A company known for speeding Formula 1 race cars around a track, is slowing the spin on electric moters, saving money and reducing the carbon footprint of supermarkets.
Williams Advanced Engineering, the innovation division of Williams F1, adapted a design by Aerofoil Energy that uses simple plastic strips — and the complicated physics of fluid dynamics — to
throttle down the cold air escaping from refrigerated aisles in grocery stores.
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The strips work like an airfoil — on a airplane’s wing or a race car’s tail — to effectively keep cold air from escaping, eliminating the need for the refrigerator to create more.
Williams relied on the same supercomputers used to design streamlined race cars to refine the refrigerator airfoils.
Depending on the size of the fridge, it cuts electricity usage anywhere from 10% to 30%.
That’s a substantial savings since refrigeration accounts for more than half of all electricity a supermarket uses.
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Their new device is set to roll out in January, but UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s has been testing the device since June and has already ordered more.
As many as eight of the UK’s ten largest supermarket chains are also considering adding the strips to their stores — to save some cold cash while rolling back their planet-warming carbon footprint.
(READ more at the Financial Times) — Photo: Williams F1
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