19-year-old student develops ‘green’ air conditioner
An energy-efficient and eco-friendly air conditioner is set to revolutionize home cooling systems with 19-year-old student Maria Yzabell Angel Palma’s invention.
Palma, who is an incoming college freshman student, will be taking up mechanical engineering at the De La Salle University (DLSU) in Manila. The air conditioning unit she invented uses a disc-shaped compressor and leaves virtually no carbon footprint.
Current and widely used air conditioning systems typically use piston or rotary compressors with pressure and low volume, with hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) as their medium of cooling. HFCs are tagged by scientists as one of the major causes of the earth’s ozone layer depletion.
Meanwhile, Palma’s invention uses a disc-shaped compressor with low compression pressure and high volume of air molecules as refrigerant.
It would be interesting to know that Palma’s invention of the AirDisc technology was “accidental” as she had been originally working on an eco-friendly oven concept, dubbed the AirWave oven, for her Research class at the Philippine Science High School (Bicol) when she was in Grade 10.
According to Palma, she was further developing the AirWave oven while using copper tubes when she discovered that it resulted in emitting cold air at the end of the tubes. From there, she decided to make something out of it, which led to her invention of the AirDisc air conditioner.
Palma said that her father Bernardo Angel, a Naga City-based food entrepreneur who is also a mechanical engineering graduate of DLSU-Manila, helped a lot in developing her AirDisc invention.
She also said that they have completed the online application process for patent with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and have started looking for manufacturing partners.
Palma is hoping for the AirDisc air conditioner to be the preferred air conditioning option for homes and offices not just in the Philippines but in other countries, too.
via Philippine Star / Rainier Allan Ronda
