SBIR Phase I: Solar Concentrator Unit for Low-Cost Metal Additive Manufacturing

SBIR 第一阶段：用于低成本金属增材制造的太阳能聚光装置

• 批准号: 1843099
• 负责人: Andrew Brewer
• 金额: $ 22.49万
• 依托单位: BLUESHIFT, LLC
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2019
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2019-02-01 至 2020-04-30
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1843099&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SBIR; Phase; Solar; Concentrator; Unit

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to provide access to a solar heat source for controlled high temperature applications using minimal, low-cost equipment. The proposed Solar Concentrator Unit (SCU) is the first step to providing individuals and underserved communities with the freedom of a low-cost alternative to many of their most pressing manufacturing and materials processing needs. The SCU produces no emissions in its heat generation, requires no fuel costs, and can be used in remote locations to deliver precision control to high temperature thermal processes. Many new applications become available to market participants through the proposed innovation with the most notable commercial outcome being a multi-material additive manufacturing (i.e. 3D printing) system capable of producing custom metal and glass parts. Additional applications for the SCU include welding; recycling of waste material into useful feedstocks; pyrolysis of waste streams to render them chemically and biologically inert; sanitizing medical equipment in disaster response operations; and very high temperature materials science research by individuals and research institutions.This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project explores the design and performance of a SCU for delivering high temperatures in the range of 65 ?C to 2,200 ?C over long durations (6+ hours). The technology relies on concentrated solar energy as the primary heat source with the proposed innovation being a feedback control system for maintaining temperature of a receiver plane to within +/-5% of an operating value. The proposed innovation addresses the limitations of existing methods for concentrating solar energy which lack temperature control and whose consistency of output thermal flux varies with time of day, sun position, cloud cover, and atmospheric conditions. This Phase I project will consist of development of a SCU prototype to conduct characterization tests on output solar flux and flux density under varying solar conditions. The expected outcome of this project will be to prove feasibility of the proposed design concept and evaluate its use for controlled, high temperature applications. The performance characteristics of the SCU will be fully explored in Phase I and the design of the SCU will allow for development of modular Thermal Processing Units in Phase II to interface with the concentrated solar spot produced by the SCU.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

这个小型企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力是使用最少的低成本设备为受控高温应用提供太阳能热源。拟议的太阳能集中器单元（SCU）是为个人和服务不足的社区提供低成本替代品的第一步，以满足他们许多最紧迫的制造和材料加工需求。SCU在其发热过程中不产生排放，不需要燃料成本，并且可以在远程位置使用，以提供对高温热过程的精确控制。通过拟议的创新，市场参与者可以获得许多新的应用，其中最显着的商业成果是能够生产定制金属和玻璃部件的多材料增材制造（即3D打印）系统。SCU的其他应用包括焊接;将废料回收为有用的原料;热解废物流使其具有化学和生物惰性;在救灾行动中对医疗设备进行消毒;和非常高温材料科学研究的个人和研究机构。这个小企业创新研究（SBIR）第一阶段的项目探讨了SCU的设计和性能提供高温范围为65？C到2,200？C在长的持续时间（6+小时）。该技术依赖于集中的太阳能作为主要热源，所提出的创新是用于将接收器平面的温度保持在操作值的+/-5%以内的反馈控制系统。所提出的创新解决了现有的太阳能聚集方法的局限性，这些方法缺乏温度控制，并且其输出热通量的一致性随一天中的时间、太阳位置、云层覆盖和大气条件而变化。第一阶段项目将包括开发SCU原型，以在不同的太阳条件下对输出太阳能通量和通量密度进行表征测试。该项目的预期成果将证明拟议设计概念的可行性，并评估其在受控高温应用中的使用。SCU的性能特征将在第一阶段得到充分的研究，SCU的设计将允许在第二阶段开发模块化热处理装置，以与SCU产生的集中太阳能光斑相连接。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并被认为值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估来支持。