Turbine-Driven Compression Cooling Using Expendable Vaporization
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
High-energy applications such as high-energy lasers and high-speed long-range aircraft face significant cooling challenges due to limited electric or mechanical shaft power and unsuitable heat sinking, with conventional vapor and air compression cycle cooling systems being inefficient and only suitable for short-term heat loads.
Innovation Solution
A cooling system that uses a compression cycle with an expendable fluid passing through a warm side heat exchanger to vaporize and absorb heat from the working fluid, with the vaporized expendable fluid driving a turbine to assist the compressor, reducing the power requirements for the cooling system.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Duration of action of moving object
If conventional vapour or air compression cycle cooling systems are used, then cooling function is provided, but the systems require large electric or mechanical shaft power and are only suitable for short-term heat loads
Solution Approach 1:
The patent utilizes the phase transition of an expendable fluid from liquid to vapor in the warm side heat exchanger. This phase change absorbs latent heat from the working fluid, providing intensive cooling during critical periods and enabling the system to handle both short-term and long-term heat loads effectively
Solution Approach 2:
The vaporized expendable fluid automatically drives the turbine, which in turn drives the compressor without requiring external power input for this portion of the cycle. The system uses the thermal energy already present in the working fluid to power part of its own operation, reducing net power consumption
2Power
If high-energy applications such as high-energy lasers are operated, then beam energy is produced, but waste heat is ten or more times the beam energy requiring efficient cooling
Solution Approach 1:
The expendable fluid undergoes phase transition in the warm side heat exchanger, absorbing large amounts of waste heat through latent heat of vaporization. This provides highly efficient heat removal capability that can handle the intense waste heat loads from high-energy applications
Solution Approach 2:
The waste heat, which is normally a harmful byproduct, is converted into useful work by driving the turbine through the phase change process. The thermal energy that would otherwise be lost is now harnessed to power the compressor, turning the waste heat problem into a power generation opportunity
3Speed
If high-speed long-range aircraft operate at high speed, then flight performance is improved, but ram air heat sink becomes less suitable due to increasing temperatures and drag
Solution Approach 1:
The expendable fluid acts as an intermediary heat transfer medium in the warm side heat exchanger. It absorbs heat from the working fluid through phase change, providing a more effective heat sink mechanism that does not depend on ram air conditions, thus maintaining cooling effectiveness at high speeds where ram air heating occurs
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
This approach enhances cooling capacity while minimizing input power, making it more efficient than previous systems and suitable for longer operations and varying environmental conditions.
Implementation Method 1
pass an expendable fluid through a warm side heat exchanger for the cooling system to cause the expendable fluid to vaporise and thus absorb heat from the working fluid by way of latent heat or enthalpy of vaporisation
Implementation Method 2
running the vaporised expendable through a turbine that drives a compressor for the cooling system
Data Source
AI summary
A cooling system with a compression cooling cycle for a working fluid that passes an expendable fluid through a warm side heat exchanger for the cooling system to cause the expendable fluid to vaporise and thus absorb heat from the working fluid by way of latent heat or enthalpy of vaporisation and then running the vaporised expendable through a turbine that drives a compressor for the cooling system.