The Gulf Organisation for Research and Development (Gord) has developed a new hybrid, ultra-efficient cooling system, Synergia 7n1, which is approved by the UK Patent Office, and registered with the International Patent Organisation.
“A unique feature of our hybrid cooling system is its ability to cool outdoor spaces with up to 50% energy efficiency compared to conventional systems in the market, thus presenting a potential business opportunity to take it into commercialisation,” Dr Yousef Alhorr, founding chairman of Gord told Gulf Times in an exclusive interview.
"We hope that after final testing, we can produce commercial prototypes of this cooling system," he said while explaining that Synergia 7n1 has already received two awards: one from the Association of Energy Engineers (AEE) in the US for the best energy innovation in the world and another award for Best Patent in Energy Efficiency from the League of Arab States.
“The system can seamlessly combine seven cooling solutions into one portable unit and hence named 7n1. We have managed to manufacture the prototype in Qatar, which is now attracting a new business opportunity for the local industry. As cooling now accounts for 70% of energy consumption in buildings, it is very important to tackle this challenge, and this is what we have managed to do with Synergia. Moreover, Synergia will support new jobs creation in this very important domain,” explained, Dr Alhorr.
The founding chairman of Gord said that a new line of air conditioners can be launched with the Synergia 7n1 technology.
“We are eagerly anticipating the impact this innovation will have as fresh air handling units have a promising potential. These units can be used to cool entertainment venues, souks, parks, and workplaces, among other locations. They can also be used to cool specialised facilities such as hospitals and surgery rooms, where the circulated air is not allowed and you need 100% fresh air. So, when the air conditioning systems deal with 100% fresh air, there is a big challenge in terms of the energy use,” he continued.
“The differences between our system and the conventional systems are primarily in two key areas. Alongside using the compressor for cooling, our system uses dehumidification and then indirect evaporative cooling as two pre-treatment stages for processing air,” he highlighted.
As for the operation of the new system, Dr Alhorr said that desiccant dehumidification is used to reduce the humidity of the air and it goes to another pre-treatment stage where it is cooled down again by using the evaporative cooling.
He described: “By having these two pre-treatment stages, we reduce 50% of the energy used for the remaining cooling. Instead of cooling from 48C outside to 18C inside, the compressors are pre-conditioned to stage 1, with temperature reduced from 48C to 33C degrees. Then in stage 2, the compressors cool from 33C to 18C. Fifty percent of the load is taken by the two pre-treatment stages, where we don't use compressors. It's only one pump and a few fans, making the energy consumption very minimal compared to the energy consumption of the compressors.”
“In the US, Europe, and the Far East, there are various ongoing projects focused on exploring and developing hybrid cooling systems. We have managed to do it on a large scale with capacities of up to 100 tonnes, which represents a substantial scale of operation,” added, Dr Alhorr.
The prototype of Synergia 7n1
Dr Yousef Alhorr
