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Induction heating can provide the same performance while consuming 38% less power to heat up the same amount of metals. Current heating processes among the private industry rely on resistive heating to increase the temperature of a highly conductive element. This heating element is then put in contact with the desired target to heat it via conduction. The project approach consists of breaking down the development of the induction heater in different phases. The end goal of the project is to develop a fully integrated induction heater. The different phases of the project are: 1. Induction Heating Prototyping a. Description: Develop small scale prototypes to characterize induction heating parameters such as target materials, power consumption, heating time, and resonant circuit design. b. Applicability: Develop technical knowledge regarding design and analysis of induction heating technology. 2. Develop a Gas Feedline Induction Heater a. Description: Develop an induction heater capable of heating a gas being transferred through a feedline. b. Applicability: Processes such as trash to gas conversion requires heating gases during operations. This is a test case to apply the technology to a current processes. 3. Develop a Selective Induction Heater a. Description: Develop an induction heater that targets selective material surfaces in a complex design such as a waste conversion reactor. b. Applicability: A waste conversion reactor is composed of several elements integrated in a complex geometry. However, only the reaction chamber material is required to reach high temperatures. 4. Optimization, Integration and Deployment on current system a. Description: Develop a fully integrated induction heater for the OSCAR experiment. b. Applicability: A fully integrated test will provide data to compare the performance of induction heating vs. resistive heating.
Heating anything requires extensive power. Any ability to lower the amount of power required to heat items will decrease the size and requirements for power systems on spacecraft.
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This is a mature technology (TRL 7+) — the realistic path in is usually NASA's Technology Transfer Program: licensing an existing NASA patent, or a Space Act Agreement to use NASA facilities/expertise directly. NASA also runs a startup licensing program with no upfront fee for companies formed to commercialize a specific NASA technology.
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