Heat exchanger testing — on a megawatt scale

Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Texas is expanding its heat exchanger testing capabilities to include megawatt-scale performance evaluations. This is an offering, the institute said, matched by only a handful of facilities worldwide.

Used in a wide variety of heating and cooling applications, heat exchangers efficiently transfer heat between two or more fluids without mixing.

“SwRI’s expanded heat exchanger testing capabilities will address a significant market gap for high-heat transfer rates involving high-temperature and -flowrate applications,” said research engineer Dr Eugene Hoffman of SwRI’s Fluids Engineering Department.

“This was the perfect time to advance our capabilities and expertise to meet increasing demands for specialised and custom heat exchanger testing capabilities that only a few facilities can accommodate.”

While everyday systems like heating, ventilation and air-conditioning (HVAC) and automobiles require heat exchangers to operate, the technology is also vital for data centre, aerospace and defence applications.

Rather than relying on a one-size-fits-all approach, SwRI has adapted existing equipment and infrastructure to offer customised heat exchanger testing to clients. The facilities offer a wide range of complex testing requirements to meet diverse and robust market demands, SwRI said.

“Our testing capabilities apply to many different systems needing thermal management,” Hoffman explained. “From drones to power systems, we provide a comprehensive equipment suite to help clients manage a variety of thermal systems while supporting their design and testing needs.”

To give some sense of the range of heat exchangers, typical car radiators can handle a few kilowatts of heat transfer, while military trucks and heavy-duty vehicles require hundreds of kilowatts. At the upper end of the scale, high-speed hypersonic vehicles and data centre mechanical skids require megawatts of heat exchange rates. As power requirements increase, fewer organisations are equipped to perform testing at this scale. SwRI is well-positioned for customised heat exchanger testing because its existing research facilities can already handle large power requirements.

The data centre sector in particular looks set to be a growing source of clients for SwRI. High-speed computing and systems that support artificial intelligence produce a considerable amount of heat, making high-capacity heat exchangers essential, and the rising demand for generative AI is only going to increase this need.

“With access to substantial power and space, there is no strict upper limit to what we can test. We are prepared to scale our facilities to meet higher demands as needed,” said SwRI research engineer Dr Ashok Thyagarajan.

“Our customisable testing set-ups and the broad spectrum of heat exchangers we can evaluate — from tens of kilowatts to up to a few megawatts — are indeed unique. With this adaptability, coupled with diverse industrial experience, SwRI offers solutions for a wide range of applications.”

Image caption: Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) is significantly expanding its heat exchanger testing capacity, adapting existing equipment and infrastructure to offer customised heat exchanger testing to clients. Image courtesy of SwRI.