​Seminar on A Disruptive Technology to Improving Energy Efficiency of Air conditioning

Introduction to KAUST (first 15mins)
Established in 2009, KAUST (King Abdullah University of Science and Technology) is a catalyst for innovation, economic development and social prosperity in Saudi Arabia and the world. The university currently educates and trains over 900 master’s and doctoral students, supported by an academic community of 150 faculty members, 400 postdocs and 300 research scientists. KAUST advances science and technology through distinctive and collaborative research integrated with graduate education. Located on the Red Sea coast in Saudi Arabia, KAUST conducts curiosity-driven and goal-oriented research to address global challenges related to food, water, energy and the environment.

A Disruptive Technology to Improving Energy Efficiency of Air conditioning

This colloquium focuses on the disruptive cooling processes for air conditioning (AC) with the aim of reducing energy (electrical) consumption of cooling in all types of buildings. Hitherto, all space cooling in buildings are provided by the conventional mechanical vapor compressor (MVC), operating with condensable refrigerant cycles. Such an approach is constrained by two temperature limits of refrigeration cycle, namely the dew-point temperature of moist air in the evaporator and the condensing temperature of refrigerant in the condenser.  Over the past decades, KSA has the electricity annual growth rates in excess of 6%, of which more than 50% of total annual electricity production (about 272 TWh, 2015) is attributed to AC. The amount of electricity consumption for AC for the same year had accrued to 139 TWh. Should such an energy-demand trend in AC cooling is unabated, the future energy and environmental sustainability for future years in KSA may be untenable. Thus, an out-of-box solution for improving the energy efficiency AC machines is deemed necessary. To this end, we proposed an innovative AC cooling cycle that has the potential to provide a quantum leap in the energy efficacy, as well as a significant savings in the consumption of water associated with cooling towers of AC plants. A first order estimation, based on the improvement in the coefficient of performances of cooling devices, has predicted that both the electricity and water savings up to 60% and 40% can be achieved.

Professor Kim Choon NG obtained his BSc and PhD from the Strathclyde University (Glasgow, UK) in 1975 and 1980, respectively, worked briefly at Babcock Power Ltd (Renfrew, Glasgow) and joined the ME Dept. of NUS in 1981. After 34 years at in NUS, he joined the Water Desalination and Reuse Centre of the King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia as a full-time faculty. His research interests are in adsorption cooling, innovative air conditioning and dehumidifier systems, seawater desalination, co-generation power systems analysis and harnessing sunlight to liquid fuels by CPV systems. He is keen reader of energy efficiency and its thermodynamics relation to unit cost of resource. He pioneered the use of the heat-driven AD cycle to lower the bottom brine temperature limit of MED processes. He has over 300 peer reviewed journals and conference publications. He is active in professional services, serving as associate editors in three international journals, as well as in the committee for PE examination (Part 1_Mechanical, from 2008 to 2015) of the PE Board, Singapore. He has been on visiting professorship to the World Class University (WCU) programme of Jeju National University, Korea from 2008-2013 and also as a visiting Imperial Professor to Kyushu University in Japan (2004, 2006). He has published 3 books, 12 book chapters, 13 patents started 3 spin-off companies with licenses from NUS and KAUST. His H-index factor is 55, total Google Scholar citations in publication is 9568. (https://scholar.google.com.sg/citations?hl=en&user=Ie2fRzAAAAAJ&view_op=list_works)