A technology developed under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between Naval Air Warfare Center Aircraft Division, Patuxent River (NAWCAD) and OxiCool, Inc., has the potential to revolutionize how the world stays cool. The collaboration, which began in 2007 to transition the Navy's Modular Portable Air Conditioner (MPAC) system to the private sector, has evolved into a textbook example of how an entrepreneur can successfully utilize technology transfer tools available for transitioning technology to benefit private industry and the military.
Under the CRADA, NAWCAD and OxiCool engineers collaborated on an engineering feasibility study to determine if a man- or vehicle-mounted cooling system could be used in high-temperature, high-humidity, and high air pollution environments. With an emphasis on extracting heat from a source, OxiCool and NAWCAD engineers worked together to analyze the MPAC technology for thermal management applications related to the DOD's global war on terrorism as well as civilian applications, and to define optimal performance and design parameters in military and civil operational environments.
The end result of this collaboration is the invention by OxiCool and NAWCAD of a new green air conditioning system. Despite the impending global warming threat, most old-fashioned air conditioning systems rely on electricity-guzzling vapor compression systems that emit either chlorofluorocarbons or hydrofluorocarbons into the environment, and either deplete the ozone layer or act as a potent greenhouse gas, respectively.
The OxiCool/NAWCAD technology does not need a compressor, uses water as a refrigerant, contains no harmful substances, and uses heat instead of electricity as the primary energy source. OxiCool is presently commercializing the technology to cool tractor trailers for private industry through (another) collaboration — this one with a large multi-billion dollar company.
OxiCool plans to follow this up with military applications to provide air conditioning with stealth advantages for mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicles (MRAPs), tanks and submarines; and subsequently, OxiCool plans to cool U.S. homes using American natural gas, which could enable a significant reduction of load on our electrical grid.
To implement the commercialization plan for the technology, OxiCool raised over $600,000 from various investors, including the Maryland Technology Development Corporation (TEDCO), Ben Franklin Technology Partners of SE Pennsylvania, the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation, and private angel investors from California and Maryland. The company is presently raising additional private funds and also is applying for grants to meet its aggressive project timeline to bring this technology to commercial and military marketplaces.
With offices in Philadelphia, Pa., and Lexington Park, Md., OxiCool is led by Ravikant Barot, whose positions as a former merchant marine oil tanker captain and CFO of Ford Motor Credit Co.'s joint ventures in India have added to his success.
Barot stated that the CRADA collaboration with NAWCAD was a way to rapidly progress in a relatively short time, allowing him contacts and intellectual and equipment resources unavailable to him through traditional methods.
For more information, contact NAWCAD Patuxent River at 301-342-5586, or OxiCool at 215-966-6226 or www.oxicool.com.
