full three course and then reevaluate the program before soliciting new grant proposals. RAC has now completed their review of the IRG program and they will annouce through this talk what are the future plans for this program.