Refrigeration and Air-Conditioning
Technology Roadmap 2050

2020 Roadmap Development Working Group Report
May 2021

Japan Society of Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (JSRAE)Contents

1. Overview

p.3

2. 2050 Vision

p.7

3. Technological Contributions to 2050 Vision

p.9

4. Technology Roadmap 2050 (2020 Edition)

p.11

5. Future Plan

p.21

List of Committee Members

p.23

2

1. Overview

3

Background and Purpose of Roadmap Development
In recent years, the industrial environment surrounding refrigeration and air-conditioning
technology has changed significantly worldwide. In 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals(SDGs) were announced by the United Nations, requesting all relevant stakeholders tocontribute to solving societal issues by 2030. Furthermore, in 2020, the Government of Japandeclared the realization of a green society, setting the national goal of carbon neutrality to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions to zero as a whole by 2050.
Refrigeration and air-conditioning technology is expected to play an important roletocontribute to achieve these goals by maximizing the introduction of renewable energy into
refrigeration and air-conditioning technology and developing next-generation refrigerants.
There is a strong demand in Japan and beyond for building a foundation to accelerateinnovation by strengthening cooperation between industry, academia, government andprofessional associations, underpinned by the national energy efficiency technology strategy.
The 2020 Roadmap Development Working Group has been established within JSRAE in 2020 as
an initiative to produce and update an industry-level roadmap on an annual basis, building ashared vision for 2050 and proposing technology development themes and directions.
Two societal areas were identified as the main scope of the roadmap. One area focuses on foodloss and waste issues concerned with refrigeration technology management from production to
consumption aiming to improve effectiveness and efficiency of cold chain, and the other on
global warming issues concerned with air-conditioning technology management for energy
supply and demand control in our society.

4Key Technological Areas for Technology Roadmap 2050
Food Technology

Heat Exchanger Technology

Cold Chain

Heat Exchanger

Food Freezing

Fin-and-Tube Heat Exchanger
Shell-and-Tube Heat Exchanger

Refrigerant Technology

Plate Heat Exchanger

Refrigerants

Microchannel Heat Exchanger

Database

Condenser

Thermodynamic Property Table

Evaporator

JARef

Heat Transfer Enhancement

Next-generation
technologies ofrefrigeration and airconditioning system
Next-generation technologies ofrefrigeration system
Control of vapor compression
refrigeration cycle
Sensing system, actuator andcontrol system for new
refrigerants and mildly
flammable refrigerants
Cycle control methods of HEMS
and BEMS
Separate sensible and latentcooling air-conditioning system

Compression Technology
Compressor
Reciprocating Compressor
Rotary Compressor
Scroll Compressor
Screw Compressor

Frost Formation

Desiccant, Adsorption,
Absorption and Chemical
technologies

DefrostAdsorption and Sorption

Heat Exchanger

Desiccant air-conditioning

Phase Change

Adsorption chiller

Heat Pump

Dehumidification

Frost and Defrost
Technologies

ExpanderWaste heat utilization

Refrigeration Oil

Solar heat utilization

Lubrication

5Overview of 2020 Roadmap Development Working Group Activities◯ Roadmapping Workshop 1• Date and Time: 15:00-17:00 on 8th October 2020
• Purpose: Assumption Setting and Identification of Societal Issues◯ Roadmapping Workshop 2• Date and Time: 13:00-15:00 on 27th October 2020
• Purpose: Identification of Technological Issues and Suggestions of Solutions◯ Roadmapping Workshop 3• Date and Time: 13:00-15:00 on 13th November 2020
• Purpose: Value Proposition of Suggested Solutions◯ Roadmapping Workshop 4• Date and Time: 13:00-15:00 on 27th November 2020
• Purpose: Identification of Support Needed from the Government of Japan to Realise the Suggested Solutions◯ Roadmapping Workshop 5• Date and Time: 10:00-12:00 on 4th December 2020
• Purpose: 2050 Vision Building to Contribute to Carbon Neutrality◯ Roadmapping Workshop 6• Date and Time: 13:00-15:00 on 14th January 2021
• Purpose: Overall Discussions regarding the Outputs among Workshop Participants◯ Roadmapping Workshop 7• Date and Time: 15:00-17:00 on 28th January 2021
• Purpose: Review Session with the JSRAE Board of Directors and Auditors to Reflect their Feedback in the
Final Outputs

6

2. 2050 Vision7

2050 Vision

A carbon neutral era, in which the shift from fossil fuel-derived energy
to renewable energy, refrigerant recovery and reuse is being promoted

Development of products and services that utilize hydrogen, fuel cells
and magnetic refrigeration technology to improve the efficiency ofhydrogen liquefaction, are considered to be one of the new options. In
addition, maximum energy efficiency by spread of Smart Factory, ZEB,
ZEH, etc. will be realized by introducing information and communication
technology (ICT), using artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet ofThings (IoT).

