MAINSTREAM ENGINEERING CORP — Department of Defense SBIR Phase II: The largest non-propulsion consumer of Navy shipboard power is HVAC. Up to 87% of cooling

Description

The largest non-propulsion consumer of Navy shipboard power is HVAC. Up to 87% of cooling loads are generated by equipment that is currently cooled with 80°F air that is produced by a 40°F chilled water supply. Shipboard chiller efficiency can be increased by introducing an intermediate sink water system at 68°F to directly cool the equipment loads and adding active refrigeration to fan coil units that condition the air for non-equipment loads. This strategy will result in annual fuel savings of $937,000 per ship. Mainstream is developing a family of AFCUs with high-efficiency integrated heat pumps to cool and heat with a 68°F water sink. During Phase I, Mainstream designed, built, and demonstrated an H3-sized AFCU which weighs 35% less than the legacy fan coil and has a cooling capacity over 15,280 Btu/hr. Mainstream will advance the AFCU architecture by designing and building two production representative sample H3 units in Phase II. These AFCUs will be subject to qualification tests including shock, cooling and heating capacity tests, and EMI testing. In the Phase II Option, Mainstream will build a smaller H1-sized AFCU prototype, similar to the H3. Qualification tests will be performed with the H1 prototype as well, demonstrating scalability.