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

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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.