Dear MEL Topic Readers,
Why it's time to redesign the old air
conditioner
Can’t live without air conditioners? Even if
you don’t use or have one at home, most offices and commercial buildings are
air-conditioned. Furthermore, data centers use air conditioners to cool the machines
and processors to run the Internet and store data from all over the world. Surprisingly,
while technologies for construction and information have evolved substantially
for the last century, the basic designs of today’s air conditioners haven’t
changed much since the first air conditioner was brought in the market back in
1926.
By the middle of the century, 4.5 billion air
conditioners are estimated to be in use around the world, 3.3 billion more units
than today. Many of those new air conditioners will be added in developing
countries where temperatures are quite high, such as south Asia and Africa. According
to the International Energy Agency, today’s air conditioners consume about 10%
of the total electricity. It is obvious that the world is going to need to
generate much more electricity in the coming decades especially when electric
vehicles become popular. The world desperately needs innovations to control air
temperatures and humidity more efficiently.
The Global Cooling Prize has recently been
initiated to incentivize individuals, teams, and companies to design the next
generation of air-cooling systems. The design must not only innovative but also
practical. Of the over 2,000 participants, eight finalists were granted $200,000
to develop prototypes that will be tested in sizzling Delhi’s summer, whose average
high-temperature is 33.6°C and the average low is 26.4°C.
Enjoy reading the article and learn how
challenging it is to design and produce air conditioners of the 21st
century.
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