So far, CO₂ systems have mainly been commercialized for domestic hot water heat pumps, supermarket refrigeration systems, and smaller commercial refrigeration systems. SINTEF and NTNU initiated this development in the late 1980s. More than 10 million systems have been installed to date, corresponding to a turnover of more than NOK 500 billion.
A number of other applications for CO₂ as a working fluid are also being explored. The relatively good availability of components today, compared with just 10 years ago, may enable further development in these areas. Industry and research communities worldwide are working on a wide range of applications, including supermarket refrigeration in warm climates, refrigeration systems for fishing vessels, transport refrigeration, industrial refrigeration systems, heat pumps for building climate control, and power generation processes for utilizing excess heat.
Our customer base ranges from large national and international end user companies to smaller SMEs. From a technical perspective, our activities range from fundamental research, such as experimental and theoretical studies of various flow phenomena, to component and system development and testing.
We work within these areas
- Concept and system development for new applications that are important to Norwegian and international industry and society and require further R&D before commercialization
- Thermodynamic data, heat transfer and pressure drop, and flow phenomena
- Development of more efficient components and systems with the aim of improving energy efficiency for new applications, for example through the use of ejectors
Methodology
When developing new components or systems, we typically combine theory, modelling and simulation, and experimental activities. New concepts will often require experimental verification. High quality thermodynamic libraries and component and system models developed through many years of research form the basis of our work. Several of these models are based on software developed at SINTEF and NTNU, giving us unique opportunities to adapt the models for the assessment and development of new concepts, both for individual components and complete systems.
We typically carry out the following types of project
- Joint industry projects funded by industry and the Research Council of Norway
- Direct industry projects involving development, testing and consultancy
- Projects ranging from fundamental competence building to applied research