The following article was published in ASHRAE Journal, October

2007. Copyright 2007 American Society of Heating, Refrigerating

and Air-Conditioning Engineers, Inc. It is presented for educational
purposes only. This article may not be copied and/or distributed
electronically or in paper form without permission of ASHRAE.

Integrating Alternative
And Conventional
Cooling Technologies
By Reinhard Radermacher, Ph.D., Fellow ASHRAE; Bao Yang, Ph.D.; and Yunho Hwang, Ph.D., Member ASHRAE

esearch into cooling technologies has been preoccupied with the thermoelectrics as one of the selected
alternative technologies is introduced and

improving the energy efficiency of traditional vapor compres- reviewed. Finally, we present new inte-

acceptable refrigerants. However, more effort can be devoted to the

gration options, and, thus, opportunities,

on how some of these technologies may
considerably enhance the performance of
traditional vapor compression systems.

exploration and development and integration of alternative cooling

Vapor Compression Systems

sion systems and the development and use of more environmentally

technologies such as thermoelectrics, magnetocalorics, acoustic

refrigeration, and Stirling cycles.
Traditionally, these technologies have
been investigated as substitutes for conventional vapor compression systems.
However, as exemplified below, their
most productive near-term applications could well be in enhancing vapor
compression cycles. This contribution is
intended to point out opportunities for
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potentially highly productive integrated

cooling and heat pumping technologies
that the authors consider deserving of
further investigation.
To establish a basis for the discussion
and comparison of the various technology
options, vapor compression systems are
discussed first. Second, the concepts of
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Vapor compression systems are based

on the reverse Rankine cycle or vapor
compression cycle. Several features of
About the Authors
Reinhard Radermacher, Ph.D., is professor of
mechanical engineering and director of the Center
for Environmental Energy Engineering at the University of Maryland in College Park, Md. He is also
editor of ASHRAEs HVAC&R Research. Bao Yang
is assistant professor of mechanical engineering and
Yunho Hwang is research associate professor at
the University of Maryland.

October 2007

great merit contribute significantly to the early and lasting success of this cycle. One is the use of the latent heat of vaporization of the working fluid. It allows transferring large amounts
of heat per unit mass of the working fluid at essentially a fixed
temperature level. The temperature level does not change, and,
therefore, degrade with the amount of heat exchanged.
The second benefit results from the fact that the expansion
process can be conducted with the use of a simple flow restriction with a relatively small loss of overall efficiency. The
third merit is the lack of the requirement of any internal heat
exchange or regenerator. While for some working fluids an
internal heat exchanger, that is a suction line heat exchanger,
is very advantageous, it is not an absolute necessity for the
efficient operation of vapor compression cycles in general.
These merits lead to the early adoption of vapor compression
technology more than a century ago. As a result, a tremendous
amount of experience, resources, manufacturing capability,
installed infrastructure and well-trained professionals and
technicians are available. However, the industry is faced
with the challenges of continuously reducing the system cost
while improving the energy efficiency. The authors selected
improvement of energy efficiency as an area of endeavor to
enhance the vapor compression system.
Thermoelectrics and Its Potential

The following technologies were selected for initial consideration for the alternative cooling technologies: thermoelectrics,
magnetocalorics, thermoacoustics and the Stirling cycle. The
reason is that the authors believe these technologies are receiving the most attention. Some are making inroads into the
market (thermoelectrics), and some are described in the literature as having great potential (Stirling, magnetocalorics and
thermoacoustics). In the following, thermoelectric technology,
which is selected based on its deeper market penetration than
the other technologies, is briefly reviewed by first describing
the underlying characteristics, assessing merits and challenges
and venturing a prediction of its applicability.
Thermoelectric cooling is based on the Peltier effecta
creation of a temperature difference from an electric voltage.
The underlying physics is as follows: the electrons or holes in
metals or semiconductors carry not only electricity but also
energy. When an electric current is passed through two dissimilar metals or semiconductors (n-type and p-type) that are
connected to each other at two junctions, the current drives a
transfer of heat from one junction to the other: one junction
cools off while the other heats up, as illustrated in Figure 1a.
The Seebeck effect,1 the conversion of temperature differences
directly into electricity, is the reverse of the Peltier effect. This
effect is the principle at work behind thermoelectric generators,
as illustrated in Figure 1b.
October 2007

