Advanced Fan Coil Unit with Integral Heat Pump

This proposal addresses the single largest non-propulsion consumer of Navy shipboard power. The heating, ventilation, and air conditioning system of a combatant ship dissipates over 25% of the ships waste heat. However, a growing percentage (up to 87%) of the waste heat is due to equipment loads that are currently cooled with 80 degrees F air (produced by a chilled water supply at 40-45 degrees F). Efficiency can be significantly increased by introducing an intermediate sink water system at 68 degrees F to directly cool the equipment loads and adding active refrigeration to the fan coil units to condition the air for non-equipment loads. Mainstream proposes developing a family of advanced fan coil units with integrated heat pumps to provide 55 degrees F air in cooling mode and 110 degrees F air in heating mode with coefficients of performance greater than 6.5 and 4.5, respectively. In Phase I, Mainstream will develop the family of advanced fan coil units with the latest noise reduction and reliability improvement technologies that are suited for the shipboard environment. In Phase II, Mainstream will build several units in the family to demonstrate scalability of technologies.