UltrA compact, LIghtweiGht & efficient Heat and mass Transfer (ALIGHT)

ALIGHT项目将进行可行性研究，为一系列小型能源系统开发新的创新技术，这些技术的商业和碳节约潜力要比现有技术大得多。这些系统包括：微型涡轮发电机（<100千瓦时）、废热发电系统和使用超临界二氧化碳（SCCO2）作为工作流体的热泵，以及吸收式冷却器。它们有许多潜在的巨大市场：分散式电力、热电联产和三联产；离网电力系统，如用于隔离移动电话塔的发电机；固体氧化物燃料电池的底功率循环；热泵取代住宅和商业建筑的燃气锅炉；商业和工业冷却；用于冷藏运输和电动汽车等的冷却。这些系统有两个关键特征：它们依赖于两个或更多的热交换器；目前使用的热交换器技术的尺寸、重量、成本和低效率严重限制了它们在潜在的巨大市场中的成本效益和商业可行性。该项目侧重于为这些系统设计新的、更小、更轻的热交换器的技术和财务可行性，通过金属增材制造（AM）或3d打印技术，并将它们集成到单个增材制造中。最近为高价值、小批量航空航天和F1应用设计和制造增材制造热交换器的经验表明，尺寸和重量可以减少40-80%。然而，系统的低价值、高容量的目标市场需要更小、更轻、更便宜和更有效的热交换器。因此，该项目的重点是评估新的、创新的增材制造传热表面和架构，以在目前的增材制造技术的基础上，提供40-60%的尺寸/重量改进。

Project ALIGHT will undertake a feasibility study of the development of new, innovative technologies for a range of small energy systems with much greater commercial and carbon-saving potential than can be achieved with incumbent technologies. The systems are: micro-turbine generators (<100 kWe), waste heat to power systems and heat pumps using supercritical CO2 (SCCO2) as the working fluid, and absorption coolers. They have many potentially very large markets: decentralised power, CHP and tri-generation; off-grid power systems such as generators for isolated mobile phone towers; bottoming power cycles for solid oxide fuel cells; heat pumps to replace gas boilers in domestic and commercial buildings; commercial and industrial cooling; cooling for refrigerated transport and electric vehicles, and many others.These systems share two crucial characteristics: they depend on two or more heat exchangers; and the size, weight, cost and low effectiveness of the heat exchanger technologies presently used severely limits their cost effectiveness and commercial viability in their potentially very large markets.The project focuses on the technical and financial feasibility of designing new, much smaller, lighter heat exchangers for these systems, enabled by metal Additive Manufacturing (AM) or 3-D printing technology, and integrating them into single AM builds Recent experience in designing and building AM heat exchangers for high value, low volume aerospace and F1 applications shows that 40-80% reductions in size and weight can be achieved. However, the systems' lower value, higher volume target markets need even small, lighter, cheaper and more effective heat exchangers. So the project's specific focus is on assessing new, innovative AM heat transfer surfaces and architectures to provide additional 40-60% size/weight improvements over the present state of the AM art.