TRACI: An Environmentally Friendly Cooler

Success Story

Application Domains

Cooling CERN's delicate detector electronics also has a strong environmental component: more efficient cooling results in less heat dissipation and energy loss. The choice of coolant is also an important factor on the environmental impact, as traditionally, coolants have been a major cause for air pollution concerns. This is the motivation behind CERN and the Dutch National Institute for Subatomic Physics, NIKHEF's compact CO2 cooling system. Nicknamed TRACI, for "Transportable Refrigeration Apparatus for CO2 Investigation", it aims at maximising the cooling efficiency from inexpensive CO2, which is also environmentally more friendly.

 

After the production of laboratory prototypes, 2016 saw the birth of the first collaboration to industrialise a compact and transportable version of the system called "MARTA". It is intended to be applied initially in laboratories, though future applications could be as broad as food refrigeration, industrial air conditioning, data centre cooling, and many more. The project relies on the valuable expertise fo Cracow University of Technology and industrialisation experience of Polish companies CEBEA Bochnia and PONAR Silesia.