This report describes the first design of a n HVAC heat exchanger using the Sandia Cooler , i.e. air - bearing supported rotating heat exchanger . The project included developing ba seline performance requirements based on a residential HVAC system , analysis and design development of a Sandia Cooler assembly including a UTRC - designed diffuser , and performance measurement and validation of th is heat exchange system under realistic indo or and outdoor conditions .
A cooperative research and development agreement was made between Linde, LLC and Sandia to develop a plan for modifying the Turbulent Combustion Laboratory (TCL) with the necessary infrastructure to produce a cold (near liquid temperature) hydrogen jet. A three-stage heat exchanger will be used to cool gaseous hydrogen using liquid nitrogen, gaseous helium, and liquid helium. A cryogenic line from the heat exchanger into the lab will allow high-fidelity diagnostics already in place in the lab to be applied to cold hydrogen jets. Data from these experiments will be used to develop and validate models that inform codes and standards which specify protection criteria for unintended releases from liquid hydrogen storage, transport, and delivery infrastructure.
This report describes the first design of a refrigerator condenser using the Sandia Cooler, i.e. air - bearing supported rotating heat - sink impeller. The project included ba seline performance testing of a residential refrigerator, analysis and design development of a Sandia Cooler condenser assembly including a spiral channel baseplate, and performance measurement and validation of this condenser system as incorporated into the residential refrigerator. Comparable performance was achieved in a 60% smaller volume package. The improved modeling parameters can now be used to guide more optimized designs and more accurately predict performance.
This report describes a FY14 effort to develop an integrated Sandia Cooler T hermoelectric D evice (SCTD) . The project included a review of feasible thermoelectric (TE) cooling applications, baseline performance testing of an existing TE device, analysis and design development of an integrated SCTD assembly, and performance measurement and validation of the integrated SCTD prototype.
This report describes an FY13 effort to develop the latest version of the Sandia Cooler, a breakthrough technology for air-cooled heat exchangers that was developed at Sandia National Laboratories. The project was focused on fabrication, assembly and demonstration of ten prototype systems for the cooling of high power density electronics, specifically high performance desktop computers (CPUs). In addition, computational simulation and experimentation was carried out to fully understand the performance characteristics of each of the key design aspects. This work culminated in a parameter and scaling study that now provides a design framework, including a number of design and analysis tools, for Sandia Cooler development for applications beyond CPU cooling.
Wall pressure exerted by the bulk expansion of a sodium aluminum hydride bed was measured as a function of hydrogen content. A custom apparatus was designed and loaded with sodium alanates at densities of 1.0, 1.1, and 1.16 g/cc. Four complete cycles were performed to identify variations in measured pressure. Results indicated poor correlation between exerted pressure and hydrogen capacity of the sodium alanate beds. Mechanical pressure due to the hydrogenation of sodium alanates does not influence full-scale system designs as it falls within common design factors of safety. Gas pressure gradients within the porous solid were identified and may limit reaction rates, especially for high aspect ratio beds.