Search for Articles:
Title / Keyword
Author / Affiliation / Email
Journal
Article Type
 
 
Advanced Search
 
Section
Special Issue
Volume
Issue
Number
Page
 
7.3
3.2
Journals
Energies
Special Issues
Advanced Developments and Challenges in Refrigeration and Energy Systems
energies-logo
Submit to Special Issue Submit Abstract to Special Issue Review for Energies Propose a Special Issue

Journal Menu

► Journal Menu

Journal Browser

► Journal Browser
share announcement

Advanced Developments and Challenges in Refrigeration and Energy Systems

A special issue of Energies (ISSN 1996-1073). This special issue belongs to the section "J: Thermal Management".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 5 June 2026 | Viewed by 3058

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Luca Cirillo

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Naples Federico II, P.le Tecchio 80, 80125 Napoli, Italy
Interests: elastocaloric models; solid-state cooling and heat pumping; magnetocaloric; elastocaloric; electrocaloric; barocaloric; renewable energy; earth to air heat exchangers; ground source heat pump; vapor compression; phase change materials
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The growing focus on climate change, energy efficiency, and environmental sustainability has brought the refrigeration sector—both industrial and residential—into the spotlight. Refrigeration is a key component of modern life, essential for food preservation, climate comfort, and a wide range of industrial processes. However, its environmental footprint remains significant due to the use of high-GWP refrigerants and the energy-intensive nature of traditional systems. This has prompted the research community to explore new pathways for improving the efficiency of refrigeration technologies and reducing their ecological impact.

In recent years, innovative refrigeration techniques have emerged as promising alternatives to conventional vapor-compression systems. Among these, magnetocaloric, elastocaloric, thermoelectric, and electrocaloric refrigeration stand out for their potential to provide clean, compact, and efficient cooling solutions. At the same time, advancements in components, control strategies, and thermal storage and integration with renewable energy sources are revealing new perspectives for sustainable refrigeration. Both experimental investigations and numerical studies play a central role in understanding the behavior of these systems and in guiding their development toward real-world applications.

This Special Issue aims to collect contributions focused on the development and optimization of sustainable refrigeration technologies across multiple applications and contexts. Our objective is to provide a platform for sharing the latest results in the field, encouraging the exchange of ideas and experiences among researchers working on innovative solutions for a future of low-impact refrigeration.

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

  • Alternative refrigeration technologies: magnetocaloric, elastocaloric, thermoelectric, electrocaloric, etc.
  • The use of low-GWP and natural refrigerants.
  • Solar-assisted and hybrid refrigeration systems.
  • Energy-efficient solutions for buildings and industrial processes.
  • The integration of refrigeration with thermal energy storage (including PCM).
  • Waste heat recovery and system-level optimization.
  • Experimental and numerical analyses of refrigeration systems and cycles.
  • Advanced control strategies and smart refrigeration.
  • Life cycle assessment and environmental impact studies.
  • The coupling of refrigeration technologies with renewable energy sources.
  • Data centers with heat recovery systems.

We welcome high-quality original research and review articles that explore theoretical models, experimental setups, or system-level implementations of low-impact refrigeration technologies that contribute to the advancement of sustainable refrigeration.

Dr. Luca Cirillo
Guest Editor

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 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

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

  • sustainable refrigeration
  • energy efficiency
  • life cycle assessment
  • smart refrigeration
  • residential cooling
  • industrial refrigeration
  • environmental impact
  • numerical simulation
  • thermal energy storage
  • alternative refrigeration technologies

Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue

  • Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
  • Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
  • Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
  • External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
  • Reprint: MDPI Books provides the opportunity to republish successful Special Issues in book format, both online and in print.

Further information on MDPI's Special Issue policies can be found here.

Published Papers (3 papers)

Download All Papers
Order results
Result details
Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:

Research

18 pages, 2932 KB  
Article
Novel Glue-Stabilized Sorbent Layers for Adsorption Chillers: Thermal and Sorption Characteristics
by Tomasz Bujok, Karol Sztekler, Wojciech Kalawa, Ewelina Radomska, Agata Mlonka-Mędrala, Łukasz Mika and Piotr Boruta
Energies 2026, 19(2), 400; https://doi.org/10.3390/en19020400 - 14 Jan 2026
Viewed by 505
Abstract
Adsorption chillers can produce chilled and desalinated water using low-grade heat, but their performance is limited by low coefficient of performance (COP) and large system mass. Enhancing heat and mass transfer in the sorbent bed is key to improving efficiency. This work introduces [...] Read more.
Adsorption chillers can produce chilled and desalinated water using low-grade heat, but their performance is limited by low coefficient of performance (COP) and large system mass. Enhancing heat and mass transfer in the sorbent bed is key to improving efficiency. This work introduces and systematically evaluates binder-stabilized silica gel composites as a structural and thermal enhancement strategy for adsorption chillers. Silica gel composites bonded with epoxy resin and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) were evaluated for adsorption chiller applications. Thermal stability, conductivity, microstructure, equilibrium sorption, and sorption hysteresis were assessed. The results indicate that PVA-based composites were thermally unstable and discarded, whereas epoxy-bonded silica gel showed high thermal stability and mechanically robust granules with preserved pore connectivity. The epoxy composite exhibited 109% higher thermal conductivity than loose silica gel, improving internal heat transfer. This improvement is accompanied by a reduction in sorption capacity of approximately 58%, attributable to the inert resin fraction. Notably, the composite exhibits a reduced and locally negative sorption hysteresis, indicating facilitated desorption and lowered internal diffusion resistance. The epoxy-bonded silica gel therefore provides a promising combination of thermal stability, improved heat transfer, and enhanced sorption–desorption behaviour, supporting its potential to increase the efficiency of next-generation adsorption chillers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Developments and Challenges in Refrigeration and Energy Systems)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