To achieve this vision, Japan will take a leadership role, withtechnological capabilities and social infrastructure, for the integration ofstandards and regulations globally to seamlessly develop products andservices with low environmental burdens.

8

3. Technological Contributions to 2050 Vision9Technological Contributions to 2050 Vision

Food Technology•••

Food loss reduction by cold chain
Food production optimization
Energy consumption reduction by establishing hygiene standards

Refrigerant Technology• Lowering of Global Warming Potential (GWP) of refrigerants, and use of naturalrefrigerants• Promotion of refrigerant recovery and reuse• Development of new refrigerants for expanding heat pump applications

Compression Technology• Efficiency improvement of compressors• Compressors compatible with new refrigerants• Environment burden reduction through improved compressors with low GWP andnatural refrigerants

Heat Exchanger, Frostand Defrost Technologies• Dissemination of high efficiency systems by improving heat exchange performance andreducing heat loss due to frost formation and defrosting

Next-generation
Technologies ofRefrigeration and Airconditioning System, andDesiccant, Adsorption,
Absorption and Chemical
Technologies• Environmental load reduction by next-generation refrigeration and air-conditioning
technologies (absorption, adsorption, thermal storage technology, etc.) that actively
utilizes renewable energy.
• Widespread use of residential and industrial heat pump system to enable hightemperature heat generation.

10

4. Technology Roadmap 2050 (2020 Edition)

11

Technology Roadmap 2050 (2020 Edition)
2021

2025

2030

Establishment of food freezing and cold chain technology that complies with hygiene standards

Food
Technology

Establishment of quality evaluation model that can comprehensively evaluate from freezing, thawing toconsumption
Visualization of the optimum value (optimal energy amount) for total engineering in food freezing and cold chain

•
•
•

2040

2050

Food loss reduction by cold chain
Food production optimization
Reduction of energy consumption by establishing hygiene standards

Search and development of new refrigerants
Full utilization of existing refrigerants and expansion of applications due to deregulation-

Emission reduction by promoting refrigerant recovery

Refrigerant
Technology

Search and development of refrigerants suitable for high-temperature heat pumps-

Clarification of thermophysical properties and establishment of equation of state-

Evaluation of thermodynamic performance and selection of suitable heat pump cycle

Lowering the Global Warming Potential(GWP) of refrigerants, and use of naturalrefrigerants
Promotion of refrigeration recovery andreuse
Development of new refrigerants for
expanding applications of heat pumps

Evaluation of compatibility with various materials and lubricant oil
Efficiency improvement of compressors

Compression
Technology••

Adaptation to various refrigerants with low GWP•
Establishment of refrigerant-saving technology

Heat
Exchanger
Technology

Frost andDefrostTechnology

Efficiency improvement of compressors
Development of compressors compatible with new
refrigerants
Environment burden reduction through improved
compressors with low GWP and natural refrigerants

Development of heat exchangers with ultra-low refrigerant amount
Coefficient Of Performance (COP) improvement and further comfortability by independent ventilation of indoor air
circulation and heat exchanger
Promotion of renewable energy utilization, and control on maximum power consumption by heat storage
mechanism
Energy-saving by promoting the use of air-source heat pump•

Dissemination of high efficiency systems by improving heat exchange
performance and reducing heat loss due to frost formation and defrosting

Utilization of air-source heat pump for stable heating

Vision

A carbon neutralera, in which theshift from fossil
fuel-derived energy
to renewableenergy, refrigerant
recovery and reuseis being promoted.
Development of
products andservices that utilizehydrogen, fuel cells
and magnetic
refrigeration
technology to
improve theefficiency ofhydrogenliquefaction, areconsidered to be
one of the new
options. In addition,
maximum energy
efficiency by spreadof Smart Factory,
ZEB, ZEH, etc. will
be realized byintroducing
information andcommunication
technology (ICT),
using artificial
intelligence (AI) andthe Internet ofThings (IoT).

Improvement of energy-saving performance of air-cooled heat pumps for heating purposes
Realization of a system that can operate with high efficiency from high load to low load

Next
Generation
Refrigeration
and Airconditioning
SystemTechnology

Desiccant,Adsorption,
Absorption andChemicalTechnology•

Optimization of energy balance by networking all heat loads
Promotion of waste heat utilization, and development of refrigeration, air-conditioning and heat pump equipment that can be operated with lower temperature waste heat
Simplification and no waste technologies of equipment installation
Establishment of element and system design, system operation, and performance prediction technologies linked with AI
Development of absorption, adsorption, chemical heat storage material with suitable physical properties
Elucidation of phenomena in various absorption, adsorption and chemical heat storage technologies and establishment of the theory
Establishment of system optimization technology for high performance and miniaturization•

Environmental
burden reduction
by next generation
refrigeration andair-conditioning
technology(absorption,
adsorption, heatstorage technology,etc.) that actively
utilizes renewableenergyWidespread use ofheat pump systems
that enable hightemperature heatgeneration forhome and industrialuse

To achieve thisvision, Japan willtake a leadershiprole with its
technologicalcapabilities andsocial infrastructure,
for the integrationof standards andregulations globallyto seamlessly
develop products
and services withlow environmental
burdens.

