Coolar

Target SDGs

Target Users (Target Impact Group)

Public Sector Agencies, NGOs

Distributors / Implementing Organizations

This product is a prototype as of June 2017 and no distributors or implementors have been established, although Coolar is in the process of teaming up with industry partners and developmental organizations like Doctor's Without Borders to bring the solution to market. Coolar is supported by Bayer cares foundation, Expo 2020 Dubai UAE and others

Competitive Landscape

Direct competitors include Sure Chill Vaccine Refrigerator BLF100 DC.

Countries

Ethiopia, Kenya, Philippines

Manufacturing/Building Method

The product is still in the prototyping stage

Intellectural Property Type

Select Type

User Provision Model

The product is not yet commercially available

Distributions to Date Status

None

Design Specifications

The Coolar system uses warm water through solar energy. The system does not require batteries or electronic components, nor rotating parts. It does not use any hazardous refrigerants or lubricants.  Coolar is designed to be economical, durable, and a sustainable solution for vaccines, medicine, and food storage in regions with unreliable or expensive electricity. It also produces 10x low carbon emissions

How it works

The absorption cooling cycle

Evaporation

Part of the water evaporates in the evaporator due to low pressure in the system. The resulting evaporation cooling effect cools the storage compartment.

Absorption

The absorbent attracts vapour, binds it on its surface and frees up space in the evaporator. In that space more water evaporates, so multiplying the cooling effect.

Drying

Once the absorbent’s surface is filled with vapour, the cooling is paused temporarily. In order for the process to be repeated the absorbent must be dried.

Condensation

By heating, the absorbent is then dried and all of the vapour is released from its surface. The vapour then condenses and flows back into the evaporators. This completes the cycle.

Product Schematics

Technical Support

Provided by the manufacturer

Replacement Components

Unknown

Lifecycle

Unknown

Manufacturer Specified Performance Parameters

The manufacturers performance parameters are :

Grid Independent

Powered by solar thermal energy it operates independent from electricity.

Long-lasting & Robust

System requires no short-lived batteries and contains no easy to break electronics or rotating parts.

Economical

No running costs as it is powered by hot water from abundant solar heat.

Green

CO₂ emissions are 10 x lower compared to conventional fridges.

Non-hazardous

Uses no hazardous materials, which makes it unproblematic upon disposal.

Social

Enables reliable cooling for people without access to stable electricity.

Vetted Performance Status

In the spring of 2019, The company successfully installed and operated its Coolar refrigerator prototype on the island Tenerife. During the field test, the refrigerator operated completely independent from the electricity grid and managed to reliably cool the storage compartment inside the refrigerator cabinet to below 8°C, even as outside temperatures reached up to 36°C. This is the first successful field test of a refrigerator operating with a solar heat-powered continuous adsorption cooling system that only uses water as the refrigerant.

Safety

In developing nations, up to 75% of vaccines are damaged due to storage at too high or too low a temperature. Delivering damaged vaccines does not effectively influence disease control according to Coolar website

Complementary Technical Systems

Unknown

Academic Research and References

Compliance with regulations

Unknown

Evaluation methods

Field Testing

Other Information

Coolar has won various awards including Global Innovator by Expo 2020 Dubai’s Expo Live programme