INNOVATION

Innovation is at the core of everything we do at Enovus Labs. We have brought products from a simple idea all the way to fully qualified hardware designed for a moon landing. We pride ourselves on our innovative skills and problem solving abilities and regularly brainstorm to evolve and grow an idea into something greater than the sum of its parts. Some of our innovations can be found in the 49 filed patents or the 59 scientific publications we've generated over the years, but watch this space for our latest and greatest ideas in the making. Below are some of our innovative works to help you get a sense of our natural creativity.

Our creativity will help you succeed.

Innovation that's (literally) out of this world

As part of the Mission to the Moon project* we were tasked with inventing and developing a novel thermal radiator design to be used on the lunar surface. This was part of an experimental CubeSat program that ran parallel to the main project. We created a novel pyramid design to increase the radiator's visibility to deep space while at the same time minimising induced heat load from lunar reflections. Reflections from the lunar surface generate a significant thermal challenge for any hardware mounted on the outside of a lander so they must me minimised. We kept the weight of the structure to a minimum using an Algorithmically Designed inner lattice structure. We optimised the position of each of the lattices to minimise the thermal resistance to deep space while maximising the resistance to surfaces pointing to the lunar surface. As a result, we matched the thermal performance of solid aluminium but had the advantage of a far lighter structure, significantly reducing the cost of launch. This innovation was demonstrated on the Vodafone stand at Mobile World Congress 2018.

Reliable Air Cooling

As the demand for faster, higher capacity, more efficient ICT devices rises in the emerging 5G marketplace, significant thermomechanical challenges persist, hampering progress. For 5G network solutions to become ubiquitous, equipment providers need to address the size, weight, and reliability of their products.

One way to do this is by transitioning from natural convection to forced convection. However, commercially available active cooling devices – i.e. rotating fans – suffer from relatively short lifetimes in outdoor environments. To fill this gap in the market, we invented* an extremely reliable air mover driven by a piezoelectric actuator. We unlocked new design ideas and generated IP by looking towards nature, in particular the motion of a fish's tail as a method of air propulsion. Through extensive experimentation such a Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) and numerical modelling, we were able to optimise the shape of our blade for maximum airflow and cooling performance. Our experimental tests showed enhanced airflow compared to other COTS reliable air movers. We tested just three of our devices on a mock Remote Radio Head dissipating 330W in the power amplifier section and 90W in the Radio section and demonstrated a 14˚C temperature drop for the radio boards and 26˚C drop for the PA section, a huge reduction.

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Liquid Cooling

Advanced liquid cooling solutions already exist in multiple industries, but more recently, they have been adapted to control the temperature of battery cells in electric vehicles. Battery cells suffer from what's called the Goldilocks phenomenon where their performance is compromised if they are either too hot or too cold. Power failure, thermal runaway and loss of capacity are the consequences of elevated temperature while lower efficiency, decreased capacity, and higher resistance result from too low a temperature. Generally, there are three methods used to cool battery cells: passive or forced convection air cooling; complete submersion cooling; and single phase liquid cooling through pipe manifolds.

Our solution reimagines this cooling architecture and introduces two phase heat transfer to extract heat only when required from an individual cell, transferring this energy to a controlled single-phase liquid cooled heat exchanger. The vapour chamber itself wraps around each battery cell and cools any cell that heats up past a predefined threshold (with no electronic control circuit required). The absorbed heat is transferred to a liquid cooled manifold via a liquid metal Thermal Interface Material (TIM) to maintain a low system thermal resistance. Another embodiment of this solution removes the need for a TIM by integrating the cooling manifold with the vapour chamber and embedding the heat generating parts in the vapour chamber itself. The flow rate in the liquid cooled manifold is controlled using a thermally actuated valve positioned at the channel exit. When the fluid heats up the mechanism, it opens. When it cools again, it closes. Innovation at every stage of the cooling system increases its effectiveness, giving you more range per charge, allowing faster charging times, and longer life batteries.

Algorithm Design Engineering

Algorithm Design Engineering (ADE) is the evolution of conventional engineering and enables new possibilities in functional design and aesthetics allowing us to revisit and significantly improve the design of established parts and products. There are many advantages to ADE such as decrease part cost, increase strength and decreased weight to name just a few. ADE is the key to unlocking the true power of 3D printing or additive manufacturing in which a part is designed from the ground up with only the limitations of the AM machine to consider. This approach allows us to integrate multiple machining steps in to one ADE part saving money, weight, and increased strength.

