ADVANCED COOLING TECHNOLOGIES INC — Department of Agriculture SBIR Phase II: 8.4

ADVANCED COOLING TECHNOLOGIES INC — SBIR Phase II award from Department of Agriculture.

Amount
$599,949
Agency
Department of Agriculture
Program / Phase
SBIR · Phase II
Topic
8.4
Solicitation
USDA-NIFA-SBIR-007194
NAICS
Place of performance
PA
Period
2020-09-17 → 2022-08-31

Description

In this SBIR Phase II project Advanced Cooling Technologies Inc. (ACT) and University ofCalifornia Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UCANR) propose to develop anirrigation system to desalinate brackish water for high value crop yield. This concept uses ahumidification/condensation process to provide affordable freshwater to depleted agriculturalregions. The successful implementation of this device will allow agricultural regions especially inthe western portion of the country to use available brackish water for irrigation at a low-cost whileavoiding degradation of farmland by high-salinity runoff. The proposed concept will 1) use solarthermal energy to maintain a base load of humid air and 2) utilize a concentric pipe design to pre- heat the incoming brackish water stream to reduce energy input. This will be accomplished with apassive countercurrent heat exchanger design to recuperate the latent heat of condensation and pre- heat the brackish water supply.