Case study: Magnetic Cooling Project
Re/Gent is at the forefront of developing innovative cooling technologies. One of our most exciting projects focuses on magnetic cooling for domestic refrigerators. As part of the European Commission–funded project Elicit, Re/Gent proudly served as a key technical partner.
The project concentrated on four key aspects to ensure a practical, scalable, and high-performance solution:
- Life cycle optimization to provide production, cost and environmental data to aid system optimization and to inform decision making.
- System optimization to evolve a solution that is production scalable, efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly.
- Benchmarked validation to establish the energy efficient credentials for this technology.
- Regulations and Standards to ensure the technology complies with existing regulations, and to establish how the new technology will fit into standards.
Case Study: Low Cost Expansion Valves for CO₂ and Hydrocarbon Refrigerants
Re/Gent is proud that it was a technical research partner of the European Commission-funded research project Expand, which focused on developing an advanced expansion valve system for small refrigeration units. The project targets cold vending machines and small commercial coolers, aiming to significantly reduce their energy consumption while enabling the use of natural refrigerants such as CO₂ and hydrocarbons.
Small refrigeration systems, like those used in vending machines, traditionally rely on capillary tubes as expansion devices. While simple and cost effective, capillaries do not allow the system to operate optimally across varying cooling loads. When operating away from the design load, evaporator filling becomes sub optimal, resulting in reduced efficiency and higher energy consumption.
Advanced control strategies can improve efficiency by replacing capillaries with an expansion valve. However, for small cooling systems, these valves are challenging to manufacture cost effectively, and their integration into low-capacity systems has been limited.
The project developed a low cost expansion device specifically for CO₂ and hydrocarbon refrigerants, combined with a smart control system that enables efficient modulation of cooling capacity according to the load.
Case study: On Demand Beverage Cooling
Re/Gent participated in the RapidCool project (funded by the European Commission), aimed at developing a next-generation cooler capable of chilling cans and bottles rapidly and efficiently at the point of purchase.
Unlike conventional coolers, which store products at low temperatures and consume energy continuously, the developed system stores beverages at ambient temperature. Drinks are cooled to the desired serving temperature only when purchased, reducing energy consumption while ensuring a perfectly chilled beverage every time.
Rapid beverage cooling is deceptively complex. Traditional approaches face two main problems:
- Uneven cooling: Cooling a liquid too quickly can freeze the outer layers before the inner liquid reaches the target temperature, creating “slushing” that is unacceptable to consumers.
- Carbonation disruption: Agitating carbonated drinks can prevent slushing but causes fizzing and loss of CO₂, compromising taste and quality.
The challenge was to cool drinks rapidly without freezing or disturbing carbonation.
The team at Re/Gent, together with project partners, developed a novel approach using controlled liquid rotation to create a Rankine vortex: Rotating the beverage at a precise speed mixes the liquid internally without disrupting the carbonation bubbles.
This method ensures rapid, efficient chilling while maintaining beverage quality and carbonation.
Case study: Stirling Motor Driven Heat Pump for Home Heating
Re/Gent participated in the Terra Therma project, a European Commission–funded research project, focused on developing a highly efficient domestic heat pump system driven by a Stirling engine.
The goal of Terra Therma was to design a domestic heating system that makes optimal use of the waste heat generated by the Stirling motor, using it as an additional heat input to the heat pump. This innovative approach improves overall system efficiency while leveraging sustainable energy sources.
The developed system combines several novel features:
- Linear CO₂ Compressor: The heart of the heat pump, providing efficient energy transfer.
- Natural Gas–Fired Stirling Engine: Drives the compressor while producing recoverable heat for the system.
- Ground Source Heat Probes: A new arrangement to maximize heat extraction from the ground.
- Integrated Working Fluid: The Stirling engine and heat pump share the same working fluid, enabling the entire system to be housed in a single hermetic shell.
This design ensures compactness, high efficiency, and a simplified, integrated system suitable for residential applications.