Description:
Reference #:01272
The University of South Carolina is offering licensing opportunities for an efficient and cost effective Nickel-Graphene surface to realize dropwise condensation.
Background:
Condensers are widely used in many applications, including air conditioners for automotive and building purposes, cooling units in industrial process, and condensing turbine exhaust steam into water. These play a crucial role in determining manufacturing and running costs of modern industrial processes. For example, in thermal power plants, condensers have been identified as the largest single energy loss factor. Considering the massive scale of these aforementioned applications, a significant improvement in condenser efficiency could benefit the United States economically and environmentally. It is well known that condenser performance can be adversely affected by several factors, including a buildup of sediment, scale, corrosion or biological growth on condensing surfaces as well as inside of the tubes. During steam condensation, the dissolved non-condensable gas such as oxygen is released from the water and reacted with a metal substrate. Corrosion on metal surfaces during long time operation in a steam environment makes the condensation a harsh working condition for the majority of coatings. Nearly a century of research into dropwise condensation methods has been inspired by heat transfer coefficients ten times higher than with traditional film wise condensation. However, the practical implementation of dropwise condensation has not been achieved due to the poor durability of existing condenser interfaces.
Invention Description:
This invention is a highly efficient, robust, cost effective, and manufacturable Nickel-Graphene surface to realize dropwise condensation, which can be ten times more efficient than film wise condensation.
Potential Applications:
Applications of this invention include mobile and building heating, ventilation, and air conditioning, industrial processes such as refiners, and the cooling of power plants.
Advantages and Benefits:
Advantages of this product over previous technologies include a reduction of friction in the pipeline, reduction of corrosion, increased durability, as well as a decrease in material and operational costs from traditional technology. It is also revolutionary in recognizing durable dropwise condensation, without major competitors.