Jesse Labbé: Innovating biotechnology for energy, security and health
ORNL researchers demonstrated that an additive made from polymers and electrolytes improves the thermal performance and stability of salt hydrate phase change materials, or PCMs, a finding that could advance their integration into carbon-reducing heat pumps.
The common sounds in the background of daily life – like a refrigerator’s hum, an air conditioner’s whoosh and a heat pump’s buzz – often go unnoticed. These noises, however, are the heartbeat of a healthy building and integral for comfort and convenience.
Although variable refrigerant flow heat pumps are known to have advantages, higher initial costs and difficulty in quantifying those benefits serve as deterrents to their widespread use. ORNL’s flexible research platform, however, provides a solution that enables researchers to chara...
A ground source heat pump installed at rural Cedarville High School in Arkansas through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has reduced energy use by 53 percent and carbon dioxide emissions by 52 percent, according to an Oak Ridge National Laboratory report. ORNL researchers X...