Carbon dioxide refrigeration

Although demonised as a greenhouse gas, carbon dioxide could have a future as a more environmentally-friendly alternative to HFCs and CFCs for refrigeration.

Engineers developing technologies that use carbon dioxide as a refrigerant instead of conventional, synthetic chemicals will meet at Purdue University, Indiana, this month to discuss the latest research. The event is the annual meeting of the Carbon Dioxide Interest Group, an international organisation of engineers from academia and industry promoting carbon dioxide as a refrigerant.

The conference will include talks about applications ranging from soft drink vending machines to portable air conditioners used by the US Army for a variety of roles, such as cooling troops and electronic equipment. Talks also will cover the use of carbon dioxide to run "heat pumps," which operate like air conditioners in reverse, to warm swimming pools and homes, said Eckhard Groll, a Purdue professor of mechanical engineering who is organising the conference.