Improved Thermal Management Systems using Advanced Materials and Fluids

Technical challenges in the thermal management of emerging military ground vehicles exist with regards to providing adequate cooling for their key components such as engine and power electronics. Fluid coolant and material solutions to these issues are critical for these vehicles to achieve their desired performance. Therefore highly effective thermal management systems utilizing advanced coolant and/or thermal material are needed in the design of military ground vehicles in order to provide reliable mobility under all vehicle operating conditions while meeting the needs of the vehicle and crew on a system level. In this SBIR project, Aegis Technology proposes to develop and demonstrate a high efficient compact heat exchanger utilizing nanofluids (e.g. SiC nanofluids) as coolant, and high performance thermal material (e.g. strengthened graphite foam) as the core of the heat exchanger. Advantages and challenges in using these novel coolant and thermal material will be identified and compared with those using conventional coolant and thermal material. The successful application of such high-performance coolant and thermal material in vehicle thermal management systems will result in the benefits including: improved thermal performance, significant weight savings, reduced cooling power, and fuel savings.