Cooling in times of climate change
PTBnews 2.2023
02.05.2023
Ignition experiment in a Hartmann tube: the safety-relevant properties of a substance can be determined using controlled explosions
The need for sustainable cooling and air conditioning is also on the rise due to global warming. Now that climate-damaging chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) have been banned and their still harmful alternative substances are gradually being reduced, researchers want to investigate a new generation of natural and synthetic coolants with a low potential for global warming. Safety engineering and explosion protection also play a great role in this. The new research group “ExRef: Explosion hazards of low global warming potential refrigerants”, the speaker of which is provided by PTB, is dedicated to this topic. It is one of the 13 research groups that was established by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in March 2023. The groups will receive a total of 48.6 million euros in funding and will be supported for a maximum of two four-year periods. (Contact: Detlev Markus, +49 531 592-3500, 
detlev.markus(at)ptb.de)