Development of a Solar Fueled Absorption Cooler with Ionic Liquid Absorbent

Consumers and businesses in the U.S. spend billions of dollars on electrical power for conventional vapor compression heat pumps every year. This project will develop an ionic liquid absorption heat pump (ILAHP), which uses room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs). When used as absorbents in absorption coolers, RTILs will allow the release of refrigerant at a lower temperature than current absorption coolers. The new technology would enable the use of simple low-cost solar collectors for thermal energy. Commercial Applications and other Benefits as described by the awardee: If home air conditioning units had the efficiency of the proposed ILAHP, the electrical energy used for cooling could be reduced by 40% over conventional heat pumps. This solution could save more than $5.8 billion and more than 240 trillion BTUs in electrical energy annually in the U.S. The increased efficiency also would result in reduced green house gasses, which are produced during electricity generation.