Gravity Independent Condensing Heat Exchanger

The proposal aims to develop a g-independent, robust, and efficient Capillary Condensing Heat Exchanger (CCHX) that can effectively condense and recover water. The CCHX design offers significant performance benefits over traditional CHX solutions including: 1. Eliminates Dependency on Coatings: The CCHX achieves "perfect wetting" through its unique cusp geometry, eliminating the need for performance-degrading coatings. 2. Improved Heat Transfer: Achieves dropwise condensation on ~80% of the surface, leading to an up to 10x improvement in heat transfer compared to film condensation. This allows for a potentially smaller and lighter CCHX. 3. Complete Water Recovery: Continuous flow drain ports and 3D capillary connectivity provide 100% water collection and eliminates the need for slurping mechanisms. 4. Reduced Carry-Over: Robust pinning edges minimize condensate carry-over, simplifying drain design and improving stability. 5. Efficient Drying: The high liquid surface area to volume ratio created by the cusps allows for faster condensate evaporation, which can be beneficial during storage, safing, or other equipment handling procedures. 6. Ground testable: The horizontal nature of the CCHX allows for accurate ground testing in ‘right-side-up’ or ‘upside-down’ configurations. Overall, the CCHX offers a more reliable, compact, efficient, and easier-to-use solution for water recovery in space compared to traditional CHX designs. Funding will be used to design, prototype, and test the CCHX, with a focus on meeting the specific requirements. The target markets for the technology include government space agencies, private aerospace companies, manufacturers of space systems and components, and research institutions and universities involved in space science and engineering.

The gravity independent CCHX technology offers a solution to a suite of NASA applications. It enhances astronaut comfort and safety in spacecraft by precisely regulating temperature and humidity. Furthermore, CCHX integration in propulsion systems improves engine performance and lifespan through efficient heat dissipation. This technology is adaptable for planetary rovers and habitats, enabling thermal management in harsh environments and facilitating sustained exploration—even as a replacement device for advanced versions of CCAA type hardware and EMU Sublimator CHX. Additionally, the CCHX maximizes resource utilization by efficiently exchanging heat, leading to energy savings and cost-effective missions. Finally, it fosters innovation in thermal management, driving growth in the space industry with potential benefits for various terrestrial applications. Commercialization opportunities for the proposed technology include licensing designs, supplying components for systems, and building and selling complete CHX systems. These opportunities can be tailored to specific circumstances and customer needs. Potential customers include space agencies, private space companies, and subsystem manufacturers. IRPI will continuously evaluate and refine commercialization strategies to capitalize on the most promising market opportunities.

This is early/mid-stage (TRL 3) — the most realistic path in is NASA SBIR/STTR, which funds small businesses and research institutions to develop technology aligned with NASA's needs (equity-free, phased funding). Check whether a current SBIR/STTR solicitation topic overlaps with this project's technology area, or contact the project directly (above) to ask.

None of these are guaranteed paths for this specific project — TechPort itself doesn't have an "apply" button. Reaching out to the contact(s) above with a specific question is usually the fastest way to find out what's actually open.