Every two years, eurammon awards young scientists with its “Natural Refrigeration Award” for outstanding theses in the field of natural refrigerants. The association for natural refrigerants presented the prizes to this year’s winners at the eurammon symposium in Schaffhausen, Switzerland.

Xiangping Zhang from Donghua University, China, won the award for outstanding research produced by a young scientist. Bernd Bierling, from the University of Stuttgart, came in second, and third prize was awarded to Jens Eiseler from Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences. After the awards ceremony, the three winners presented their final theses to the symposium’s international audience.

Zhang investigated the ideal R744-based blend for heat pump systems. In her final project, she identified a fluid combination with positive characteristics in terms of safety, environmental compatibility and thermal properties. Next, she worked out other parameters of the fluid blend such as the optimal mass fraction.

Bierling created a simulation model for the auxiliary gas circuit of a solar-powered diffusion-absorption refrigerator, with which he modeled various effects on the refrigeration capacity. These included the effect of material transmission in the absorber and evaporator, and the thermal energy effect the gas heat exchanger has on refrigeration capacity.

 Eiseler’s project included the planning, construction and operation of a demonstration cooling system. His model refrigeration system, with propane (R290) as the refrigerant, gives students the opportunity to test their theoretical knowledge of refrigeration technology on a practical object.