Everything NanoTechnology, page-4

Shopping around for a portable aircon unit for my granny flat and went down a bit of a rabbit hole looking into how evap coolers work. Got me thinking, and had a google around. Now although this article refered to carbon nanotubes being used, we do know that HNT's are better performing in alot of areas, I wonder if or when we could trial some HNT's in this sort of experiment and see what results we could achieve.


"Carbon nanotubes can make home refrigeration more accessible for low-income households". Power consumption of a home refrigerator can be cut by 29% while improving cooling capacity. Researchers replaced widely-used, but environmentally unfriendly, R134a refrigerant with the more energy-efficient R600a. They dosed R600a with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs). Drop-in refrigerant replacement in the field by trained technicians is possible, says an engineer from the University of Johannesburg.This test of MWCNT-dosed refrigerants is a first of its kind and recently published in Energy Reports ("Energy performance evaluation of R600a/MWCNT-nanolubricant as a drop-in replacement for R134a in household refrigerator system"), an open-access journal. The results can help make home refrigeration more accessible for low-income families.R134a is one of the most widely-used refrigerants in domestic and industrial refrigerators. It is safe for many applications because it is not flammable. However, it has high global warming potential, contributing to climate change. It also causes fridges, freezers and air-conditioning equipment to consume a lot of electrical energy. The energy consumption contributes even more to climate change.

Meanwhile, a more energy-efficient refrigerant can result in much lower electricity bills. For vulnerable households, energy security can be improved as a result. Improved energy economy and demand-side management can also benefit planners at power utilities, as cooling accounts for about 40% of energy demand.Carbon nanotubes can reduce the power consumption of cooling devices such as refrigerators, freezers and air-conditioning by substantial amounts. In a drop-in refrigerant replacement test, researchers from the University of Johannesburg observed a 29% cut in electricity use in a home fridge. Environmentally-unfriendly R134a was replaced by a mix of more energy-efficient R600a and mineral oil, dosed with multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT's). University of Johannesburg.