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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Ángel Pardiñas

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Guest Editor

Energy Division, Galicia Institute of Technology, 15003 A Coruña, Spain
Interests: refrigeration and heat pumps; heat transfer; thermodynamics; energy efficiency; thermal energy storage; natural refrigerants

Dr. Håkon Selvnes

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Guest Editor

Department of Thermal Energy, SINTEF Energy Research, Trondheim, Norway
Interests: refrigeration and heat pumps; heat transfer; thermodynamics; energy efficiency; thermal energy storage; natural refrigerants

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We find ourselves at the heart of a critical environmental challenge, and it is imperative that we explore and embrace sustainable technologies capable of mitigating climate change and reducing our carbon footprint. Within the domain of heat pumps and refrigeration systems, energy efficiency stands as a pivotal aspect of minimizing energy consumption. Furthermore, heat pumps can play a vital role in the decarbonization of the heating demand in numerous industrial processes. This transformation must be grounded in the utilization of natural refrigerants, which emerge as the only long-term and sustainable alternative, considering past experiences with potent greenhouse gases such as hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and the growing concerns associated with PFAS from hydrofluoroolefins (HFOs). In this context, we are delighted to announce a forthcoming Special Issue dedicated to "Advances in Heat Pumps and Refrigeration Systems with Natural Refrigerants".

Topics of interest for publication include, but are not limited to, the following:

Innovative Heat Pump Designs: Exploring novel heat pump configurations and technologies that maximize energy efficiency while utilizing natural refrigerants, with particular attention paid to the crucial aspect of charge minimization, which holds significant relevance in the context of hydrocarbons or ammonia.
Refrigeration System Optimization: Conducting research into the optimization of cooling and refrigeration systems to minimize their environmental impact.
Decarbonization of Industrial Processes: Undertaking studies on high and very high-temperature heat pumps based on natural refrigerants and their implementation in industrial processes, supplemented by instructive case studies if relevant.
Innovative Components for Heat Pumps and Refrigeration Systems: Presenting articles focused on novel components designed to enhance the efficiency, reliability, or safety of vapor compression systems (heat pumps and refrigeration systems).
Novel Control Algorithms for Heat Pumps and Refrigeration Systems: Research on aspects related to the control of these units and thermal processes, including the utilization of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and other emerging technologies, and their potential to enhance efficiency.
Techno-economic Analyses: Assessing the economic feasibility and life-cycle environmental impact of adopting natural refrigerants across various applications.

Dr. Ángel Pardiñas
Dr. Håkon Selvnes
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Energies is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

refrigeration systems
heat pumps
natural refrigerants
decarbonization
energy efficiency

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

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18 pages, 4523 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Performance Analysis of an R744 Supermarket Refrigeration System Integrated with an Organic Rankine Cycle

by Ayan Sengupta, Paride Gullo, Mani Sankar Dasgupta and Vahid Khorshidi

Energies 2023, 16(22), 7478; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16227478 - 7 Nov 2023

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Abstract

The energy and economic performance of a transcritical R744 booster supermarket refrigeration system with and without parallel compression and integrated with an organic Rankine cycle (ORC) was investigated. The results obtained were compared with those of a transcritical R744 booster supermarket refrigeration system with and without parallel compression and those of a conventional R404A direct expansion (DX) system. Nine different locations, namely Copenhagen (Denmark), Paris (France), Athens (Greece), New Delhi (India), Phoenix and Miami (US), Madrid (Spain), Bangkok (Thailand) and Riyadh (Saudi Arabia), were considered. It was discovered that the ORC is effective only at ambient temperatures higher than 27 °C when operating without parallel compression and 28 °C when operating with parallel compression. By using the heat recovered from the gas cooler to fuel the ORC, the latter was found to be capable of covering between 4% and 24% of the electricity demand of the R744 system in warm and hot climates (without parallel compression). The simple payback period of the additional investment associated with the ORC was found to be between 1.4 and 2.5 years in warm climate locations, while the same was found to be less than about 0.5 years in locations experiencing hot climatic conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Heat Pumps and Refrigeration Systems with Natural Refrigerants)

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Review

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31 pages, 18793 KiB

Open AccessReview

Ultra-Low-Temperature Refrigeration Systems: A Review and Performance Comparison of Refrigerants and Configurations

by Muhammad Zahid Saeed, Luca Contiero, Stefanie Blust, Yosr Allouche, Armin Hafner and Trygve Magne Eikevik

Energies 2023, 16(21), 7274; https://doi.org/10.3390/en16217274 - 26 Oct 2023

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Abstract

During the last decade, many industrial and medical applications have shown a requirement for low-temperature-cooling usage (from −40 to −80 °C), which cannot be efficiently obtained via the conventional refrigeration systems usually employed for medium-temperature applications (from 0 to −40 °C). A proper ultra-low-temperature (ULT) refrigeration system design is essential to achieve the desired output. The performance can be maximised via the suitable selection of the configuration and refrigerant for a specific temperature range. This work contributes a detailed overview of the different systems and refrigerants used in ultra-low-temperature applications. Different systems, such as single-stage vapour compression, multi-stage, cascade, auto-cascade, and air refrigeration cycles, are presented and discussed. An energy analysis is then carried out for these systems identifying the optimal system design and refrigerant selection to achieve the highest performance. This paper aims to provide the reader with a comprehensive background through an exhaustive review of refrigeration systems suitable for ultra-low-temperature applications. The effectiveness of these systems is proven numerically, mainly based on the temperature level and purpose of the application. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advances in Heat Pumps and Refrigeration Systems with Natural Refrigerants)

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