12

Themes for Food Technology
Theme 1: Establishment of foodfreezing and cold chain technologythat complies with hygiene standards

Theme 2: Establishment of quality
evaluation model that cancomprehensively evaluate fromfreezing, thawing to consumption

Theme 3: Visualization of the optimum
value (optimal energy investment
amount) for total engineering in foodfreezing and cold chainsØ Target year: By 2030

Ø Target year: By 2030

Ø Target year: By 2030

Fundamental issues

Fundamental issues

Fundamental issues

•

•

•

The refrigeration and air-conditioning industry has

Because the current criteria for frozen food quality

Although there are qualitative criteria for freezing

not been following the world trend complying withare vaguely set, it is difficult to understand what

quickly and maintaining temperature, there are no

relevant hygiene standards on both of the “soft”

the appropriate evaluation indicators are for foodquantitative criteria for them, and the balance ofand “hard” sides.

freezing (thawing) technology and cold chain

energy costs is not clarified.

technology.
Solution proposals•

Solution proposals

To propose and realize improved food freezing

Solution proposals

supply chains that comply with GMP, etc. that is the••

To quantify energy costs in the process fromTo establish and promote further clarification of

production to consumption, and to propose andbase of various hygiene standards such asfrozen food evaluation indicators for systematic

promote the ideal state of how food freezing

European Hygienic Engineering and Design Groupfood freezing technology and cold chain technology.

technology could be utilized.

(EHEDG) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point(HACCP).

Government supports needed to realize the above-mentioned themes◯ Guidelines for international standards of GMP, etc. that is the base of EHEDG and HACCP• It is desirable to set numerical targets to cope with the international standards and to set a deadline for officially applying them inJapan.
• It is recommended Japanese government to develop a policy to respond to the international standards. Then industry and academia
would be able to work toward their goals through collaboration accordingly with that policy.
◯ Guidelines to cope with global warming and climate change issues in relation to economic activities• It is hoped that the government will provide clear guidelines on what kind of preparations would be necessary when facing toclimate change due to global warming and commodity price fluctuations due to the outbreak of epidemics.
◯ Industry-government-academia collaboration programs• It is hoped that the government will set up projects and prepare budgets for the development of domestic and overseas cold chains,evaluation of energy costs, and measures against food loss. In addition, it is expected that the government provides a platform
where industry, government and academia can collaborate to think about countermeasures for the issues.

13Themes for Refrigerant Technology (Residential or Commercial Use)
Theme 1: Search and development of
new refrigerants

Theme 2: Full utilization of existing
refrigerants and expansion of
applications due to deregulation

Theme 3: Emission reduction bypromoting refrigerant recovery

Ø Target year: By 2030

Target year: By 2030

Ø Target year: By 2030

Fundamental issues:

Fundamental issues :Fundamental issues:

•

•

•

Refrigerant candidates to achieve the final target of

Natural refrigerants such as propane, CO2 andammonia have disadvantages in flammability, highconsidering the environmental impact in line withnot specified yet.

pressure and toxicity to restrict usage or degrade

the Paris Agreement. The rules and schemes tosystem efficiency.

recover refrigerants are not yet established

Solution proposals•

It is essential to reduce refrigerant emissions

the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol are(recovery rate is 38% in Japan as of 2018).

To develop an innovation ecosystem to accelerate

Solution proposals

the searching and development of new pure/mixed•

To extend the application range of refrigerants with

Solution proposals

refrigerants (there is an on-going NEDO projects ascurrently limited use such as propane and CO2 by•of 2021).

accelerating the development of safety and theconsidering social schemes and legal structures toimprovement of system efficiency.

facilitate refrigerant recovery.

To design, propose and implement new measures

Government supports needed to realize the above-mentioned themes◯ Deregulation for the use of flammable refrigerants such as R32 in ensuring safety••

It is required to extend the use of flammable refrigerants, such as strongly flammable propane and mildly flammable R32, in maintaining the safety of equipment.
It is hoped that funding support will be available for additional costs required for safety devices and sensors.

◯ Facilitation of refrigerant recovery to reduce the amount of refrigerants released into the atmosphere•

It is recommended to add new criteria in the industrial standards for the ease of refrigerant recovery, policy to develop incentive schemes facilitating refrigerant recovery, and to develop a new
system to monitor the distribution of refrigerants in the industry.

