New heat pump offers increased sustainability
Netherlands-based Blue Heart Energy (BHE) is currently developing a new thermoacoustic heat pump which can use a flexible heat source and release heat at different temperatures to achieve more sustainable heating and cooling.
Thermoacoustic heat pumps will be silent, will not need refrigerants, will have a simple architecture and be more flexible, allowing them to become more affordable and easier to install.
BHE’s thermoacoustic technology creates a sound wave within a circuit filled with helium. By expanding and compressing, the gas absorbs and releases heat in two different heat exchangers. The result is a heat pump capable of working with every heat source and efficiently providing the necessary temperature output, regardless of how big or small the required temperature lift.
The BHE system has been conceived to replace the cold circuit of existing compression heat pumps and is designed to be easily integrated by heat pump manufacturers. Its mass-market prototype will be ready by the end of this year to be field tested in 2022 and the BHE team hope to bring it to market in 2023.
