Energy Harvesting from Thermal and Vibration Loads due to High Temperature, High Speed Impinging Jets

The Navy needs technology to convert the energy content of high-speed impinging jets on aircraft carrier flight decks into useful power. We propose to develop an Active Heat Spreader (AHS) to meet Navy needs. DARPA is developing heat spreaders to remove the concentrated energy from impinging jets on Navy flight decks. Our AHS removes the concentrated energy and uses the removed energy to generate power. Our AHS uses the generated power to enhance the performance of our AHS and make our AHS more durable and reliable and less expensive than competing heat spreaders. In Phase I, we will: develop numerical models and codes to predict and evaluate the performance of our AHS subjected to the impingement of an unsteady hot jet; and conduct laboratory-scale experiments to verify our models and codes. In Phase II, we will design, build, and demonstrate the ability of our AHS to remove concentrated energy from high-speed impinging jets. In Phase III, we will: transition our models and codes into a user-friendly predictive software package; develop an AHS suitable for a real deck environment; and market our software and AHS for many applications in the government and private sector.