LEICESTER, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A De Montfort University (DMU) Professor is to work with one of China’s renowned universities after he received funding for an eco-friendly air cooling system for buildings.

Xudong Zhao, Professor of Low Carbon Society at DMU’s Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development (IESD), has recently received £45,000 to continue developing an innovative dew point air conditioning system in collaboration with Tsinghua University, China.

The research fund was granted by Keda Electrical and Mechanical Equipment Ltd, who now own the license for the air cooling device which was completed in late 2009.

Professor Zhao, originally from Taiyuan University of Technology in China, said: “Conventional air conditioning systems consume a significant amount of electrical energy that is largely dependent upon fossil fuel, which is neither sustainable nor environment friendly.

“Recently emerged dew point exchangers transfer heat when a refrigerant [fluid] changes from a liquid to a vapour in the evaporator, allowing the supply air to be cooled at a level below its wet-bulb and above the dew point, which increases the cooling capacity whilst remaining eco-friendly.

“However existing dew point exchangers have only 60 to 70 per cent of dew point effectiveness which largely limits the increase of its cooling capacity.”

“Our project looked at developing a device which enhances heat transfer coefficient, thus enabling up to 90 per cent dew point effectiveness to be achieved.”

The technology is expected to have a large potential market in the UK, China and other parts of the world. Market research has estimated that annual sales will be £190 million in China and £35 million in the UK.

Wide application of dew point cooling systems would therefore lead to significant savings of energy consumption in buildings and contribute to reducing carbon emissions worldwide.

“It is expected that the annual energy savings for the UK and China are 15 and 300 million kWh respectively, and consequently, the annual reduction of CO2 emission will be 7,000 and 140,000 tonnes. For the global level, a conservative estimate of 10 times the UK-plus-China figures would be realistic.

“This technology therefore has substantial environmental impact that leads to reduced greenhouse gas and pollutant emissions, increased use of sustainable energy and security of energy supply” adds Professor Zhao.

The Institute of Energy and Sustainable Development (IESD) at DMU in Leicester, UK, make a worthwhile and significant contribution to sustainable development through research, consultancy and education provision of the highest standard. The Institute’s work focuses on the clean, efficient use of energy in the built environment and ways in which greater use can be made of renewable energy in the built environment.

ENDS