Project Details

[Return to Previous Page]

Additive manufacturing technology development for large-scale heat exchangers

Company: Echogen Power Systems (DE), Inc.

Major(s):
Primary: ME
Secondary: MATSE

Non-Disclosure Agreement: NO

Intellectual Property: NO

The conversion of heat to power (and vice versa) often requires the transfer of thermal energy between fluids without direct physical contact. The devices used for this purpose (heat exchangers) are large, expensive, and are designed with performance constraints on heat transfer and pressure drop. The current state-of-the-art, the diffusion-bonded heat exchanger, has certain performance and cost limitations that could be overcome with additively manufacturing technology. Last semester, a PSU Capstone project investigated design and manufacturing tools in collaboration with the 3D Systems CIMP-3D group, culminating in a conceptual design that offered substantial cost savings and performance improvements over conventional technology. The team built and flow tested a small coupon heat exchanger, which confirmed certain aspects of the design approach. In this follow-on project, the conceptual design will be advanced further using newly implemented capabilities in the nTop design toolkit, and a small-scale heat transfer test will be designed and completed using a polymer heat exchanger. If time and budget permit, a laser powder bed fusion version will be designed and printed for possible follow-on testing.