Co-operative Research projects for SMEs - European Commission ...

Keeping cool saves energy
“Energy efficiency could be
European suppliers in the refrigerated appliance
boosted by 30%.”
sector face fierce competition from low-cost base
international competition. EU companies need to add value
continually to compete effectively. The Elation Co-operative Research
project brings together partners across the value chain in this sector in a bid
to develop a new insulation material that can reduce energy use in both domestic
and commercial refrigerating appliances. The development could significantly reduce the energy
consumption and cost of running these appliances, thereby benefiting both appliance user and producer,
whilst broadly reducing European energy demands. The system to be developed is a smart adaptation of
vacuum-insulated panel technology.
Businesses across a number of sectors in Europe see a clear need
for an ultra-high performance insulation material that is capable of
significantly reducing the energy consumption of refrigerated appliances.
Refrigeration is a vital element of the logistics supply chain
from large cold stores to commercial display freezers via refrigerated
vehicles and domestic fridges and freezers. Increasing the efficiency
of ‘cold’ insulation could make a significant impact on
European energy demand, and contribute to security of supply by
reducing Europe’s reliance on imported energy.
Conventional insulation materials (such as expanded polystyrene
foams) are inexpensive, but they do not provide the ultra-high levels
of thermal insulation required to achieve significant energy
reductions. Vacuum-insulated panels constructed using metallic
barrier layers are the current state-of-the-art technology for high-performance
thermal insulation. However, these panels suffer from significant
disadvantages in smaller applications because of energy
losses from ‘edge leakage’. This energy loss is even more pronounced
in three-dimensional systems such as refrigerators.
Cool concept
The Elation project aims to develop an innovative ultra-high-performance,
low-cost, lightweight insulation material. The insulation performance
of this new system should match that of vacuum-insulated
panels (i.e. 10 mW/mK) whilst achieving a cost that is
comparable to conventional foam insulation. The overall aim of the
project is to improve the energy efficiency of refrigeration equipment
by 30%.
The new insulating material will be based on the vacuum-insulated
panel concept but will overcome the problems associated with
conventional panels by using an all-polymer-barrier layers system.
As a bonus, innovation in the manufacturing process will produce
insulation in three-dimensional forms with integrated thermal storage
and a predictive time-temperature electronic system. This control
system will be capable of ensuring that the lower levels of electrical
energy consumed by the refrigerated devices using the
insulation system will occur at off-peak times, thereby helping to further
reduce the cost of running the equipment and easing energy
demand.
Elation for SMEs
The project is particularly relevant to small to medium-sized enterprises
(SMEs) in this sector as they are currently heavily exposed
to issues related to globalisation of trade. Most international competitors
in the sector have virtually identical insulation technologies
to those in Europe and can compete on both quality and delivery
times. However, because of low labour costs they have a significant
competitive advantage. European SMEs need to continually
innovate to differentiate and add value to their products. Elation is
a perfect mechanism to bring together a European partnership with
critical commercial mass and the leading research and technology
capability to deliver an innovative system.
A successful outcome for Elation will allow the European partners
in the consortium to grow their businesses by developing new
products and services for a market that is looking for innovation –
a market with total current sales of more than €6 billion per
annum. This market consists of some 36 million domestic refrigerator
sales per annum, 2 million commercial refrigeration units per
annum, and around 100 000 refrigerated vehicles sold every
year.
The consortium, led by Icelite Limited a UK SME involved in adapting
and producing vehicles for refrigerated transport, includes a
broad skill set from companies and organisations
in the UK, Germany,
Ireland and Spain. The
main research effort
will be undertaken
by Pera
International
from the UK
A vacuum
insulation panel
(VIP) using a novel
barrier film developed
by Elation.
© Elation consortium
ELATION