The temperature lift and the capacity of a thermoelectric cooler

increase with the applied voltage and resulting current before
reaching their maximum. There are two competing effects related
to their maximum temperature lift and cooling capacity. An
increasing temperature difference causes a heat flow that is opposite to the heat pumping effect (which changes linearly with the
temperature difference), and the second is Joule heating, which
also reduces the produced cooling capacity (and which increases
with the current squared). Thus, the coefficient of performance
(COP) decreases rapidly with increasing temperature lift, and
there is a maximum in available cooling capacity. However,
thermoelectric cooling has shown a significant advantage as
compared to vapor compression systems. All loss mechanisms
decrease with decreasing temperature lift. This is not the case
for vapor compression systems and other systems that involve
fluid flow where the pressure drop will always have a finite
value. Consequently, thermoelectric cooling is very well suited
for small temperature lifts where it achieves very high COPs as
shown in Figure 2. Here the temperature lift is plotted as a function of the power input to a typical thermo-electric element. For
a temperature lift of 5 K, the COP is 10. It can be expected that
for temperature lifts below 5 K this technology could outperform
vapor compression and possibly all other competing concepts.
Other merits of thermoelectrics are infinite shelf life, no moving
parts, little material compatibility issues and high reliability.
The first challenge faced by thermoelectrics is the low
efficiency of the current thermoelectric material that is commercially available. However, recent development in semiconductors and nanotechnology contributed to new thermoelectric
materials having high efficiency. Commercialization of these
advanced thermoelectric materials could increase the efficiency
of thermoelectric cooling systems in general. The second challenge is very close coupling between the module itself and the
available heat transfer area in terms of proximity and overall
size. Except for the use of fins, one or two secondary loops may
be required to access available heat sinks and sources.
Current applications of thermoelectrics are personal heating/cooling, portable cooler/heater, cooled-or-heated car seats,
cold start for the diesel engines, small-scale electric power
sources, cooling microprocessors, cooling infrared detectors
and deep-space missions, fiber-optic switches, biotechnology,
wristwatches powered exclusively by the heat from the human
body, and others.310
Integration Options

The following concepts were developed on the basis of the observation that alternative cooling technologies have significant
strengths as compared to vapor compression systems in certain
regions of the operating envelope. For example, thermoelectric
systems show excellent efficiencies at small temperature lifts.
ASHRAE Journal

29

50
Cold
Junction

n Type

Hot
Junction

40

n Type
Power
Output

Power
Input

p Type

p Type
Heat
Rejected

Heat
Absorbed

Heat
Rejected

(a) Cooling/Heating

Heat
Input

30
20

10
0

0.1
10
0.001
0.01
0.1
1
3
Electric Power Supplied to Thermoelectric Cooler (W)

(b) Power Generation

Figure 1: Schematic of semiconductor thermoelectrics.

Figure 2: Temperature lift versus COP.

While the applications of this advantage

are limited, it can be used potentially
quite beneficially in vapor compression
systems as illustrated next.