Patents filed:

9 Granted, 30 Pending, 10 Priority filed with patent office

Scientific Publications:

28 Journal papers, 31 Conference papers

International Events:

Demos and stands at global events such as MWC and Other Voices

References

MttM Press Releases:

MttM Papers:

Butler, C., Punch, J., & Jeffers, N.(2019). Radiative surface properties of a trihedral array for lunar thermal control applications, Proceedings of Thermal & Fluids Analysis Workshop (TFAWS) 2019, NASA Langley Research Center (LaRC), VA, August 26-30. TFAWS19-PT-03
Butler, C., Punch, J., & Jeffers, N.(2019). Modelling of radiative heat transfer of a square trihedral design radiator panel on the lunar surface, Proceedings of European Space Thermal Engineering Workshop 2019, ESA Newton, The Netherlands, October 8-10

Reliable Air Cooling Papers:

Conway, C., Jeffers, N., Agarwal, A., & Punch, J., (2020). Influence of thickness on the flow field generated by an oscillating cantilever beam. Experiments in Fluids, 61(7), 1-19
Stafford, J., & Jeffers, N. (2017). Aerodynamic Performance of a Vibrating Piezoelectric Blade Under Varied Operational and Confinement States. IEEE Transactions on Components, Packaging and Manufacturing Technology, 7(5), 751–761.
Agarwal, A., Nolan, K. P., Stafford, J., & Jeffers, N. (2017). Visualization of three-dimensional structures shed by an oscillating beam. Journal of Fluids and Structures, 70, 450–463.
Jeffers, N., Stafford, J., & Donnelly, B. (2014). Heat transfer and fluid mechanics from a piezoelectric fan operating in its second resonant frequency mode. In Proceedings of the 15th International Heat Transfer Conference, IHTC15-9227. doi(Vol. 10).
Jeffers, N., Nolan, K., Stafford, J., & Donnelly, B. (2014). High fidelity phase locked PIV measurements analysing the flow fields surrounding an oscillating piezoelectric fan. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 525, p. 12013). IOP Publishing.
Stafford, J., & Jeffers, N. (2014). Aerodynamic performance of a vibrating piezoelectric fan under varied operational conditions. In Journal of Physics: Conference Series (Vol. 525, p. 12025). IOP Publishing.

Reliable Air Cooling Patents:

Jeffers, N., Agarwal, A., 2019, "Apparatus and method for operating an oscillation blade device and a system comprising the apparatus", EP3171038 (Granted), US20180313368 (Published and Pending), WO2017085095 (Published and Pending)
Jeffers, N., Stafford, J., Donnelly, B., 2017, "A Device for Moving Air", Publish No US10280945 (Granted), JP6420257 (Granted), EP2952077 (Granted), WO2014118624 (Published and Pending), TW201437488 (Published and Pending)
Jeffers, N., and Agarwal, A., 2018, “Transferring heat from a heat source”, EP3570320 (Published and Pending)
Jeffers, N., Frizzell, R., Donnelly, B., 2013, “Method And Apparatus For Assessment And Optimization Of Performance Of Piezoelectric Devices”, Publish No EP2818730, WO2014206614, TW201508175 (Published and Pending)

Liquid Cooling Papers:

Polansky, J., Jeffers, N. & Punch, J., (2020), A Hybrid Approach for Predicting the Effective Thermal Conductivity for Sintered Porous Materials, International Journal of Thermal Sciences,148, 106135
Waddell, A. M., Punch, J., Stafford, J., & Jeffers, N. (2016). The hydrodynamic and heat transfer behaviour downstream of a channel obstruction in the laminar flow regime. International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 101, 1042–1052.
Waddell, A. M., Punch, J., Stafford, J., & Jeffers, N. (2015). On the hydrodynamic characterization of a passive Shape Memory Alloy valve. Applied Thermal Engineering, 75, 731–737.
Waddell, A.M., Punch, J., Stafford, J. & Jeffers, N. (2015). The Local Heat Transfer Performance Downstream of a Representative Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) Structure”, Proceedings of SemiTherm 2015, San Jose, CA, March 15
Waddell, A., Punch, J., Stafford, J. & Jeffers N. (2014) “Hydrodynamic Characterization of a Passive Shape Memory Alloy Valve”, Journal of Physics: Conference Series, 525(1), 012010: doi:10.1088/1742-6596/525/1/012010.

Liquid Cooling Patents:

Jeffers, N., Daly, J., 2015, "Temperature Control Device With A Passive Thermal Feedback Control Valve", Publish No US9181933 (Granted)
Jeffers, N., Agarwal, A., O’Reilly Meehan, R., 2019, “Heat transfer apparatus”, US20190387643, EP3584527 (Published and Pending)
Jeffers, N., Agarwal, A., O’Reilly Meehan, R., 2020, “Modular Heat Exchanger And Method For Making The Same”, EP3415856, WO2018228766, US20200166289 (Published and Pending)
Jeffers, N., Agarwal, A., O’Reilly Meehan, R., 2017, “Wick Structures And Heat Pipe Networks”, EP3421917, WO2019001830 (Published and Pending)