Resource Efficiency

The Columbia University team is developing a proof-of-concept solid-state solution to generate electricity from high-temperature waste heat (~900 K) using thermal radiation between a hot object placed in extreme proximity (<100 nm) to a cooler photovoltaic (PV) cell. In this geometry, thermal radiation can be engineered such that its spectrum is quasi-monochromatic and aligned with the PV cell’s bandgap frequency.

The Colorado School of Mines will develop a new method for the high-throughput discovery and screening of thermoelectric materials. The objective is to develop a new class of thermoelectric materials that can enable heat-to-electricity efficiencies greater than 20%. Aerosol spray deposition will be used to collect particles on the solid surfaces, allowing high throughput synthesis with finely tuned composition control.

The United Technologies Research Center (UTRC) will work to accelerate the design of high-efficiency multi-stage compressors, via machine learning (ML), with considerations of aerodynamics, structures and additive manufacturability through their framework, MULTI-LEADER.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will develop a machine learning (ML) approach to optimize surfaces for boiling heat transfer and improve energy efficiency for applications ranging from nuclear power plants to industrial process steam generation. Predicting and enhancing boiling heat transfer presently relies on empirical correlations and experimental observations. MIT’s technology will use supervised ML models to identify important features and designs that contribute to heat transfer enhancement autonomously.

The Boeing Company is developing a next-generation air-cooled heat exchanger by leveraging technological advances in additive manufacturing (AM). The work builds on a previous ARPA-E IDEAS award to the University of Maryland that included the fabrication of geometrically complex heat exchanger coupons. Boeing subsequently demonstrated AM fabrication of thin-walled structures with a thickness of 125 to 150 microns, which represents a 50% reduction relative to then-state-of-the-art AM processes.

The University of Wisconsin (UW-Madison) and its partner Oak Ridge National Laboratory will develop enabling technologies for low-cost, high-performance air-cooled heat exchangers. The objective is to create an optimization algorithm in order to identify and design a novel heat exchanger topology with very high heat transfer performance. The team also plans to develop a high-thermal conductivity polymer composite filament that can be used in additive manufacturing (3D printing) to produce the high-performance heat exchanger design.

The University of Maryland (UMD) and its partners will utilize a novel microemulsion absorbent, recently developed by UMD researchers, for use in an absorption cooling system that can provide supplemental dry cooling for power plants. These unique absorbents require much less heat to drive the process than conventional absorption materials. To remove heat and cool condenser water, microemulsion absorbents take in water vapor (refrigerant) and release the water as liquid during desorption without vaporization or boiling.

The University of Maryland (UMD) and its partners will utilize UMD’s expertise in additive manufacturing (3D printing) and thermal engineering to develop novel, polymer-based, air-cooled heat exchangers for use in indirect dry-cooling systems. The innovation leverages UMD’s proprietary, cross media heat exchanger concept in which a low-cost, high-conductivity medium, such as aluminum, is encapsulated as a fiber in a polymeric material to facilitate more effective heat dissipation.

TDA Research will develop a water recovery system that extracts and condenses 64% of the water vapor produced by the gas turbine in a natural gas combined cycle’s (NGCC) power plant and stores this water for use in evaporative cooling. The system will provide supplemental cooling to NGCC power plants in which the combustion process – burning the natural gas to produce heat – produces a significant quantity of water vapor that is typically discharged to the atmosphere. First, a direct-contact condensation cycle will recover 27% of water vapor from the flue gas.

Stony Brook University will work with Brookhaven National Laboratory, United Technologies Research Center, and the Gas Technology Institute to develop a thermosyphon system that condenses water vapor from power plant flue gas for evaporative cooling. The system could provide supplemental cooling for thermoelectric power plants in which the combustion process – burning fossil fuel to produce heat – results in a significant quantity of water vapor that is typically discharged to the atmosphere.