Sbir phase i: retrofit dehumidifiers to enable greater than 50% air conditioner energy savings via elimination of latent loads

This National Science Foundation (NSF) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project grant, awarded under the NSF Technology, Innovation, and Partnerships program (CFDA 47.084), focuses on the development of retrofit dehumidification systems for air conditioning (AC) units. The $274,921 award to Helix Earth Technologies Inc. aims to enable greater than 50% energy savings for AC systems by eliminating latent loads through a novel liquid desiccant-based retrofit dehumidification approach. The innovation leverages a droplet filtration method originally pioneered for space applications to enable high-efficiency dehumidification. If successful, these drop-in retrofit dehumidifiers have the potential to save the industry over $100B in energy costs and up to 1 gigaton of CO2 emissions annually, helping mitigate the effects of global climate change while ensuring access to affordable cooling systems globally.

Abstract

The broader impact/commercial potential of this small business innovation research (sbir) phase i project focuses on the development of retrofit dehumidification systems for air conditioners (AC) to reduce latent loads and save more than 50% of the energy consumed by AC systems. Air conditioners consume more than $230 billion in energy annually worldwide, accounting for more than 4% of total global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The goal of this sbir phase i project is to develop a drop-in solution for existing AC infrastructure to enable substantial reductions in energy use and operating costs for AC systems. These drop-in dehumidification systems have the potential to save the industry > $100 billion in energy costs and up to 1 gigaton of CO2 emissions annually. The innovation developed in this project will help mitigate the effects of global climate change, while simultaneously ensuring access to affordable cooling systems globally by helping substantially reduce operating costs for AC systems. The intellectual merit of this project is in its utilization of a droplet filtration method, initially pioneered for space applications. This filtration method enables retrofit dehumidifiers that are powered by a liquid desiccant spray reactor that enables high-rate, high-efficiency dehumidification. The dehumidification approach in this project is differentiated from other state-of-the-art methods on the market today due to the method of liquid desiccant deployment, which enables high surface area contact between liquids and gasses. The filtration method enables high-efficiency dehumidification by capturing nearly 100% of fine droplets (