The main goal of AHEAD is to develop a TRL7 product, bringing the possibility of sensing fluid parameters with a simple pipe segment to an industrial preproduction level, compatible with natural refrigerants: Carbon Dioxide (for detector applications) and Ammonia (for space applications). To reach this goal, two use-cases will be developed: the so called “Refrigeration” use-case targeting earth applications and the “MPL” use-case (Mechanically Pumped Loop) targeting thermal management applications for satellite platforms.
The partners in the proposal gather two beneficiaries mastering all the required technological steps for the full development of the product (CSEM and LISI Aerospace) and a set of end-users (CERN, Thales Alenia Space and NTNU) capable of performing accurate testing and product follow-up allowing for validation of prototypes at different steps of the project and for final qualification in field operation. In particular, the addition of NTNU to CERN and Thales will permit to study and qualify the extension of the potential application of the product to the market of natural refrigeration plants for general purpose terrestrial applications.
This will greatly reinforce the strength of the proposal in the context of ATTRACT, by directly introducing an aspect related to environment preservation and reduction of CO2 emissions. Meanwhile, in the parallel project ENERGY4OIL of ATTRACT Phase1, the Portuguese spin-off inanoEnergy has developed a technique of energy harvesting from turbulent flows, allowing to produce enough power to operate a sensor and enable wireless transmission of the data.