Staged TE
Subcooler

Thermoelectrically Enhanced Liquid

Subcooling

Thermoelectric
Subcooler

Expansion
Device

COP

Cold
Junction

Temperature Lift (K)

Hot
Junction

10

Condenser

Compressor

Condenser

Expansion
Device

Compressor

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Enhancement (%)

ASHRAE Journal

Cooling Capcity (KJ/kg)

30

Enhancement in COP (%)

COP

In a conventional vapor compression

system, with a traditional condenser that
Evaporator
Evaporator
includes a subcooler, liquid refrigerant
(a) Single TE Element
(b) Staged TE Elements
leaving the subcooler only can be cooled
to the temperature level of the heat sink. Figure 3: Schematic of vapor compression cycle with TE subcooler.
Additional subcooling would provide
3
15
50
200
Conventional
Conventional
R-134a
additional capacity while the power input
R-134a
TE Enhanced
TE Enhanced
2.8
to the compressor would not be affected.
40
180
Using a traditional suction line heat ex10
2.6
160
30
changer, while providing additional subcooling, will negatively affect compressor
2.4
20
140
power input.11,12 On the other hand, using
5
a thermoelectric element for subcooling,
2.2
120
10
the liquid refrigerant can now be sub2
0
0
cooled significantly at a COP that exceeds
100
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35
0
5 10 15 20 25 30 35
that of the original vapor compression
Refrigerant Subcooling (C)
Refrigerant Subcooling (C)
system. This is a consequence of the very
(a) COP
(b) Cooling Capacity
high COP of a thermoelectric element at Figure 4: Performance enhancement with subcooling.
small lifts. Therefore, additional capacity
is obtained while the compressor power input is not affected at at the lowest refrigeration temperature produced by the respecall. However, there is additional power required to operate the tive vapor compression system.
thermoelectric element. This additional power input is less than
To better take advantage of the properties of the thermoelecthe compressor would require for the same capacity increase. tric element, it is proposed to use a staged subcooling device
Figure 3 shows a schematic of the vapor compression cycle as indicated in Figure 3b. The first element after the condenser
with the thermoelectric subcooling element indicated after the outlet provides a small amount of subcooling, with the resulting
condenser. A performance evaluation based on a simple vapor small temperature lift of the thermoelectric element, and has
compression cycle without pressure drop and 100% isentropic therefore a very high COP. The next thermoelectric element
compressor efficiency yields an increase in COP for refriger- provides a small amount of additional subcooling albeit at a
ant R-134a of about 3.5% for 5 K degrees of subcooling in an slightly reduced COP. As additional thermoelectric elements
air-conditioning application. Significantly larger savings are are added, each subsequent one has to overcome a higher lift at
achievable with the modifications discussed below. The ef- decreasing efficiency. When calculating the performance of the
ficiency of the thermoelectric element depends strongly on its vapor compression system with such a staged thermoelectric
temperature lift and thus the degree of subcooling. Furthermore, subcooling device, the following result is found as shown in
although the thermoelectric element provides subcooling at a Figure 4a. The horizontal axis shows the degree of subcooling,
very small temperature lift, this additional capacity is available the vertical axis on the left shows the COP and on the right, as

October 2007

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October 2007

COP

Heat Load per TE-enhanced Fin (W)

