Vortex Enhanced Direct Contact Heat Exchanger for Navy HVAC

As thermal management requirements aboard Navy platforms increase, conventional HVAC technology is becoming a liability in terms of mass, volume, and heat transfer capability. Future thermal demands will increase and the majority of this load will be handled by either the HVAC or chilled water system. Advances in heat exchanger technology are necessary to remove the increased thermal energy without imposing significant mass and volume penalties. To address this issue, ACT intends to develop an advanced direct contact HVAC heat exchanger capable of providing an estimated 85% mass and 15% volume reduction, improved heat transfer performance, and increased throughput as compared with traditional cooling coils. In addition, this heat exchanger offers inherent, 95% efficient filtration of particles larger than 5 ƒÝm and the option of improved biocontaminant control. The objective of the proposed work is to develop a heat exchanger capable of providing 1 ton of cooling per 1.8 gpm of 4.4 ¢XC (40 ¢XF) water with face velocities of 1000 ft/min and no moisture carry-over while providing reduced system mass and volume compared with current cooling coil technology. Completion of these tasks will involve complete analytical modeling of the proposed system, prototype design, and performance testing.