From left to right: LloydAnthony Blackwood, Marcela G. Hinojosa Almaraz, Boris Lokossou, Abdulwahab Sayes

Team Members:

LloydAnthony Blackwood
Marcela G. Hinojosa Almaraz
Boris Lokossou
Abdulwahab Sayes

Sponsor:

Molly Over

Project Description:

The global transition toward cleaner energy systems requires technologies that reduce building energy demand and improve the efficiency of heating and cooling infrastructure. MicroEra Power’s THERMAplus system addresses this need through thermal energy storage, but its manifold heat exchanger can experience nonuniform flow and pressure losses that increase pumping power. This project aimed to optimize the manifold orifice configuration while maintaining the existing panel geometry. Four half-scale manifold assemblies were developed and evaluated: baseline-baseline, optimized-baseline, optimized-optimized, and optimized-open. Computational fluid dynamics were used before manufacturing to compare pressure drop and flow uniformity, while physical testing measured pressure drop, flow output, leakage, and thermal distribution across the panels. The optimized designs all reduced pressure drop by more than 5% relative to the baseline, with the optimized-baseline configuration producing the largest pumping power reduction of 40.47%. However, because the operating system may reverse flow direction, the optimized-optimized configuration was recommended as the most practical final design. The results show that targeted changes to orifice spacing can improve manifold performance, reduce pumping energy, and support the broader implementation of efficient thermal energy storage systems.

Requirements & Specifications:

Requirements	Specifications
1) Reduce Pressure Drop across the fluid flow manifold. 2) Improve flow uniformity across the panel. 3) Keep materials and dimensions untouched. 4) Modify only the spacing, sizing, and number of orifices.	1) Improve the pressure drop of the designed component by 5%. 2) Stress on the component designed must not exceed 80% of the customer’s allowable stress. 3) Have a return on investment of three years

CFD Analysis:

Manufacturing:

Materials

•Polypropylene Panel (42 x 50 x 0.25 in)
•Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes (1.25 in D, 2 ft Long)
•PVC Sheets (12 x 24 x 0.125 in)
•RTV Silicone Sealant
•PLA
•PTFE tape (Polytetrafluoroethylene)
•Husky Water Hose

First, a vertical bandsaw was used to cut the panel into four equal pieces and trim the excess PVC pipe length. Next, a milling machine was utilized to drill precise holes into the manifolds, while a hand drill was used to create openings on the water hoses for the pressure gauges. A 1-1/4 inch steel brush was then used to clean the interior of the manifolds to ensure they were free of debris. A sheet metal shear was employed to cut the PVC sheets to the required dimensions. For sealing, a glue gun was used to apply RTV silicone with precision into any empty spaces. All necessary caps were produced using a Hopeman 3D printer. Finally, pressure gauges were installed to measure the pressure drop across the panel during operation.

Testing Plan:

The testing phase for this project involves:

Pressure Analysis: measuring the pressure drop by attaching two pressure gauges to the hoses at the panel’s inlet and outlet while water is running through the system.
Thermal Analysis: using a thermal camera to capture images at specific intervals. These images will be analyzed to estimate flow distribution and ensure heat transfer remains efficient and even across the panel.
Flow Rate Analysis: tracking the volumetric flow rate of water flowing through the system over time and monitoring any leakage to calculate precise leak-to-flow ratios.

Results & Analysis:

Table 8: Temperature Variation Across Panel

Designs	Mean [˚C]	Standard Deviation [˚C]	Max [˚C]	Min [˚C]	Coefficient of Variation
B1 – B1	19.11	3.98	27.75	8.95	0.2083
C1 – B1	14.88	2.17	19.61	11.03	0.1458
C1 – C1	14.93	3.37	21.5	9.08	0.2261
C1- Open	15.85	2.72	20.09	9.91	0.1719

Designs	∆P (kPa)	∆P (kPa)	∆P (kPa)	Mean ∆P (kPa)
B1 – B1	2.5	2	2	2.17
C1 – B1	1.3	1.6	1.4	1.43
C1 – C1	1.4	1.8	1.8	1.67
C1 – Open	2	1.9	2	1.97

Designs	Power (Watts)	Power Improvement
B1 – B1	0.430	—
C1 – B1	0.256	40.47 %
C1 – C1	0.349	18.84 %
C1 – Open	0.374	13.02 %

Designs	Lower Pressure drop by 5%	Lower Pumping Power	Maintain or Improve Heat Transfer	Below Material Endurance Limit
C1 – B1	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass
C1 – C1	Pass	Pass	Fail	Pass
C1 – Open	Pass	Pass	Pass	Pass