Researchers develop ‘nano-fluid’ to cut energy consumption in aircons, chillers

A team of researchers from Sunway University, Sunway Innovation Labs (iLabs) and Daikin Refrigeration Malaysia Sdn Bhd has announced a pilot trial of graphene-based nano-fluid that is able to reduce daily energy consumption in industrial chillers.

The fluid can reportedly cut daily energy use by up to 10 percent (kwH).

Sunway University Graphene and Advanced 2D Materials Research Group head Mohammad Khalid said the proprietary heat transfer nanofluids practical application is in air-conditioning.

“Air-conditioning is an inevitable part of daily living in today’s environment. While we all appreciate the comfort of air-conditioning, we must also consider its impact on the environment.

“Air-conditioners use refrigerants and consume large amounts of electricity, resulting in gaseous emissions that contribute to global warming and ozone layer depletion,” he said in a statement.

He added that the graphene-based invention is an energy-efficient heat transfer nanofluid that has been proven effective in both the laboratory and real life.

“It is cost-effective, environmentally-friendly, and are safe to be used in industrial chillers,” said Khalid.

The university said chillers were one of the largest electricity consumers in commercial and industrial buildings and could consume up to 40 percent of the building’s total energy use.

To illustrate, a 500-ton water-cooled chiller that has an efficiency of 0.80kW per ton operated at 8 hours per day would utilise 3,200kWh of electricity.

At RM0.51 per kWH rate, the chiller would cost RM1,632 to operate daily.

They said a decreased daily energy consumption of 10 percent kWh will reduce the energy consumption to 2,880kWh, resulting in 10 percent savings in daily energy costs.

This would amount to savings of RM381,888 for 260 working days if the chiller operates for that many days a year.

Graphene nanoparticles

The newly developed nano-fluid uses graphene nanoparticles (a small particle that ranges between 1 to 1000 nanometres in size) that enhance the thermal efficiency (heat transfer rate) by several folds, compared to the traditional fluids used in chillers, such as water or ethylene glycol.

Compared to when a chiller is running using regular tap water, the new graphene-based nano-fluid is said to have better cooling performance, lower electricity consumption, extends the life of the heating, ventilation and air-conditioning equipment while keeping maintenance costs down, and above all, lowers the carbon footprint.

Sunway iLabs Foundry head Karen Lau said the team aims to complete the validation trial which will ensure reproducibility by the first quarter of 2022.

“We welcome collaboration with partners especially manufacturers and real estate managers, who would like to work with us to commercialise the graphene-based nano-coolants. This includes companies who would like to adopt this technology to improve their energy utilisation and to move a step closer to becoming a carbon-neutral organisation.

“At Sunway University, planetary health and sustainability are our key research focus, where we co-create innovative solutions with our industry partners in areas such as energy efficiency, renewable energy, and energy storage such as battery and supercapacitors, carbon dioxide capture and utilisation,” she said. - Mkini