a percentage, the change in COP for refrigerant R-134a in a the thermoelectric element will increase the temperature of the
refrigeration application. Up to a subcooling level of about 15 K, fins by a few degrees and, thus, lead to a considerable increase
the COP improves at decreasing slope and reaches a maximum in efficiency of the respective vapor compression system or a
at about 15 K degrees of subcooling. Additional subcooling with considerable reduction in heat exchanger size. Furthermore,
additional thermoelectric elements still shows an increased COP one might consider using this enhancement only in the subover the baseline, but it is lower than the maximum. The COP cooling section of the heat exchanger and, thus, implementing
decreases until it reaches the baseline COP obtained without any thermoelectric subcooling without increasing the demands
subcooling. But now the subcooling is about 35 K resulting in a on condenser airflow rate. Figure 6 shows the heat rejection
considerable increase in capacity. Figure 4b shows the change capability of a sample heat exchanger (on the vertical axis)
in capacity due to the subcooling as a function of degrees of versus power input to the thermoelectric element. The heat
subcooling. The left vertical axis in Figure 4b shows capac- rejection capability increases with increasing power to the
ity values, while the right axis shows the percentage change thermoelectric element and reaches a maximum after which the
of capacity. While the COP peaks according to Figure 4a at losses within the thermoelectric element exceed the benefits of
15 K degrees of subcooling at about 20% capacity increase ac- the heat pumping effects. This graph also shows the COP as
cording to Figure 4b, the capacity keeps
a function of power input (dashed line).
increasing to about 40% at 35 K degrees
Furthermore, the evaporator also could
of subcooling.
be thermoelectrically enhanced. This will
This observation has interesting imallow either increasing moisture removal
plications. Obviously, the capacity of the
or reducing evaporator size. In addition,
system can be modulated considerably
when this feature is used simultaneously
(the higher the temperature lift of the
for the evaporator and condenser, the
vapor compression system, the larger
COP of the underlying vapor compression
the range) and for part of that range consystem can be increased considerably.
siderable improvement in efficiency is
possible also. Furthermore, the evaporaAdditional Options for Stirling Cycle,
tor and the heat rejection capability, i.e., Figure 5: Schematic of TE-enhanced fin.
Acoustic Systems & Others
condenser airflow rate and fan motor
Three other opportunities would allow
1
have to be designed accordingly. One also
subcooling of the refrigerant in a vapor
10
must consider the additional cost of the
compression system by using alternative
0.8
thermoelectric element and the respective
technologies.
power supply. Nevertheless, this option of
The Stirling cycle by itself (without
0.6
thermoelectric subcooling can enhance
secondary loops) has high efficiencies
1
efficiency and capacity without adding
at high lift conditions. Thus, one might
0.4
any moving parts which would suggest
consider using a Stirling cycle providing
good reliability. It could also be seen as
subcooling all the way down to the evapo0.2
Heat Load per Conventional Fin
a simple add-on for an existing system,
rator temperature level in a refrigeration
0
0.1
just for the purpose of increasing capacity.
system. The expected advantage would
0.001
0.01
0.1
1
3
Research at the Center for Environmental
be high COP for the subcooling process
Electric Power Supplied to TEC (W)
Energy Engineering is exploring this opand the overhead of secondary loops
Figure 6: Heat rejection versus power supply
tion further.
is already built into the original vapor
to thermoelectric cooler.
Similarly to thermoelectrically encompression system. The cold head of the
hanced liquid subcooling, a separate small vapor compression Stirling engine would cool liquid refrigerant upstream of the excycle can be dedicated to enhance the liquid subcooling. More- pansion valve while the hot heat rejection heat exchanger of the
over, the optimum use of this option would lead to new inves- Stirling cycle evaporates liquid coming from the condenser and
tigation on two-stage cycles. Further investigation is needed to recirculates vapor to the condenser inlet (thus, using a portion
find out which option has higher efficiency at low-temperature of the refrigerant from the condenser outlet for a thermosyphon
lift and lower cost among two enhanced subcooling options.
loop). It is expected that the additional capacity achieved by
subcooling with the Stirling cycle is achieved at a higher COP
Thermoelectrically Enhanced Heat Exchangers
than that of the vapor compression system, while hopefully, the
Another option to exploit the high efficiency at low-tempera- additional cost is lower than that of a larger compressor that
ture lift of thermoelectric elements would be to insert the ele- otherwise would be required to achieve the same capacity level.
ment between the tube and the fins of a typical air-to-refrigerant This option deserves further investigation.
heat exchanger or coil as illustrated in Figure 5. This could be
The second option would use a small-scale absorption cycle.
implemented more easily using a flat tube (or sometimes termed The heat input to the cycle would come from the hot discharge
microchannel) heat exchanger. For a condenser for example, gas of the compressor, while the cooling capacity will be used
ASHRAE Journal

