Mar 25, 2024
BMWK project PIEZOdevICE launched

Consortium and employees of the project management organization Jülich at the kick-off on January 9, 2024. From left to right: U. Bergmann, E. Kupzig, L. Hoff, L. Haupt, S. Mühle, S. Apelt, A. Feuer, C. Li, J. Seifert, L. Schinke, A. Lienert, A. König-Haagen, K. Tschöke, E. Bartsch
The cooperation project PIEZOdevICE, funded by the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action (BMWK), started on January 1, 2024 and the kick-off meeting took place at the Technical University of Dresden on January 9, 2024. A large consortium from industry and science is involved in the three-year project:
- Glen Dimplex Deutschland GmbH
- Güntner GmbH & Co. KG
- Fusion Bionic GmbH
- WiE GmbH – Werk für industrielle Elektronik
- Fraunhofer-Institut für Keramische Technologien und Systeme IKTS
- Technische Universität Dresden
The focus lays on air source heat pumps for the German energy and heat system transition. High humidity in combination with low air temperatures leads to icing on the air/refrigerant heat exchanger (evaporator). The layers of ice that form increase the pressure loss and thus reduce the efficiency of the heat pump, increasing the amount of electrical energy required to provide heat.
The aim of the research project is therefore to develop ways of reducing icing that can be quickly converted into products at the end of the project. In terms of content, two approaches will be pursued. The first approach involves designing the surface structure and chemistry of the heat exchanger to delay ice formation and accelerate defrosting. In the second step, an active system based on piezoelectrically generated plate waves is being developed. This active de-icing system will also be used to detect the growing layers of ice. Following preliminary work on small laboratory samples and analyses on the heat exchanger, the focus is on integration into real heat pumps. The aim of all analyses is to minimise the additional energy required to defrost the heat exchanger and thus increase the performance number (COP value) of the heat pump. The laboratory experiments are supported by a comprehensive digitalisation package.