◯ Encouragement of the reuse of refrigerants to restrain new refrigerant production••

It is important to reduce the environmental impact by the reuse of regenerated refrigerants with sufficient purity and correct composition ratio for the restrain of virgin refrigerant production.
It is recommended to have subsidies to encourage the reuse of refrigerants in order to improve the economic competitiveness of regenerated refrigerants compared to virgin refrigerants.

◯ Examination and certification of flammability classification for domestic use of new refrigerants certified by the ASHAE••

It is suggested to support the establishment of a system to quickly evaluate the classification of new refrigerants, as regulation of refrigerants depends on the classification in the High Pressure Gas
Safety Act.
It is suggested to have research support in order to choose ideal new refrigerant candidates for each product sector through cooperation with foreign organizations related to refrigeration and airconditioning.

◯ Safety measures for refrigerant leakage, establishment of guidelines, subsidies for installation of ventilation devices and detectors•

It is suggested to have research support strategically and timely in order to reduce risks at refrigerant leakage, and establish guidelines to secure safety.

◯ Equipment evaluation scheme considering not only the GWP value of refrigerants but also refrigerant charge amount of system during operation••

Environmental impact by refrigerant leakage is calculated by the carbon dioxide equivalent (GWP x leakage amount). Direct expansion products require additional charge at equipment installation
with longer connecting pipes and this additional charge should properly be recorded.
It is recommended to support the related research tasks in order to improve the measurement accuracy and precision of refrigerant leakage amount for each product sector, and manage theinformation of refrigerant charge amount during equipment installation.

14

Themes for Refrigerant Technology (Industrial Use)
Theme 1: Search and development of new
refrigerants suitable for high-temperature
heat pumps

Theme 2: Clarification of thermophysicalproperties and establishment of equationof state

Theme 3: Evaluation of thermodynamic
performance and selection of suitable
heat pump cycleØ Target year: By 2040

Ø Target year: By 2040

Ø Target year: By 2040

Fundamental issues• The bottleneck issue for heat pumps having theupper limit of supply temperature is the number
short of refrigerant with high critical temperature.

Fundamental issues• There is no structure to sufficiently evaluate thethermophysical properties of the refrigerants
searched and developed.

Fundamental issues• Suitable cycle configurations and high efficiency
technologies of system differ depending on thethermophysical properties of refrigerant.

Solution proposals• To search and develop refrigerants with high criticaltemperature, high thermodynamic performance, zero
ODP, low GWP, sufficient chemical and thermal
stability, low toxicity and low flammability.

Solution proposals• To build a system to carry out quickly from dataacquisition to establishment of equation of state forrefrigerant thermophysical properties.

Solution proposals• To establish the evaluation and cycle selection
methods that make possible to select a highefficiency technology suitable for each refrigerant

Theme 4: Evaluation of compatibility withvarious materials and lubricant oilØ Target year: By 2040
Fundamental challenges• It is necessary to clarify the refrigerant stability at
high-temperature in actual conditions, for example, astate where oxygen, water and metal material arecoexistent, the compatibilities of resin material or
refrigerant oil.
Solution proposals• To build a system to share information and tasks
regarding refrigerant stability and material
compatibility.

Government supports needed to realize the above-mentioned themes◯ Statistical database for heat demand and exhaust heat of factories that can be used for heat pump specification• Detailed statistical temperature information on heat demand and waste heat in industry field is necessary to specify refrigerants and heat pumps to be developed, therefore,
temperature information in increments of twenty is more desirable than that in increments of fifty as statistical database.
◯ Technology development projects• It is hoped that the government will support industry-university collaboration for development of refrigerants and lubricant oil.
• It is suggested to support the development of refrigerants and lubricant oil and evaluation of those applicability at the equipment level.
• It is suggested to support the field test of high-temperature heat pumps for applicability verification of refrigerants and lubricant oil.
◯ Economic instruments• It is hoped that the government will support the organization making corrections to trade-off of greenhouse gas emissions and system manufacturing cost.

15

Themes for Compression Technology
Theme 1：Efficiency Improvementof compressors

Theme 2：Adaptation to various
refrigerants with low GWP

Theme 3：Establishment of refrigerantsaving technology

Ø

Ø

Ø

Target year: By 2040

Target year: By 2040

Fundamental issues•
Positive displacement compressors include
reciprocating, rotary, screw and scroll
compressions. The technical maturity of thesecompressors is extremely high, and many
structural improvements have been done so far.
On the other hand, in order to improve theefficiency of compressors, it is crucial to pursue
not only structural improvement but also
improvement of machining and assembly
accuracy.

