Advanced Cooling, Heating, and Energy Systems

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Cooling, heating, and environmental control systems are critical to modern life. Human comfort, healthcare and medicine, and food preservation rely on refrigeration and air conditioning systems. Likewise, high performance computing and data centers have significant cooling needs. Yet, while these technologies have become ubiquitous, vapor-compression systems present challenges in energy efficiency and in the life cycle impacts of the refrigerant fluid itself. This course explores the science and engineering of current and emerging environmental management technologies. Topics include cycle thermodynamics, refrigerant chemistry, solid-state cooling, passive thermal management approaches, and life cycle analysis.