Every summer it is the same. The temperature rises, you turn up the AC and that electricity bill is a punch to the gut. For millions of Americans, especially renters, low-income households and people in the Sun Belt, staying cool has quietly become one of the most stressful parts of the season.
However, a new technology coming from Saudi Arabia is turning the idea of cooling on its head. No compressor. No plugs. No electricity bills.
What is Nescod exactly?
Researchers at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) have created a cooling system named Nescod, short for No Electricity and Sustainable Cooling on Demand. A team led by Professor Peng Wang has developed a system that can achieve a significant cooling effect using ammonium nitrate, a compound abundant in fertilizer, without using a single watt of electricity.
The problem is, when ammonium nitrate dissolves in water it undergoes an endothermic reaction, meaning that it takes in heat from its surroundings, rather than giving it out. In lab tests, this process brought the temperature down from 77 degrees F to 38 degrees F in only 20 minutes.
The part that makes it really useful
A one-off cool down wouldn’t be anything special in itself. The really cool thing about Nescod is that it can reset itself with sunlight alone. The salt takes up heat and dissolves. The water is then evaporated by the power of the sun. The ammonium nitrate then re-crystallizes to its original form and is ready for re-use. Solar distillation also recovers evaporated water, thus minimizing waste.
It’s a closed loop that lasts as long as the sun shines.