Fundamental issues•
There is a wide variety of low GWP refrigerants for eachcountry with different regulations, different regions including
tropical area and cold area, and different products including
refrigerator, air conditioner, freezer, etc. Compressors are
required to have equipment design that enables stable
operation for various refrigerants. In response to such demand,
there are many elemental technology fields required forcompressor development. And many certification processes
exist due to changes in compressor parts suitable for low GWP
refrigerants, and its development lead time is too long.

Solution proposals•
To improve the accuracy, quality and productivityof machining and the assembly by utilizing
digitization and automation of plant andequipment utilizing AI and IoT.

Solution proposals•
It is expected that compressor components such as
refrigeration oils, materials of parts, motors and pumps will
become more modular to efficiently meet a wide variety ofneeds. The development lead time will be shortened by actively
introducing 1D-CAE that systematically models complex
related factors in the entire system and by strengthening thedesign in the upstream process of development.

Target year: By 2040

Fundamental issues•
It is required to reduce the volume of compression chamberbecause reducing the amount of refrigerants charged whenusing flammable refrigerant leads to reduction of risk andprevention of global warming. However, cooling and heating
capacities tend to decline due to the performance
characteristic of many low GWP refrigerants. It becomes
necessary to increase the volume of compression stroke andthe pump size. This makes it difficult to reduce the volume of
the compression chamber.
Solution proposals•
High-side pressure chamber type with small discharge
pulsation and stable oil supply is mainstream in the Japanese
air-conditioning industry. On the other hand, low-side pressurechamber type that uses the flammable refrigerant R600a is
mainstream for household refrigerators in Japan. It is expectedthat low-side pressure chamber will be one of the means to
reduce the volume of the accumulator attached to thecompressor and reduce the amount of refrigerant charged.

Government supports needed to realize the above-mentioned themes◯ Subsidy system to encourage the introduction of energy-saving products•
It is recommended to support building the foundation that encourages innovation and research, which are the basis of energy-saving technology for the refrigeration and air-conditioning industry. For example, it is expected todevelop open innovation framework through industry-university collaboration of university-launched ventures and Small and Medium-sized Enterprises(SMEs) with advanced technology.
◯ Development of telecommunication infrastructure, including the development and dissemination of 5G/6G infrastructure•
Researches of refrigeration and air-conditioning linked to information and communication technologies like AI and IoT are progressing such as smart factories and digital twin of production lines, smart buildings, smart grids andautomated demand responses. Since the refrigeration and air-conditioning equipment has high affinity particularly to the connected other systems, it is expected that the government will support the activities relating to consortiumthat includes other academic societies and industrial companies.
◯ Subsidies or tax incentives for capital investment by manufacturers•
It is expected that the government will support the research and development of high-mix low volume production such as 3D printers and manufacturing equipment that can meet a wide variety of demands.
◯ Subsidy of fund for R&D in industry-academia-government joint project•
To promote the introduction of renewable energy and realize a hydrogen-based society, it is expected that the government will support the research on efficiency improvement of future technologies utilized in new society such as
the operation by electricity from storage batteries, solar power system, etc.
◯ Regulations and standards for slightly flammable, highly flammable refrigerants and toxic refrigerants•
It is suggested that the government will support open conferences on the topic of safety of refrigerants beyond the boundaries of each academy.
•
It is recommended that the government will support research that promotes the introduction of refrigerant-saving products to the market.
◯ Tax incentives and subsidies for development costs and capital investment for the use of refrigerants with low GWP•
Safety measures are indispensable for research and development of high-pressure gas such as CO2 and highly flammable gas such as propane. The entry barrier of this research is high. It is recommended to support basic
research based on the cooperation of universities and research institutes regarding these refrigerants to cope with this entry barrier.

16

Themes for Heat Exchanger Technology
Theme１：Development of heatexchangers with ultra-low refrigerant
amount

Theme２：Coefficient Of Performance(COP) improvement and further
comfortability by independent
ventilation of indoor air circulation andheat exchanger

Theme３：Promotion of renewableenergy utilization, and control on
maximum power consumption by heatstorage mechanismØ Target year: By 2030

Ø Target year: By 2030

Ø Target year: By 2030

Fundamental issues

Fundamental issues

Fundamental issues

•

•

•

The reason why refrigerant amount of the existing

The existing indoor unit fans usually have insufficient

The reason why heat storage mechanism has notheat exchangers tends to be large is because of theindoor air circulation, and the difference between the

been yet realized, in addition to the fact that anfollowings: 1) Refrigerant distributor is large, 2)

temperature around indoor unit heat exchanger andeffective method was not established, is that

Heat flux is small on the refrigerant side, and 3)

the indoor air average temperature is large, which isthere are negative factors such as increases in

Refrigerant flow path is long.

disadvantageous in terms of comfort and COP.

cost, the amount of refrigerant charged, andintensified cost competition with electricity

Solution proposals

Solution proposals••

To develop a small refrigerant distributor andstorage.

