A Natural-gas based High Efficiency Combined Thermo-chemical Affordable Reactor (NECTAR)

Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) will develop next generation heat exchangers for use in hybrid power generation systems. Proper and efficient heat transfer is at the heart of a hybrid system that allows each sub-component to operate most efficiently and at its optimal conditions. Integrated hybrid systems require heat exchangers that can accommodate both high temperatures as well as elevated pressures. The key challenge of this project is to develop materials that are compatible with the application, meet the demanding physical and structural requirements, and harness additive manufacturing processes. ORNL's solution is to develop a ceramic/steel alloy heat exchanger using advanced modeling to optimize the heat transfer surface and fabricated using advanced 3D printing technology. These manufacturing improvements can also expand the design flexibility of full hybrid systems by allowing the heat exchangers to better conform to unconventional and complex geometries or challenging form factor requirements that cannot be met by conventionally manufactured units. If successful, the project will result in topology-optimized, high-temperature heat exchangers with a 200% higher overall heat transfer rate compared to the state of the art and at dramatically lower cost.