NASA SBIR 2014 Solicitation

SMALL BUSINESS CONCERN (Firm Name, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Creare, Inc.
P.O. Box 71
Hanover, NH 03755 - 3116
(603) 643-3800

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR/PROJECT MANAGER (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Weibo Chen
wbc@creare.com
P.O. Box 71
Hanover, NH 03755 - 3116
(603) 640-3800 Extension :2425

CORPORATE/BUSINESS OFFICIAL (Name, E-mail, Mail Address, City/State/Zip, Phone)
Robert Kline-Schoder
contractsmgr@creare.com
16 Great Hollow Road, P.O. Box 71
Hanover, NH 03766 - 3115
(603) 603-3800 Extension :2487

Estimated Technology Readiness Level (TRL) at beginning and end of contract:
Begin: 3
End: 4

Technology Available (TAV) Subtopics
Thermal Control Systems is a Technology Available (TAV) subtopic that includes NASA Intellectual Property (IP). Do you plan to use the NASA IP under the award?
No

TECHNICAL ABSTRACT (Limit 2000 characters, approximately 200 words)
NASA's future spacecraft require advanced thermal management technologies to provide effective cooling for multiple instruments and reject heat through multiple radiators. To meet this need, we propose to develop a reconfigurable two-phase pumped loop that can accommodate a complex network of evaporators and multiple radiators. The pumped loop has two performance features: 1) reliable refrigerant circulation with a mechanical pump even when the refrigerant flow exiting the radiators is a two-phase flow with significant vapor quality, and 2) reliable flow distribution among evaporators to minimize flow maldistribution due to heat load variation. These features are achieved by a combination of an innovative loop configuration and Creare's proven enabling components. In Phase I, we will prove the feasibility of reliable refrigerant circulation through building and testing a proof-of-concept pumped loop with key features, optimizing the pumped loop design and predicting its performance. In Phase II, we will build and test an integrated pumped loop with multiple evaporators and heat sinks and demonstrate its performance in a representative thermal environment.

POTENTIAL NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The technologies developed in this project will allow two-phase pumped loops to be widely used in future spacecraft. Our technology will enable a compact, lightweight, reconfigurable thermal architecture that can accommodate multiple heat sources and heat sinks. It will enhance the capability and reliability of science instruments in unmanned spacecraft, including space telescopes, satellites, and exploration rovers.

POTENTIAL NON-NASA COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS (Limit 1500 characters, approximately 150 words)
The advanced thermal control system has applications to two-phase thermal control systems in commercial and military satellites and aircraft, as well as high-power electronics systems.