It is necessary to improve comfort and COP byestablish optimization technology of "flow path area

independently controlling the ventilation of heat

Solution proposals

x flow path length x number of paths" inexchanger and the indoor air circulation. Providing a•consideration of fin arrangement on the air side.

dedicated fan for the heat exchanger allows greaterand control the maximum power consumption by

The development of heat exchangers with ultra-low

flexibility in design and improves the performance ofheat storage, it is necessary to have a system

refrigerant amount needs to proceed throughthe heat exchanger. It is necessary to promotethat gives incentives for such products, and it isindustry-academia collaboration. It is also desirable

industry-academia collaboration along with sharing

desired to promote it through industry-academia-

to establish a refrigerant path optimization method

indicators and goals related to comfort.

government collaboration.

In order to promote the use of renewable energy

by AI technology.

Government support needed to realize the above-mentioned themes◯ Certification and purchase subsidy systems• A certification and purchase subsidy system should be established for products in which “the amount of refrigerant charged x the value of GWP of the refrigerant” withrespect to air-conditioning capacity of the heat pump system is small, or tax should be levied on “the amount of refrigerant charged x the value of GWP of the refrigerant.”• A certification system should be established for products that are highly comfortable and energy-saving, and have functions that are effective in preventing heat stroke. The
certificated product must have a higher COP than conventional products, sufficient indoor air circulation capacity, and a function to detect humans and automatically start
operation in order to prevent heat stroke.
• A certification and purchase subsidy system should be established for products that can utilize a surplus power generation of renewable energy and contribute to peakshaving by heat storage. The product needs to have a function to acquire information on the amount of renewable energy and the power consumption occur in the region.

17

Themes for Frost and Defrost Technologies
Theme１：
Energy-saving by promoting the use of
air-source heat pump

Theme２：
Utilization of air-source heat pump forstable heating

Theme３：
Improvement of energy-saving
performance of heat pumps for heatingØ Target year: By 2030
Ø Target year: By 2030

Ø Target year: By 2030

Fundamental issues• Air-source heat pump absorbs thermal energy
from outside air in it's outdoor unit. And especiallyin cold weather, the outdoor unit of air-source
heat pump gets easily frosted by achieving the air
dew point. When the outdoor unit coil frost, itneeds to be defrosted by reversing refrigeration
cycle. In the defrost cycle, Indoor temperaturedrops and air temperature control functionality
becomes low by defrosting. The longer defrostingtime, the worse air temperature control
functionality is, and the issue is how to shorten
defrosting time.

Fundamental issues• Air-source heat pump absorbs thermal energy fromoutside air in it's outdoor unit. And especially in cold
weather, the outdoor unit of air-source heat pumpgets easily frosted by achieving the air dew point.
When the outdoor unit coil frost, it needs to be
defrosted by reversing refrigeration cycle. In the
defrost cycle, Indoor temperature drops and airtemperature control functionality becomes low by
defrosting. The longer defrosting time, the worse airtemperature control functionality is, and the issue is
how to shorten defrosting time.

Fundamental issues• Heat pumps consume additional energy to raise
the room temperature and air-conditioning
circulation water temperature decreased bydefrost operation.

Solution proposals• To propose to the government to develop a
subsidy system for technology development toimprove the heating performance of air-source
heat pump.

Solution proposals• To develop new refrigerant control for defrosting.
• To examine the different defrosting methods.
• To Development of heat exchanger hard to get frosted.
• To improve predictive technology for frost.

Solution proposals• To develop a refrigerant control technology tomatch with the air condition of outdoor unit, forexample, as monitoring dew point of outdoor unit
outlet air.
• To develop defrosting methods except reverse
cycle defrosting operation.
• To develop heat exchangers that are not easily to
get frosted.

Government supports needed to realize above-mentioned themes◯ Further subsidies to increase the usage rate of air-source heat pump•••

It is suggested that the government will promote energy saving of air-source heat pump.
It is recommended to promote further subsidies to increase the usage rate of air-source heat pump.
It is hoped to realize active introduction in government buildings.

◯ Data analysis, disclosure, etc. for the air-source heat pump used in the government buildings and its effects on carbon dioxide emission reduction•••

It is suggested to support the data analysis for post-introduction in government buildings.
It is recommended to manage and disclose the data organized for the effect of heat pumps on CO2 reduction by the Ministry of the Environment of Japan.
It is requested to manage and disclose the data organized for foreign air-source heat pump usage areas and spread status data.

◯ Subsidy for further technological innovation particularly for universities•

It is hoped that the government will support research funding available to universities and research institutes for accelerating technological innovation.

◯ Formulation of framework for the target value of heat pump penetration rate and other technologies for carbon dioxide emission reduction•

It is necessary to determine the target levels of heat pump penetration rates and of other technologies for CO2 emission reduction.

