White is the most widely used color in the world, not only for its symbolic connotations, which it has many. From the language of architecture or painting in decoration; is he perfect emblem of purity, neutrality, light or spaciousness, among many other aesthetic properties.
The white paint has been used historically in the envelope of buildings and houses to beat the sweltering summer heat. Its physical properties reflective, guarantee less heat absorption and your time, a greater light reflectance.
But… What if the buildings or cars, never will they heat by their surround? What if we have a white paint that can keep surfaces cool? And if paint could "cool a building" enough to so you don't need air conditioning?
Engineers at Purdue University have developed a white paint that can maintain all cold surfaces , specifically, up to 18 degrees Fahrenheit (-7.778°C) colder than its surroundings , but without consuming energy. The “super white paint” reflects 95.5% of sunlight and radiates efficiently infrared heat (Remember, Reflect = relative to radiation and Isolate = relative to radiation driving).
As a note, remember the following scheme…
According to the researchers, the paint would replace the need for air conditioning in many buildings ensure that the surface temperature does not vary painted on the building envelope, perfect for climates warm! by absorbing almost no solar energy.
“It is very counterintuitive, where a surface under direct sunlight is cooler than the temperature reports, for example, a local weather station for that same area. But we have shown… that it is possible!” he said. Xiulin Ruan, a Purdue professor of mechanical engineering.
To test the effectiveness of this new white paint, Purdue researchers took images from a camera infrared comparing your product, with a white paint Normal on a roof. The results…Impressive!
The image from the infrared camera shows that the « white paint refrigeration » developed by the researchers (left, purple) can stay cooler under direct sunlight, compared to the other painting standard.
The commercial paints that we can currently buy reflect only 80-90% of sunlight and they cannot reach temperatures lower than those of their environment. The new white paint created by researchers reflects 95.5% of sunlight and radiates efficiently infrared heat.
Researchers considered more than 100 combinations of different materials, reduced them to 10 and tested about 50 different formulations for each material. getting a formulation made with calcium carbonate, a substance very abundant in nature that is commonly found in rocks and seashells.
This compound, used as a paint filler, allowed the formulation to behave essentially the same than commercial white paint, but with properties of greatly improved refrigeration.
Calcium carbonate hardly absorbs ultraviolet rays as a result of its atomic structure. They also have a high concentration of particles of different sizes, which allows dispersing a greater range of wavelengths.
According to the researchers' estimates, this paint would be cheaper to produce than its alternative business and you could save about a dollar per day from an HVAC perspective, which would have been spent on air conditioning, for a house of approximately 100 m2 surface.
Obviously, using less energy at home will help us benefits everyone, from our pocket to fewer emissions of carbon dioxide that are tangible benefits for the environment. And remember our article on tips for how to paint a wall, extensive and useful article.
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