• About
  • Top Stories
  • Topics

    Green Energy News

    Solar News
    Hydrogen News
    Nuclear News
    Wind News
    Hydropower News

    Transportation News

    Electric Vehicle (EV) News
    Fuel Cell News
    Aviation News
    Public Transit News
    Commercial / Shipping News

    Sustainable Agriculture News

    Biomass Energy News
    Biofuel News
    Agtech News

    Utility News

    Smart Meter News
    Energy Storage News
    Demand Response News

    Environment News

    Recycling News
    Water News
    Pollution News

    Smart Cities News

    Energy Efficiency News
    Internet of Things (IoT) News

    Climate News

    Decarbonization News
    Climate Tech News

    Green Tech Innovation News

    Robotics News
    Nanotech News
    Batteries

  • Contact
No Results
View all Results
  • About
  • Top Stories
  • Topics

    Green Energy News

    Solar News
    Hydrogen News
    Nuclear News
    Wind News
    Hydropower News

    Transportation News

    Electric Vehicle (EV) News
    Fuel Cell News
    Aviation News
    Public Transit News
    Commercial / Shipping News

    Sustainable Agriculture News

    Biomass Energy News
    Biofuel News
    Agtech News

    Utility News

    Smart Meter News
    Energy Storage News
    Demand Response News

    Environment News

    Recycling News
    Water News
    Pollution News

    Smart Cities News

    Energy Efficiency News
    Internet of Things (IoT) News

    Climate News

    Decarbonization News
    Climate Tech News

    Green Tech Innovation News

    Robotics News
    Nanotech News
    Batteries

  • Contact
No Results
View all Results
Home Green Tech Innovation News

Float on: Creating a more energy-efficient refrigerator that works in space

Katie Pyzyk by Katie Pyzyk
April 26, 2021
Purdue University researchers Eckhard Groll, left, and Leon Brendel stand next to a fridge experiment they designed to work in different orientations and even upside down.

Purdue University researchers Eckhard Groll, left, and Leon Brendel stand next to a fridge experiment they designed to work in different orientations and even upside down. Credit: Jared Pike / Purdue University

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Refrigerators would help astronauts on long missions, such as going to the moon or Mars, to maintain access to nutritious, longer-lasting food. But modern household refrigerators don’t work in zero gravity where they might be upside down or in a variety of different orientations. A research team with members from Purdue University in Indiana; Benton Harbor, Michigan-based Whirlpool Corporation; and Broomfield, Colorado-based Air Squared are working to create a new refrigerator that will work in space.

The problems

During their missions, astronauts currently rely on canned and dried food with a shelf life of about three years. This project, funded by NASA, aims to give astronauts a food supply that is better quality and will last five to six years to support longer missions. 

But refrigerators are still an uncommon technology in space. Gravity helps to keep liquid and vapor where they need to be inside the units, and the compressor’s oil lubrication system also is gravity-based. Previous space fridges operating in zero gravity have not worked well or have broken down. 

Due to these conditions, the International Space Station’s current cooling systems are used for storing scientific experiments and biological samples instead of food. The devices consume far more energy than refrigerators on Earth. 

The fix

The researchers are working on cooling solutions that work in space but use similar technology to a household unit: vapor compression refrigeration. The new space fridge won’t be more energy-efficient than household models, but it will be more energy-efficient than previous space fridge designs. The estimated efficiency gains are still confidential right now, the researchers told Centered.

“Current space fridges operate with different technologies than our fridges at home,” said Purdue researcher Leon Brendel. “A famous example is MELFI which is a successful space cooler but its cooling technology is the Reversed Brayton cycle which is inherently less efficient for food storage temperatures than the vapor compression cycle we use. So, we are more efficient by using a whole different technology than current space coolers.” 

This fridge will use an oil-free compressor to avoid problems with oil flow in zero gravity. The team is also working to make the unit extra reliable because refrigerator repair people aren’t exactly readily available in space.

The prototype is about the size of a microwave and will plug into an electrical outlet just like household versions. A larger version is equipped with sensors and other technologies to measure the effects of gravity on the unit’s vapor compression cycles. Another experiment will test the vulnerability to liquid flooding that could damage the fridge.

What’s next

The team will test their new refrigerator in May at Zero Gravity Corporation’s weightless research lab that creates microgravity, the only testing facility of its kind in the country. Data gathered from the test flights will help the researchers figure out if their fridge is ready for use in space.

If the tests work well, astronauts could have a refrigerator like this on spaceflights in a couple of years.

Centered is your cleantech news source for the Midwest

Subscribe to receive free weekday news updates



    Previous Post

    Eco-friendly battery swaps fossil fuels for soybeans

    Next Post

    Q&A: NREL researcher helps push cleantech ‘to create more livable and inclusive societies’

    Related News

    Vivid lines of light tracing a pattern reminiscent of a spinning top toy.

    Emerging electronics field puts a new spin on energy efficiency

    by Katie Pyzyk
    May 19, 2022
    0

    Spintronics — short for spin electronics — is one of the most important fields advancing energy efficiency that you’ve probably never heard...

    Sabrina Nilufar, assistant professor in the SIU School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Materials Engineering.

    3D printing could create ‘sandwich’ materials more energy efficiently

    by Katie Pyzyk
    May 10, 2022
    0

    A research team at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is working to save energy, time, and money while more easily creating sandwich materials.

    Next Post
    NREL researcher Paty Romero-Lankao stands outside of Union Station in Denver, Colorado.

    Q&A: NREL researcher helps push cleantech 'to create more livable and inclusive societies'

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Centered is your cleantech news source for the Midwest

    Subscribe to receive free weekday news updates



      Trending News

      Illinois researchers make tiny batteries mightier

      Illinois researchers make tiny batteries mightier

      April 6, 2021
      Advanced battery material startup lands two employees on “40 Under 40” list

      Advanced battery material startup lands two employees on “40 Under 40” list

      October 15, 2020
      Midwest utilities collaborate on country’s largest interstate EV charging network

      Midwest utilities collaborate on country’s largest interstate EV charging network

      September 22, 2020

      Popular Topics

      • Green Tech Innovation News
      • Transportation News
      • Green Energy News
      • Environment News
      • Electric Vehicle (EV) News
      • Water News
      • Batteries
      • Sustainable Agriculture News
      • Solar News
      • Energy Efficiency
      • Smart Cities News
      • Climate News
      • Agtech News
      • Decarbonization News
      • Recycling News
      • Utility News
      • Hydrogen News
      • Wind News
      • Biofuel News
      • Nanotech News
      • Electrical Grid News
      • Aviation News
      • Biomass Energy News
      • Energy Storage News
      • Pollution News
      • Robotics News
      • Nuclear News
      • Commercial / Shipping News
      • Climate Tech News
      • Hydropower News
      • Fuel Cell News
      • Smart Meter News
      • Internet of Things (IoT) News
      Centered



      © 2022 Centered. All Rights Reserved.

      Centered is a publication of the Energy News Network, in partnership with the Illinois Science and Energy Innovation Foundation.

      • Privacy
      • Terms of Use
      No Results
      View all Results
      • About
      • Top Stories
      • Topics
        • Green Energy News
        • Transportation News
        • Sustainable Agriculture News
        • Electrical Grid News
        • Environment News
        • Smart Cities News
        • Climate News
        • Green Tech Innovation News
      • Contact

      Centered. All Rights Reserved.

      Centered is your cleantech news source for the Midwest

      Subscribe to receive a free daily roundup of underreported technology stories from around the region.



        Contact Us