Development of Nano-Porous Materials for the Production of Vacuum Insulation Panels (VIPs)
Start Date and End Date
01 February 2012- 01 February 2016
Turkish Partner(s)
Arçelik A.Ş.
Coordinator
Dr. Yusuf YUSUFOĞLU
Budget
100,000 Euro
Programme
Marie Sklodowska Curie Individual Fellowships
Scientific Outputs
It’s aimed to develop cost effective novel porous core materials with high thermal insulation properties that can be used as core insulation filler in VIPs. The proposed work demonstrates novel methods for the development of mesoporous materials with high density of pores and large surface areas. With the proposed novel methodology, the pore size of core insulation materials can be controlled, which is very crucial parameter in the performance of the VIPs. Thermal conductivity of VIPs produced in this study are 3.9 mW/m.K and the cost of VIPs is reduced approximately 75%, which will help for the widespread usage of VIP for applications in cold appliances and building insulations. Moreover, 30% energy savings can be obtained when these VIPs are applied on the refrigerators. Since VIP can reduce energy consumption significantly, this project will contribute for developing much more energy efficient cold appliances.
Tackling ‘grand’ or societal challenges
The aim of this project is to develop new generation of Vacumm Insulation Panels (VIP), which has approximately 10 times higher thermal resistance than the conventional insulators. The rapid depletion of fossil fuel reserves and the increase in green house gas emissions necessitates the development of technologies which enable efficient utilization of current energy sources. In the European Community, more than 30 % of the total energy consumption is made in buildings and refrigerating appliances are one of the biggest power consumer in many households at which typically make up over 15 % of total residential electricity consumption. In this regard, there is a big potential for VIP technology, which can directly contribute in the reduction of energy consumption in refrigerating appliances and buildings. For instance, in refrigerating appliances, each year 60 billion kWh could be saved (after replacing old cold appliances with new energy efficient ones), which is production of about 6 nuclear power plants. Needless to say, VIPs provide excellent thermal resistance properties that can enhance the energy efficiency of the insulating systems and have a big impact on reduction of green house emissions and will contribute to efficient utilization of energy resources. VIP-based systems are thinner and their recycling is economically attractive; therefore the resource intensity will be lower than the conventional solutions. This project will be complementary with the European Union objectives and contribute EU to achieve 20% energy saving target in 2020. The proposed study will also contribute to Kyoto Protocol, aimed at fighting global warming.
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