This award is funded under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (Public Law 111-5).
This Small Business Technology Transfer Research (STTR) Phase II project seeks to develop and commercialize an optimized technique to produce durable nano-porous surfaces (NPS) for heat transfer applications using an inexpensive electrochemical process. This technology will be very beneficial for the development of high-efficiency boilers, heat exchangers and electronic cooling devices.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project will be the enhancement to boilers, heat exchangers, and electronic cooling devices that serve various industries, such as, power/utility, oil and gas, chemical, food and beverage, and building and construction. Additional benefit from the this project will be its potential application in efficient heat transfer to increase energy output, reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases, consume less fossil fuels and reduce harmful pollution.
(Award ID # 0923869) This project focused on the development of an optimized technique to produce durable nano-porous surfaces (NPS) for heat transfer applications using an inexpensive electrochemical process. The major accomplishments of this project are: An optimized nano-porous surface was achieved for certain cavity size and layer thickness. A NPS aging study was conducted and the aging effects on heat transfer performance were examined. The boiling behavior of NPS does not change significantly after 500 hours usage. The scale-up process was developed for the NPS production by varying the anodizing process parameters, such as, electrolytic concentration, applied potential or current densities, and temperature of the electrolyte. The heat transfer coefficient (HTC) of the optimized self-assembly monolayer NPS was enhanced up to 300% at lower heat flux regime (20kW/m2 < q″ < 40kW/m2) and up to 190% in the range of 40kW/m2 < q″ < 100kW/m2 compared to that of the plain surface. Technology Enhancement for Commercial Partnerships (TECP) efforts demonstrate that the efficiency of small-scale steam generator pressure flask heaters for the steam ejection system can be enhanced up to 11%, which is considered a breakthrough. The broader impact/commercial potential of this project is the efficiency enhancement of boilers, heat exchangers, and electronic cooling devices that could serve various industries, such as, power/utility, oil and gas, chemical, food and beverage, and building and construction. In additional the NPS technology has potential applications in efficient heat transfer devices to increase energy output, reduce energy consumption and greenhouse gases, consume less fossil fuel and reduce harmful pollution.
