Lead Performer: Energy Wall – Lancaster, PA
DOE Total Funding: $199,590
Project Term: June 27, 2021 – March 27, 2022
Funding Type: Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase 1
Project Objective
Buildings use 72% of the nation’s electricity and 55% of natural gas, representing 40% of CO2 emissions. Non-metallic heat exchangers are an ideal solution to advance the public purpose of reducing this energy and carbon footprint due to their light weight, manufacturing potential, corrosion resistance, and low cost. Polymer heat exchangers have not taken off as a practical solution due to their relatively low thermal conductivity. An economical ceramic polymer heat exchanger is employed as a high-efficiency heat pump, which may simultaneously 1) cool, 2) dehumidify, 3) heat, 4) humidify, 5) recover energy, 6) deactivate viruses, 7) deactivate bacteria, 8) scrub carbon dioxide, 9) scrub other gaseous pollutants, and 10) particle filter an airstream. This transformational technology in conditioning air in both summer and winter months solves the basic corrosion and maintenance problems that have plagued liquid desiccant systems for over 80 years.
Energy Wall will deliver novel non-metallic heat exchanger technology to be used in heat pumps. Energy Wall, LLC will develop a new class of non-metallic air-to-refrigerant heat exchangers for heat pumps. The heat exchangers are fully compatible with all known current and future low/zero global warming refrigerants with operational pressures up to 600 psi. More than 90% of cooling is provided by vapor compression-based systems in the U.S. (Westphalen & Koszalinski, 2001). The global warming potential of refrigerants such as hydrochlorofluorocarbons and hydrofluorocarbons are typically more than 1000 times that of CO2 (DOE, 2009).
Energy Wall will design components for and fabricate a prototype heat pump incorporating a ceramic polymer hybrid microchannel (CPHM) liquid-to-air heat/moisture/gas exchanger. CPHM heat exchangers have a 500% higher heat transfer rate than current heat exchangers, and heat pumps employing this technology can increase their efficiency by 60% or more. In addition, CPHM heat exchangers do not suffer from corrosion, reducing heat pump maintenance requirements.
Project Impact
CPHM heat exchangers could greatly increase the efficiency of heat pumps while reducing their maintenance costs. The widespread adoption of CPHM heat pumps could improve building efficiency and reduce building dependence on fossil fuel heating.
Packaged vapor compression units that include unitary roof top or split system account for roughly 50% of the current systems and 50% of energy consumed in commercial building cooling. Air conditioning is used to both control the temperature (sensible load) and the humidity (latent load) in the indoor environment. Therefore, heat pump requirements can vary significantly depending on the building and climate type. For example, the fraction of fresh air intake is a strong function of building type, e.g. hospitals require 100% fresh air vs. a typical office might require less than 20% fresh air intake (Kosar, 1998). There exists a strong need for non-metallic heat exchangers, which can perform equally well in all climate types with independent sensible and latent control in both winter and summer conditions. Even if 100% air is recirculated, the COP is a strong function of the condenser side ambient air temperature.
Detailed cost estimating demonstrates widely deployable technology to residential homeowners, commercial building owners, and industrial processes with retail cost less than $1,000/ton at market acceptance scale. Furthermore, the research aims to develop a system inherently capable of recovering heat and moisture from distant exhaust airstreams with zero chance for cross contamination. The success of this project’s goal of creating a working, 5-ton heat pump employing ceramic polymer hybrid microchannels would create a “Tipping Point” for building efficiency in the United States. Buildings fully employing the benefits of this technology would expect to see 25% to 40% reduction in overall building energy usage, electrical demand, and carbon footprint while dramatically increasing the indoor air quality.
This revolutionary and transformational concept in conditioning of air in both the summer and winter months solves the basic corrosion and maintenance problems that have plagued liquid desiccant systems for 80 years. The inherent use of halide salts along the contact surfaces of the CPHM provides the first frost-proof heat pump capable of continuous operation down to the Eutectic point of -60F. This would allow all building types in all U.S. climate zones to shift away from fossil fuels and solely employ renewable electricity in their conditioning requirements.
Contacts
DOE Technology Manager: Fredericka Brown
Lead Performer: Dustin Eplee, Energy Wall