The reduction in weight and volume, coupled with increased thermal performance, provides significant improvement to the effectiveness of heat exchangers, while reducing the heat exchanger's impact in terms of system integration. Potential benefits include reduced fuel burn and improved system performance, in alignment with NASA's goals. This technology would be applicable to any NASA application where heat exchangers are required and where weight has a significant impact on system performance. NASA programs the concept could impact include ASCENDS (Active Sensing of CO2 Emissions over Nights, Days, and Seasons), DRM 5 (Asteroid Redirect), DRM 6 (Crewed to Near Earth Asteroid), DRM 7 (Crewed to Lunar Surface), and DRM 8 & 9 (Crewed to Mars).
Lightweight and compact heat exchanger units have uses across a wide range of applications. The impact of such an advancement in heat exchanger technology cannot be overstated, as the applicability to the military and commercial sectors is vast. Improving the thermal performance of the heat exchangers enables process and performance improvements throughout the potential usage scenarios, reduction in weight has cascading impacts on such things as fuel consumption and system performance, while reduction in volume improves system integration and packaging considerations. It is not difficult to envision the multitude of positive impacts such technology could have across a wide array of industries, and these attractive features offer a compelling value proposition to companies.
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