18

Themes for Next-generation Refrigeration and Air-conditioning System Technology
Theme 1: Realization of a system that can operate with high efficiency fromhigh load to low load

Theme 2: Optimization of energy balance by networking all heat loads

ØØ

Target year: By 2050

Fundamental issues•
The reason why high efficiency at high load and low load cannot be achieved at the sametime is that device performance deteriorates at low load when designed for high load
(overcompression, deterioration of motor efficiency, and decrease in refrigerant flow
velocity for heat exchanger, etc.). During low-load operation, the ratio of power used forheat transfer such as blowing air is large in the total power consumption. Hence, the heattransfer power cannot be reduced, and the performance deterioration in intermittent
operation is also a cause for it.
Solution proposals•
To develop an overcompression prevention mechanism and a mechanism through industryuniversity collaboration. It should always be operated at the maximum rotation speed on the
motor characteristics including transmission mechanism and variable capacity.
•
To develop the materials and elements of refrigeration and air-conditioning system throughindustry-university collaboration.
•
It is recommended to develop high-efficiency control technology for system and heatexchanger having the change of the cross-sectional area in refrigerant flow path considering
heat transfer tube widening or contraction and variable number of paths according to theload.
•
To develop technology for heat transportation by natural circulation or radiation throughindustry-university collaboration.
•
To develop separate installation and linkage control system of small-capacity units, bringing
the load and heat source closer.
•
To demonstrate the developed technologies through industry-university collaboration.

Theme 4: Simplification and no waste technologies of equipment installation

Ø

Target year: By 2050

Theme 3: Promotion of waste heat utilization, anddevelopment of refrigeration, air-conditioning and heatpump equipment that can be operated with lower
temperature waste heatØ

Fundamental issues•
There is a lack of system technology for grasping and integrating the heat load
generated in an extensive area over individual locations, and also for heat transportation
over a wide area when a load gap occurs. Furthermore, It is short of technology for highdensity thermal energy storage when a heat load gap occurs over time.

Solution proposals•
To develop a system that grasps and distributes all individual loads through industryacademia-government collaboration.
•
To develop technology to convert surplus waste heat with low temperature intotransportable energy (e.g., heat to electricity conversion).
•
To pursue material and device developments through industry-academia collaboration.
•
To develop a mechanism that enables to share the costs incurred with respect to the
distributed heat amount.
•
It is suggested to develop heat storage materials that can store heat at high density.

Target year: By 2050

Fundamental issues•
Waste heat of about 80 Degree Celsius is largely available, and waste
heat utilization with lower temperature is required to promote further
utilization of waste heat. Currently, the range of waste heattemperature that can be used is limited, the cooling capacity per unit
volume is low, and the system becomes large when the cooling
capacity is high. Therefore, installation location tends to be limited.
Solution proposals•
To innovate further the absorption and adsorption system used as aconventional waste heat recovery device and to develop a highefficiency heat pump system technology that uses lower temperature
waste heat as a heat source.

Theme 5: Establishment of element and system design, system operation,and performance prediction technologies linked with AI

Target year: By 2050
ØFundamental issues•
Since high-pressure refrigerants such as R410A and R32 are used,
installation work is usually carried out using metal (copper), and specificskills are also required to bend, cut and braze pipes that cope withcorrosion resistance and maintaining durability. It also takes time to vacuum
refrigeration cycle equipment.
Solution proposals•
To develop a low-pressure refrigerant similar to R134a and develop atechnology to reduce pressure loss when using low-pressure refrigerant,
and to develop low-cost materials with high corrosion resistance, durability,
flexibility and utility.
•
To develop technologies that shortens or eliminates the vacuum time ofrefrigeration cycle equipment.
•
To develop technologies that automatically removes and adsorbs air during
operation without evacuating through industry and academia collaboration.

Target year: By 2040

Fundamental issues•
Current applications of AI technology in refrigeration and airconditioning field is still in the early stage. The challenges are to develop
applications and evaluation methods to further expand the applied
technologies, understanding the physical implications of results
simulated using AI technology.
Solution proposals•
To develop appropriate algorithms on AI technology and searching ofphysical phenomena by AI technology. These developments can link withthe optimal design and operation of element and system to perform thehighest capabilities.

Government support needed to realize the above-mentioned themes◯ Industry-academia-government collaboration programs•
It is suggested that the government will support further industry-academia-government collaboration programs for new mechanism development, new material development, new refrigerant development, new construction method
development, new device development, IT network construction, and thermal circuit construction.
•
It is expected that the government will formulate a new technology strategy that can respond to and cope with differences in standards between Japan and overseas.
◯ Development of a performance display method to cope with improved heat insulation•
Since it is expected that the building will be even more highly insulated in the future, it is necessary to develop a performance display method according to the actual situation, and to establish a new construction method, standards
for heat consumption and supply, and legislation.
◯ Funding such as loan system for system development and new business creation•
Loans related to system development and loans to new businesses are required.
◯ Deregulation for system installation•
It is expected that relevant necessary qualifications will be relaxed for simplification of installation in the system.

