MECHANICAL SOLUTIONS INC — Department of Energy SBIR Phase I: 11

Description

The problem is twofold: 1) The EPA estimates that radon causes more than 20,000 deaths per year in the US, and is the second leading cause of lung cancer after smoking1. Furthermore, as new “tight” construction increases radon risk unless mitigation technologies are employed. Mitigation technologies have been proved effective. The EPA estimates approximately 6 million homes suffer from elevated radon levels2 but only 600,000 have mitigation systems installed3. 2) In addition to public education on the risks associated with radon, a reduction in the operating cost will be likely to aid in public acceptance of mitigation systems. Current radon fan systems operate continuously using decades-old and very inefficient flow path technology. Radon fans use approximately 390 million kW-hours of energy annually. How this problem is being addressed: Current efficiencies are typically below 20% with energy consumption of 70 to 85 watts. The MSI team will target a 60% efficiency based on pre-proposal design and analysis work. A 3x increase in efficiency will radically transform the market. Not only will there be direct energy savings but the market as a whole will need to respond to the much higher efficiency. MSI project collaborator, Fantech, is a market leader providing design requirement details and a commercialization path. What is to be done in Phase I: MSI will use an advanced but well-practiced design and development process to produce a detailed fan design during Phase I. Fantech will confirm requirements and constraints associated with cost, manufacturability, footprint/packaging, reliability, and noise. A detailed fan design will be the key outcome of the Phase I SBIR effort. Commercial Application and Other Benefits: Reducing radon fan electric usage and operating costs by about two-thirds under this project should raise the bar across the radon fan industry. The main benefit is reducing lung cancer deaths. Lowering operating/electric usage costs for homeowners should increase radon fan usage in more of the 6 million homes in the USA that suffer from excessive radon levels. The other benefit is significantly reducing the energy currently used by inefficient radon fans. Key Words: Radon fans, high efficiency, computational fluid dynamics (CFD), swept blades, lung cancer prevention