Shape Memory Alloy based elastocaloric Cooling system

The project SMACool will develop a functional air-conditioning device for residential buildings, based on the emerging technology of elastocalorics, which uses (shape memory) alloys as solid-state refrigerants for efficient and sustainable cold (and heat) generation.

Elastocalorics (also thermo-elastic or thermoelastics) is an innovative, disruptive heating and cooling technology with the potential of reaching outstanding energy efficiency and zero global warming potential, using metals as solid-state refrigerant material instead of the harmful fluids used in cooling systems today.

The interdisciplinary project consortium consisting of three European Universities from Germany, Italy and Slovenia and one emerging high-tech Company from Ireland, will cover several project objectives, including the construction and validation of an application-specific elastocaloric cooling system device, the creation of a versatile validation environment for quantitative validation of future elastocaloric devices, the realization of a multi-physical numerical simulation platform for simulative assistance in elastocaloric device development, the development and characterization of elastocaloric-specific optimized materials, and the development of an efficient electric drive unit suited for the specific needs of elastocaloric system devices.

The resulting SMACool system is targeting an efficiency increase by a factor of two to three compared to state-of-the-art HVAC (Heat, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning) systems and will have high impact on potentially cutting down global energy consumption in the residential building sector and also other cold generation fields.