I-Corps: Commercialization Plan for a High Performance Piezoelectric Pneumatic Valve

I-Corps：高性能压电气动阀的商业化计划

• 批准号: 1940068
• 负责人: Thomas Chase
• 金额: $ 5万
• 依托单位: University of Minnesota-Twin Cities
• 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: 2019-08-15 至 2022-01-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1940068&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Corps; Commercialization; Plan; Performance; Piezoelectric

The broader impact/commercial potential of this I-Corps project lies in the field of pneumatic valves, which control the flow of compressed gases through tubes or channels in industrial equipment and medical devices. Examples of equipment which incorporate pneumatic valves include mass flow controllers, which are used to meter the flow of gases into chambers where electronic integrated circuits are fabricated, and medical devices, such as ventilators and portable oxygen systems. Valves developed as an outcome of this project have the potential to largely displace current pneumatic valve technology, as they require less electric power to operate them, they respond faster, they generate less heat, and they may be cost-competitive. Improved performance in mass flow controllers, enabled by the new valves, may make it possible to increase the production rate of computer processors and memory which are now ubiquitous in consumer products. The low power consumption of the new valves expand the horizons for utilizing pneumatics in portable and wireless devices, such as human assist robotic devices. The new valves are potentially suitable for usage in evolving fusion reactors for power generation, where powerful magnetic fields interfere with the utilization of conventional valves. This I-Corps project is based on a new architecture for pneumatic valves. Pneumatic valves typically meter flow by moving a plate closer to an orifice to reduce flow or away from the orifice to increase flow. The actuator used to move the plate in a conventional valve typically consists of an electromagnetic coil and plunger. The new architecture replaces the electromagnetic actuator with a piezoelectric actuator. Previous attempts at utilizing piezoelectric actuators have been limited by the fact that actuators with good displacement capacity produce very low force, which limits the pressure capacity of the valve, and actuators with good force capacity produce very low displacement, which limits the flow capacity of the valve. This research is based on the discovery, in a prior NSF project, that the flow capacity of a valve which incorporates a low displacement actuator can be increased dramatically by replacing a single orifice with an array of micro-orifices. Market research will be performed in this project to develop a value proposition of the new technology in a target market of mass flow controllers. The outcomes will be enlisted to guide future development of the new technology.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I-Corps项目的更广泛的影响/商业潜力在于气动阀领域，气动阀控制通过工业设备和医疗设备中的管道或通道的压缩气体的流动。包含气动阀的设备的示例包括质量流量控制器，用于测量进入制造电子集成电路的腔室的气体流量，以及医疗设备，例如呼吸机和便携式氧气系统。该项目开发的阀门有可能在很大程度上取代目前的气动阀门技术，因为它们需要更少的电力来操作，它们响应更快，产生更少的热量，并且它们可能具有成本竞争力。新型阀门提高了质量流量控制器的性能，可能会提高计算机处理器和存储器的生产率，这些产品现在在消费产品中无处不在。新型阀门的低功耗扩展了在便携式和无线设备（如人类辅助机器人设备）中使用气动的范围。这种新型阀门可能适用于不断发展的核聚变发电反应堆，在这些反应堆中，强大的磁场会干扰传统阀门的使用。这个I-Corps项目是基于气动阀门的新架构。气动阀通常通过移动靠近孔板的板来减少流量或远离孔板来增加流量来测量流量。在传统的阀门中，用于移动阀板的执行器通常由电磁线圈和柱塞组成。新的结构用压电驱动器取代了电磁驱动器。以往利用压电作动器的尝试，由于位移能力好的作动器产生的力很小，限制了阀门的承压能力，而力能力好的作动器产生的位移很小，限制了阀门的流量能力，因此受到了限制。这项研究是基于先前NSF项目的发现，该项目发现，通过用微孔板阵列取代单个孔板，可以显着增加带有低排量执行器的阀门的流量。该项目将进行市场研究，以开发新技术在质量流量控制器目标市场的价值主张。研究结果将用于指导新技术的未来发展。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

项目成果

Characterization of compressible flow through microscale orifice arrays

通过微型孔板阵列的可压缩流的表征

• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijheatfluidflow.2023.109173
• 发表时间: 2023
• 期刊: International Journal of Heat and Fluid Flow
• 影响因子: 2.6
• 作者: Hagstrom, Nathan P.;Gallagher, Matthew L.;Chase, Thomas R.
• 通讯作者: Chase, Thomas R.