MAKAI OCEAN ENGINEERING INC — Department of Defense SBIR Phase I: A19-077

Description

Makai Ocean Engineering, Inc. proposes to address the overloaded AMPV cooling system with the Thin Foil Heat Exchanger (TFHX) technology which will provide at least 5%, and potentially 20%, performance improvement with minimal increase in pressure drop. The heat exchanger pack will also meet durability and reliability requirements for military operating environments. The military environment and the terrains encountered have no commercial counterpart, therefore additional focus on durability and reliability is required early in the design process to validate the selection of materials and manufacturing methods and reduce risk for commercialization. Titanium foil is the proposed material for the heat exchanger plates as titanium is lightweight, strong, and has excellent corrosion resistance. Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations show air-convection coefficients of at least 250 W/m2-K. Combined with surface area densities of 2000 m2/m3, this results in more than 5% improvement in volumetric performance compared to the specifications provided in the solicitation, while fitting into the dimensions provided, 813 mm x 813 mm x 241 mm. In addition, prototype plates have been pressure tested to over 375 psi at Makai’s facility in Hawaii, making this a relatively low-risk development and shortening the transition timeline for the US Army.