On Tuesday 17 October, KIVI Region East and Students Twente will again organise a KIVI Innovation Drink. This time we will be guests at the Design Lab at the UT and SoundEnergy will give the presentation.

SoundEnergy is a startup from Enschede and has developed a technology that uses sound waves to convert heat into cold. They also do not use harmful propellants that most air-conditioning systems use. The technology, developed by SoundEnergy, works using a process similar to a Stirling engine.

The system uses thermal energy (waste heat or solar energy) and this thermal energy is transformed into an acoustic wave. The wave travels through a pressurised loop in which it is further amplified... the feedback process makes the acoustic wave stronger and stronger. The energy of the wave is converted into a lower temperature by connecting them inversely. The sound waves produce cold by diverting heat from the particles, as in a classical Stirling cycle.

The system itself does not consume electricity/energy. It converts the emitted waste energy, or solar thermal energy, into cold with an efficiency of 40-50%.

The rest of the heat can be discharged to a cooling basin or the atmosphere or further reused. The only parts that use power are a small controller unit for more accurate calibration, and of course pumps to circulate heat-bearing fluid in and cold fluid out.

Peter Uriot and Jeroen Visser will present the above during the KIVI Innovation Drink. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to talk afterward over drinks and snacks in the DesignLab.

More information at www.soundenergy.nl.

A video can be found at: https://youtu.be/ewB_l26IcKc