News

We welcomed with great interest the news that the DUOHEAT project has been awarded funding under the TEAM NET programme run by the Foundation for Polish Science.

The project will be carried out by a consortium composed of Gdańsk University of Technology as the leader, AGH University of Krakow, and the Szewalski Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery of the Polish Academy of Sciences.

DUOHEAT focuses on the development of an innovative two-stage heat pump capable of delivering heat at temperatures of up to 200°C. This makes it a particularly promising solution from the perspective of industrial decarbonisation and the transformation of modern heating systems. Technologies of this kind may play an increasingly important role in reducing dependence on fossil fuels and improving the energy efficiency of industrial processes.

From our perspective, this is more than just good news for one research consortium. It is also a strong signal that high-temperature heat pump technology is becoming one of the key development directions for the Polish energy and industrial sectors. This is exactly the kind of forward-looking, application-driven innovation that can create real implementation value in the coming years.

It is especially encouraging to see support being directed toward projects that combine scientific excellence with genuine commercial and industrial potential. In that sense, DUOHEAT reflects a broader and very important trend: the growing recognition that advanced thermal technologies will be essential to the future of competitive, low-emission industry.

We would like to congratulate all DUOHEAT partners on this success and wish them every success in the research, development, and future commercialisation of the technology.

Full list of awarded projects — fnp.org.pl

Thanks to their high power density, compact form factor, and oil-free operation, our high-speed rotating machines are uniquely suited for a wide range of space applications — from thermal management systems to on-board power generation.

Being listed in the POLSA database marks an important step in positioning Turbochill's technology within the growing European space supply chain.

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We are following with considerable interest the progress of the COOLERHEAT project, carried out at the Szewalski Institute of Fluid-Flow Machinery of the Polish Academy of Sciences (IMP PAN) in Gdańsk. The project received full funding under the LIDER XIV programme of the National Centre for Research and Development (NCBR) — a competitive grant scheme designed to support outstanding young researchers in building their own research teams and pursuing bold technological ideas.

COOLERHEAT focuses on developing an Organic Rankine Cycle — Vapour Compression Cycle (ORC-VCC) system: an installation in which waste heat, rather than being simply released into the atmosphere, is first converted into mechanical work by a turbine and then immediately used to drive a compressor that produces cooling. In essence, the system turns a thermal loss into a useful cold output — with minimal need for external electricity.

This is a particularly elegant engineering concept. In many industrial facilities, large quantities of heat are rejected at temperatures too low to be economically recovered through conventional power generation, yet too high to be simply discarded. At the same time, those same facilities often have significant cooling demands — for process temperature control, air conditioning, or product preservation. ORC-VCC technology bridges these two needs in a single compact system, reducing both energy consumption and carbon emissions.

From a turbomachinery perspective, what makes COOLERHEAT especially noteworthy is the development of a novel high-efficiency turbo-compressor — a high-speed rotating machine that integrates both the expansion and compression stages on a common shaft. This type of machine demands precise aerodynamic design, advanced bearing solutions, and deep understanding of working fluid behaviour at off-design conditions. These are exactly the engineering challenges at the core of what we do at Turbochill.

The project aims to reach Technology Readiness Level VII–VIII, meaning a fully operational laboratory prototype tested under realistic conditions. With a multidisciplinary team of over nine researchers across several departments and institutions, and a 36-month timeline, COOLERHEAT is well positioned to demonstrate that waste-heat-driven cooling can move from the laboratory to real industrial settings.

We believe ORC-VCC systems represent one of the most promising — and still underutilised — pathways for improving industrial energy efficiency. Every step forward in this area brings us closer to a future where thermal energy is managed intelligently, not wasted. We congratulate the COOLERHEAT team on securing this important grant and look forward to the results of their work.

COOLERHEAT project website — imp.gda.pl

The partnership with VC Link Fund provides both financial support and strategic backing for the next phase of our compressor development programme. The investment is directed at advancing a compact, high-speed, oil-free centrifugal compressor designed for integration into modern heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and refrigeration systems.

This milestone reflects investor confidence in the commercial viability of our turbomachinery technology and its potential to capture a significant share of the growing market for energy-efficient HVAC&R solutions.

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