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Themes for Desiccant, Adsorption, Absorption and Chemical Technologies
Theme １：Development of absorption,
adsorption, chemical heat storage
materials with suitable physicalproperties

Theme ２：Elucidation of phenomena in various
absorption, adsorption and chemical heatstorage technologies and establishment of thetheoryTheme ３：Establishment of system
optimization technology for highperformance and miniaturization

Ø Target year: By 2040

Ø Target year: By 2040

Ø Target year: By 2040

Fundamental issues• Superior material characteristics are required,considering durability, corrosiveness, safety,
absorption capacity, adsorption capacity, heatstorage capacity, etc., compared with thecharacteristics of conventional absorption,
adsorption and chemical heat storage materials.

Fundamental issues• There is a lack of understanding toward fundamental
physical phenomena for absorption, adsorption andchemical heat storage materials newly introduced. Reliable
operation and evaluation of system performance andcharacteristics are required from a viewpoint of practicaluse considering abstruse physical phenomena.

Fundamental issues• System operation has been generalized by
combining absorption, adsorption and chemicalheat storage systems with other types ofsystem due to heat driving. Hence, superior
control operation technologies are required as
entire system that is very large andcomplicated facilities.

Solution proposals• To develop superior absorption, adsorption andchemical heat storage materials in cooperation
with the chemical engineering community basedon elucidation of physical phenomena of relevantmaterials with mathematical approaches.

Solution proposals• It is recommended universities and research institutes totheoretically investigate absorption, adsorption andchemical heat storage phenomena, building up thosetechnologies as academic discipline, and establishingtechnologies adaptable to industry as refrigeration and airconditioning technologies.

Solution proposals• To construct control systems capable of highefficiency operation of hybrid system.
• To develop analysis technologies consideringvarious operation patterns (Steady andunsteady state/intermittent operation, etc.).

Government support needed from the above-mentioned themes◯ Standard and operation deregulation• Absorption, adsorption and chemical heat storage technologies in Japan are considered as the world-leading level including management skills. There are lots of naturalrefrigerants as working fluids in each technology, and It is expected that these technologies utilizing natural refrigerants further will get a lot of attention after technologicaladvancement toward low GWP refrigerants. It is suggested that deregulation should be implemented to support the development of those technologies including food,beverage, biogas, coalbed methane, cogeneration, geothermal heat, solar, etc.
◯ Reinforcement of incentives• To accomplish the technological innovation and the dissemination of those equipment, it needs to be strengthened by incentive programs having closely cooperative relation
between the public and private sectors. Especially, giving incentives for developing waste heat recovery technologies would be useful to foster further absorption, adsorption
and chemical heat storage technologies because these technologies tend to be used as hybrid system.
◯ Project vitalization of public and private sector• It is expected that equipment by absorption and adsorption and heat storage equipment by chemical material will link with the supply chain technology in future, and thesechallenges are not only for Japan but also for overseas. Taking these facts into account, government supports for public-private research projects are required forabsorption, adsorption and heat storage equipment that cover both domestic and overseas markets and industries.
◯ International consortium vitalization supported from government• Support of international consortium vitalization, etc. are expected to accelerate further technological innovation by looking at technological challenges from a global
perspective and improving technological capability and communicative activity.

205. Future Plan

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Future Plan
Exchanging information and opinions with relevant stakeholders for improvement•

Based on the developed roadmap, we plan to proceed with exchanging information andopinions with relevant stakeholders from government, academia and industry, to improvestrategic alignment and consistency with the 2050 vision, technology development themes
and directions.

Internationalization of JSRAE•

We plan to establish a new committee group to explore and examine the potential role of
JSRAE providing a platform for exchanging opinions and having discussions globally in thefield of refrigeration and air-conditioning technology including understanding and future
prediction of values for digital transformation, nanotechnology and resource utilization.

Development of implementation roadmaps to contribute to 2050 vision•

The aims of developing the 2050 roadmap were to build a shared vision for the 2050 goal ofcarbon neutrality, to propose technological contributions to the vision, and then to suggest
technology development themes and directions to facilitate further cooperation between
industry, academia and government for its realization. As future activities, we plan to develop
implementation roadmaps as specific routes to contribute to realize the 2050 vision.

22

List of Committee Members

Roadmap Development：JSRAE Working Group Members
Observers：JSRAE Policy Board Committee

Advisor：Dr Yuta Hirose(Advanced Institute of Industrial Technology and University of Cambridge)

23

Japan Society of Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (JSRAE)