New type of heat pump coming

Temp · January 2, 2023

https://www.pv-magazine.com/2023/01/02/residential-thermo-acoustic-heat-pump-produces-water-up-to-80-c/

French startup unveils new residential thermo-acoustic heat pump

French startup Equium has developed a heat pump core that works on acoustic waves and produces hot and cold air. Equium manufactures the core and works with another company that integrates it into heat pump systems. The units are scalable from 1 kW to 3 kW and are designed for residential applications.

The novel heat pump can purportedly reach higher temperatures than existing heat pumps, without the need for refrigerants. It works with a high-fidelity (Hi-Fi) speaker powered by electricity that creates an acoustic wave in a closed-pressure vessel filled with helium. The acoustic wave causes the gas to compress or expand, displacing heat from a lower temperature to a higher temperature, or vice versa. The heat pump core is filled with water, which absorbs or releases that heat.

“The acoustic wave does the work of compression and expansion of the gas that produces heat or cold, respectively,” Philippe Loyer, a product manager at Equium, told pv magazine.

Loyer said the heat pump can generate domestic water at up to 80 C. He claims that one of the key benefits of the acoustic heat pump, in comparison with traditional units using refrigerants, is its ability to reach very high or low temperatures.

“Traditional heat pumps use refrigerants with a temperature phase. They a have temperature limit, which is the temperature of the changing phase from liquid to gas of the refrigerant,” said Loyer. “In our core, the helium stays in gas form. Because helium remains a gas until -300 C, we can achieve higher temperatures inside our heat pump core.”

The heat pump purportedly works with all external heat sources, including air sources from -15 C to 50 C. Given that its core is filled with water, it works best as a water-source and geothermal heat pump. To be used as an air-source heat pump, the unit can be equipped with a fan that transfers the heat from the air to the water, according to Loyer.

The heat pump has a coefficient of performance (COP) of three to four, which means that it produces 3 kW to 4 kW of heat for each kilowatt of power it consumes. Equium is targeting 8 kW to 10 kW of thermal power for its heat pump core, Loyer said. It has a 30-year lifetime, with an easy installation process. The acoustic heat pump also offers better modulation than traditional units.

“We have the same efficiency as traditional heat pumps, but we have better modulation thanks to acoustic transfer,” said Loyer.

Traditional fixed-output units cycle between on and off multiple times a day, switching between zero and maximum capacity to achieve the right temperature balance. But the new heat pump modulates its output to continuously provide the desired temperature.

“The output regulation of a classical heat pump is very energy consuming. On our acoustic system, the regulation is very easy,” Loyer explained. “If you want less power, you can just decrease the volume of the Hi-Fi speaker, to 10 decibels (dB), 20 dB, or 30 dB for example.”

Equium claims that the heat pump system is completely silent, despite the use of a speaker to generate the acoustic wave. The level of noise is reportedly lower than 30 dB – the equivalent of a whisper.

“The sound our system produces stays confined inside the core, so you cannot hear it from outside,” said Loyer.

Equium is now conducting field tests for its thermos-acoustic heat pump. It expects to launch it in the second half of 2023.

PhilT · January 2, 2023

"high-fidelity (Hi-Fi) speaker powered by electricity"🤣

Very interesting review. As a sound engineer I'm fascinated, and slightly amused, but on a serious note we do need this kind of innovation.

SteamyTea · January 2, 2023

Did I not post up about this a while back?

JANUARY SALE

Menu

Heat pump uses a loudspeaker and wet strips of paper to cool air

A prototype heat pump that uses water and sound to cool is three times as efficient as previous comparable designs

TECHNOLOGY 6 December 2022

By Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

Air condition system facility outdoor units heat pump on roof of building

A new type of heat pump can match current air conditioning systems in terms of efficiency

Shutterstock/Richard Peterson

A heat pump that uses sound to cool is three times as efficient as previous designs.

Heat pumps cool buildings by removing heat from the inside and pushing it outside, like a refrigerator. But unlike a refrigerator, they can also heat an enclosed area by reversing the process. To top it off, heat pumps are typically more efficient than conventional heating and cooling devices.

Guy Ramon at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and …

Subscribe today

in our January Sale

VIEW JANUARY SALE OFFERS

No commitment, cancel anytime*

Offer ends 14th March 2023. *Cancel anytime within 14 days of payment to receive a refund on unserved issues.

Existing subscribers, please log in with your email address to link your account access.

MORE FROM NEW SCIENTIST

Man hiker solo on the mountain during golden hour reading e-book

The best popular science books out in 2023

Discover a quantum world of numbers, the amazing new science of the human electrome and long views of Earth and its wonders in this look at the best non-fiction coming this year

HUMANS

Aerial view of the Potaro River running across the Kaieteur National Park which sits in a section of the Amazon rainforest in the Potaro-Siparuni region of Guyana, taken on September 24, 2022. - Despite the dispute with Guyana, the Esequibo region is a destination of migration from Venezuela. Guyana defends a limit established in 1899 by an arbitration court in Paris, while Venezuela claims the Geneva Agreement, signed in 1966 with the United Kingdom before Guyanese independence, which established the basis for a negotiated solution and ignored the previous treaty. But the Guyanese government is promoting a process in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to ratify the current borders and put an end to the dispute. (Photo by Patrick FORT / AFP) (Photo by PATRICK FORT/AFP via Getty Images)

2023 could mark a turning point for the Amazon rainforest

New political leaders in Brazil and Colombia have promised to protect the rainforest, raising hopes of saving the ecosystem from becoming savannah

ENVIRONMENT

A factory will soon start making green food from air and electricity

Solar Foods will grow bacteria using carbon dioxide from the air and hydrogen produced by renewable energy, a process more efficient than growing plants

ENVIRONMENT

Bird flu vaccination may be the only way to have free-range chickens

Tens of millions of poultry are being kept indoors or have been slaughtered because of avian influenza. Without widespread vaccination of birds, free-range chickens and eggs could be off the menu forever in some countries

LIFE