Vortex Enhanced Direct Contact Heat Exchanger for Navy HVAC Navy SBIR FY2009.1 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2009.1 Topic No.: N091-074 Topic Title: Vortex Enhanced Direct Contact Heat Exchanger for Navy HVAC Proposal No.: N091-074-1439 Firm: Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. 1046 New Holland Avenue Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17601-5688 Contact: Michael Ellis Phone: (717) 295-6061 Web Site: www.1-ACT.com Abstract: As thermal management requirements aboard Navy platforms increase, conventional HVAC technology is becoming a liability in terms of mass, volume, and heat transfer capability. Future thermal demands will increase and the majority of this load will be handled by either the HVAC or chilled water system. Advances in heat exchanger technology are necessary to remove the increased thermal energy without imposing significant mass and volume penalties. To address this issue, ACT intends to develop an advanced direct contact HVAC heat exchanger capable of providing an estimated 85% mass and 15% volume reduction, improved heat transfer performance, and increased throughput as compared with traditional cooling coils. In addition, this heat exchanger offers inherent, 95% efficient filtration of particles larger than 5 �Ym and the option of improved biocontaminant control. The objective of the proposed work is to develop a heat exchanger capable of providing 1 ton of cooling per 1.8 gpm of 4.4 �XC (40 �XF) water with face velocities of 1000 ft/min and no moisture carry-over while providing reduced system mass and volume compared with current cooling coil technology. Completion of these tasks will involve complete analytical modeling of the proposed system, prototype design, and performance testing. Benefits: The primary application is Navy fleet HVAC systems. The Vortex Enhanced Direct Contact Heat Exchanger (VEHX) is intended to overcome the performance, mass, and volume penalties associated with current cooling coil technology. Replacing this technology with a more capable system is necessary for future Navy warship design. The heat exchanger proposed by ACT meets this goal by providing an estimated 35% more cooling capacity with 85% less mass and 15% less volume. Furthermore, optimization during the Phase I program is expected to improve these gains. ACT will work with DRS Marlo Coil in Phase III to make this technology available for Navy applications. In addition, ACT will consider other military applications such as ground and air based combat vehicles and personnel transports, as well as potential commercial applications such as residential and industrial HVAC, avionics cooling, clean room HVAC and filtration, and automotive HVAC. Due to the cooling, sizing, and filtration benefits offered by this heat exchanger, the application potential of the VEHX within the HVAC field is considerable. Again, ACT will partner with DRS Marlo Coil in Phase III to determine the feasibility of these applications. Return