National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 1617 Cole Boulevard, Golden, CO 80401-3393

A -- RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT -- COLLABORATIVE, COST-SHARED EFFIRT TI REFINE, TEST, AND COMMERCIALIZE NEW CONCEPTS. SOL DW240 DUE 093000 POC Richard Bolin, NREL Technology Transfer Office, 303-275-3028, E-mail richard_bolin@nrel.gov or Tom Harrison, INEEL Office of Technology Transfer & Commercialization, 208-526-1710, E-mail harrtm@inel.gov. Posted by John W. Enoch Jr., NREL Contracts and Business Services, 303-275-2941, E-mail john_enoch@nrel.gov. WEB: Click here to connect to NREL's Homepage, http://www.nrel.gov. E-MAIL: Click here for more information, richard_bolin@nrel.gov. Two national laboratories of the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory (INEEL), invite inquiries from interested private companies and manufacturers of finned tube or heat exchangers to participate in a collaborative, cost shared effort to refine, test and commercialize new concepts being developed independently by the two laboratories. Our immediate objective is to apply these concepts to air-cooled condensers used in binary-cycle geothermal power plants. The NREL concept uses geometries in which the air stream flows through "transpired" porous cooling fins attached to the condenser tubes, as opposed to the geometry of conventional finned tube designs in which all or most of the air stream travels parallel to the cooling fins. This increases both the available heat transfer area and the local heat transfer rate. Computer modeling and prototype testing have shown that it can improve the ratio of heat transfer to fan power by more than 30%. The INEEL concept uses vortex generators strategically located on the tube fins. When combined with oval-shaped tubes, this can increase the heat transfer coefficient by as much as 35% without a significant increase in pressure drop. These developments are primarily intended for air-cooled condensers in geothermal power plants. However, these designs can also be adapted for use in other heat exchanger applications such as heat pump condensers and evaporators, heating coils, automobile radiators, etc. Selected companies will make cash or in-kind contributions for further development or testing of these concepts for application to air cooled condensers in organic Rankine-cycle geothermal power plants. Issues such as manufacturing methods, cleanability, and life-cycle cost will be addressed. The exact amount and nature of the collaboration with each laboratory will be worked out during negotiations. The criteria to select one or more companies are flexible and are related to theability of the company to commercialize and market the new product. It is anticipated that one or more independent licensing agreements with each laboratory will result. It is also possible that cooperative R&D could lead to the development of additional new concepts. For further information, please contact Richard Bolin, NREL Technology Transfer Office, 303-275-3028, or E-mail richard_bolin@nrel.gov or Tom Harrison, INEEL Office of Technology Transfer & Commercialization, 208-526-1710, E-mail harrtm@inel.gov Posted 08/22/00 (W-SN488727). (0235)

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