About us
The Laboratory for Refrigeration and District Energy at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Ljubljana boasts decades of experience in thermal engineering, emphasizing cooling, heat pumps, and thermal management. This expertise has been cultivated through extensive research and development activities involving modelling, conceptual design, optimization, and prototyping of various thermal processes and systems. The laboratory has a proven track record in optimizing and conceptualizing district heating and cooling systems.
Our foundational and interdisciplinary research focuses on:
- Innovative thermal control devices such as thermal diodes and thermal switches, alongside the development of more generalized thermal circuits. We aim to exploit the properties of multifunctional materials to create efficient and environmentally friendly energy-related devices for the future.
- In applied research, we concentrate on developing new, improved, scalable, or modular devices for refrigeration, thermal storage, or heat pumping by harnessing natural, waste, excess, or renewable energy sources.
- Industrial research to enhance energy efficiency across a variety of energy-related devices, ranging from household appliances and residential heat pumps to larger energy systems. Additionally, we actively conduct a range of experiments for our industrial partners to validate and refine our findings.
Our primary mission
We are committed to leverage our ideas, knowledge, and experiences to advance sustainable energy technologies, contributing to global efforts aimed at reducing energy consumption and emissions while enhancing the living environment.
Education & Training
We are also actively involved in teaching at the BSc, MSc, and PhD levels, covering a wide range of subjects related to transport phenomena, refrigeration, heat pumps, district energy systems, heat exchangers, and solar engineering. Our educational activities are designed to provide students with a deep understanding of both theoretical principles and practical applications in these fields, equipping them with the knowledge and skills necessary to address real-world challenges in thermal engineering and sustainable energy systems.