33

to subcool liquid refrigerant leaving the

condenser. This concept was proposed
in the early 1980s.13 With the advent
of micro-machined heat exchangers for
absorption systems, such an option may
become more feasible.14
As a third option, one could consider
a small vapor compression system that is

dedicated to the subcooling of the refrigerant leaving the condenser of the original
vapor compression system.
Since the pressure ratio might be very
low, unconventional compressor technology may be quite suitable and possibly
provide high efficiency. For example, it
is speculated that an acoustic compressor

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could be used. A loudspeaker, together

with a suitably designed resonator, could
be used to create such pressure spikes that
would allow meaningful compression of
the refrigerant and, therefore, heat pumping across the temperature lift sufficient
for subcooling. Another option could be
to use a blower rather than a conventional
compressor to obtain a similarly small
temperature lift at high efficiency.
As a final thought, one might speculate
that the acoustic compressor mentioned
previously could be used for the precompression of the refrigerant in a given
vapor compression system. If such a
compressor has a high efficiency for
small pressure ratios, higher than that of
conventional compressors, it might be
beneficial. One could envision a speaker
or other such actuator to supercharge the
suction port of a positive displacement
compressor every time the suction port
or valve opens. The resulting decrease
in pressure ratio for the main compressor
leads to an increase in efficiency of the
original cycle. In addition, an increase
in the volumetric capacity is expected.
For additional information on alternative cooling technologies, readers may
visit ARTIs Web site (www.arti-research.
org/index.php).
Conclusion

To stimulate further research for realizing the synergy of alternative and

conventional cooling technologies, this
article briefly reviews the strength and
challenges of vapor compression technology. This is followed by a similar review
of one of the most promising alternative
cooling technologies resulting in the
following observation: when focusing
on what the alternative technologies do
best, then their greatest strength may lie
in making traditional vapor compression
systems more effective. Two examples are
discussed in more detail: the benefits of
thermoelectric subcooling of the refrigerant in a traditional vapor compression
system and thermoelectrically enhancing an air-to-refrigerant heat exchanger.
In both cases, the high COP at low lift
conditions is exploited. Additional ideas
are mentioned for other alternative technologies. The synergy of the alternative
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October 2007

and conventional cooling technologies will lead to considerable

improvement opportunities that warrant further research.
References

1. Seebeck, T.J. 1823.

Magnetische polarisation der metalle und

erzedurch temperatur-differenz.
Abhandlungen der Preuischen
Akademie der Wissenschaften.
Berliner

Akademie der Wissenschaften. pp. 265373.

2. Peltier, J.C. 1834. Novelles experiences sur la caloriecete des
courans electriques. Ann. Chem. LVI: 371387.
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aspects on thermoelectric cooler optimization for applications in
photodetectors. Proceedings of 18th International Conference
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4. Yershova, L., et al.
2002. Proceedings of 7th European Workshop
on Thermoelectrics.
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conditions. Proceedings of the 7th European Workshop on Thermoelectrics, Poster #2.
7. Palacios, R., J. Vzquez, M.A. Sanz-Bobi. 2001. Cooling system

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October 2007

for hermetic devices based on thermoelectricity. Sixth European

Workshop on Thermoelectrics.
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10. Bttner, H. 2002. Thermoelectric Micro Devices: Current State,
Recent Developments and Future Aspects for Technological
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Physical Measurement Techniques (Fraunhofer IPM).
11. Domanski, P. 1995. Theoretical Evaluation of the Vapor
Compression Cycle with a Liquid-Line/Suction-Line Heat
Exchanger, Economizer, and Ejector. National Institute of
Standards and Technology. www.fire.nist.gov/bfrlpubs/build95/
PDF/b95098.pdf.
12. Radermacher, R. and Y. Hwang. 2005. Vapor Compression Heat
Pumps: With Refrigerant Mixtures. Boca Raton, Fla.: Taylor &
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14. Choi, C. and S. Jeong. 2005. Experimental Study on the Development of Micro Adsorption Refrigerator. Proceedings of the
International Sorption Heat Pump Conference.

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