17 pages, 1748 KB  
Article
A Prototype and Efficiency Analysis of Indirect Regenerative Evaporative Cooling System for Electronics
by Dmytro Levchenko, Robert Olbrycht, Marcin Kałuża, Mariusz Felczak, Przemysław Kubiak and Bogusław Więcek
Energies 2025, 18(23), 6288; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18236288 - 29 Nov 2025
Viewed by 965
Abstract
This paper presents an innovative solution based on the Indirect Regenerative Evaporative Cooling (IREC) concept for high-power density electronics. The technology relies on forced convective cooling by air that is additionally cooled via evaporation. The system comprises dry and wet channels for the [...] Read more.
This paper presents an innovative solution based on the Indirect Regenerative Evaporative Cooling (IREC) concept for high-power density electronics. The technology relies on forced convective cooling by air that is additionally cooled via evaporation. The system comprises dry and wet channels for the cooled and wet air, respectively; water is delivered through porous membranes in the wet channels. The novelty relative to HVAC-type exchangers (based on IREC technology) is a full flow return configuration, in which the entire stream from the dry channels is redirected into the wet channels. The performance benefits become pronounced at high ambient temperatures, where traditional forced convection may be insufficient; inlet air absolute humidity is a key factor governing efficiency. The authors present a developed prototype, a simplified thermal analysis, measurement results, and a discussion of IREC applicability to electronics cooling. The results indicate feasibility and highlight the potential of the proposed design for the energy-efficient thermal management of sensitive electronic equipment. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Developments and Challenges in Refrigeration and Energy Systems)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

15 pages, 6474 KB  
Article
A Comparative Study on Nucleate Pool Boiling Heat Transfer Performance of Low-GWP R-1336mzz(Z) (SF33) Against High-GWP HT55 for Advanced Cooling Applications
by Qadir Nawaz Shafiq, Aqbal Ahmad, Kuo-Shu Hung, Liang-Han Chien and Chi-Chuan Wang
Energies 2025, 18(21), 5719; https://doi.org/10.3390/en18215719 - 30 Oct 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1092
Abstract
The present investigation conducts a comparative analysis of the nucleate pool boiling heat transfer performance of two dielectric fluids, a low-GWP hydrofluoroolefin-based fluid (commercially known as Opteon™ SF33, referred to hereafter as SF33) and a perfluoropolyether-based fluid with a high GWP (commercially known [...] Read more.
The present investigation conducts a comparative analysis of the nucleate pool boiling heat transfer performance of two dielectric fluids, a low-GWP hydrofluoroolefin-based fluid (commercially known as Opteon™ SF33, referred to hereafter as SF33) and a perfluoropolyether-based fluid with a high GWP (commercially known as GaldenR HT55, referred to hereafter as HT55) under atmospheric pressure conditions. Pool boiling experiments and visual observations were performed to assess essential performance parameters, such as critical heat flux, heat transfer coefficient, and boiling dynamics. SF33 exhibits enhanced heat transfer performance, achieving markedly higher heat transfer coefficient values at all the heat flux levels and attaining superior critical heat flux relative to HT55. The results show that SF33 provides a consistently higher heat transfer coefficient, reaching approximately 12 W/m2·K at maximum heat flux, compared to only 6 W/m2·K for HT55, representing nearly a 100% improvement. The visual observations indicated that reduced surface tension and increased latent heat of vaporization of SF33 facilitate more frequent bubble nucleation and smaller bubble departure, thereby enhancing its boiling performance. Properties of SF33 render it a superior candidate for high-performance cooling systems in data centers and power electronics. The study concludes that SF33 is a more efficient and adaptable fluid for next-generation cooling systems, providing superior heat dissipation and energy efficiency relative to HT55. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Advanced Developments and Challenges in Refrigeration and Energy Systems)
►▼ Show Figures

Figure 1

Show export options expand_more Show export options expand_less
Select all
Export citation of selected articles as:
 
Displaying articles 1-3
Back to TopTop