Pascal develops a novel class of solid refrigerants poised to transform the heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) industry. Pascal’s solid refrigerants operate in the same pressure range as gaseous refrigerants but with zero global warming potential. This technology can unlock increased energy-efficiency at reduced system sizes, paving the way for next-generation heating/cooling solutions.
FELLOWS
Jinyoung Seo
Jinyoung Seo is the co-founder and CTO of Pascal. He earned his Ph.D. in chemistry from Harvard University, where he worked in Jarad Mason's laboratory, leading the development of solid refrigerant technologies. His goal is to commercialize solid refrigerants to provide sustainable cooling for a warming world. He holds a B.S. in chemistry from Seoul National University in Korea.
Adam Slavney
Adam Slavney is the CEO and co-founder of Pascal. He earned a Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University and previously held a postdoctoral fellowship at the Harvard University Center for the Environment, working in Jarad Mason's laboratory. During his tenure at Harvard, Slavney explored the technological and economic aspects of the clean energy transition, which ultimately led him to join Pascal. Slavney believes that Pascal's technology is the key to making cooling and heating sustainable.
TECHNOLOGY
Critical Need
Running space heating and cooling devices consumes 20 percent of the world’s electricity. But these machines also have significant climate impacts, even when turned off, through leakage of gaseous refrigerants. These greenhouse gases are more than 1,000X as potent as CO₂ and are responsible for three percent (~1.5 gigatons CO₂e) of all planetary warming today, more than the entire aviation industry. Studies show that on our current course, using technology that compresses and expands hydrofluorocarbon refrigerants, this figure is expected to rise above 10 percent in the next several decades as demand for cooling increases worldwide.
Technology Vision
Pascal has developed a large family of solid refrigerants, which undergo large changes in temperature when they are compressed and expanded. This temperature change allows them to transport heat from one location to another, enabling a refrigeration cycle. Solids are not very compressible; therefore, most solid materials require more than 1,000 atmospheres of pressure to generate sufficient cooling. Pascal’s technology provides cooling with a driving pressure as low as 10 atmospheres, allowing solid refrigerants to operate in the same pressure range as gaseous refrigerants for the first time. This technology unlocks substantial advantages in efficiency, cost, and safety.
Potential for Impact
By 2050, Pascal aims to transform the stationary HVAC sector by leading an industry-wide switch to solid refrigerants, which are non-volatile, have global warming potentials near zero, and unlock increased energy efficiency at reduced system sizes. Pascal calculates that this transition will reduce the direct emissions of gas refrigerants by 1.3 gigatons CO₂e / year. Pascal’s technology will enable the industry to rapidly exceed its current climate impact goals and reach zero direct emissions of greenhouse gases.
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