Water-based air-conditioning unit cools air without compressors

Led by Associate Professor Ernest Chua from the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the National University of Singapore’s (NUS) Faculty of Engineering, the team’s air-conditioning system is claimed to be a cost-effective and sustainable solution to regulating ambient air conditions.

Chua said, “For buildings located in the tropics, more than 40 per cent of the building’s energy consumption is attributed to air-conditioning. We expect this rate to increase dramatically, adding an extra punch to global warming.”

According to NUS, the system consumes about 40 per cent less electricity than current compressor-based air-conditioners and negates the use of chemical refrigerants including chlorofluorocarbon and hydrochlorofluorocarbon for cooling. The system also generates drinking water while it cools ambient air.

Chua said, “First invented by Willis Carrier in 1902, vapour compression air-conditioning is the most widely used air-conditioning technology today. This approach is very energy-intensive and environmentally harmful. In contrast, our novel membrane and water-based cooling technology is very eco-friendly – it can provide cool and dry air without using a compressor and chemical refrigerants. This is a new starting point for the next generation of air-conditioners, and our technology has immense potential to disrupt how air-conditioning has traditionally been provided.”