ARA Receives $2.7M Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy Award for ACTIVE Cooling Project

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M., Nov. 18, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Applied Research Associates, Inc. (ARA) has received $2.7M in funding from the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy for the development of Active Cooling Thermally Induced Vapor-polymerization Effect (ACTIVE) technology.

Worldwide climate changes and droughts require power plants that operate with no water loss. However, a cost of current dry cooling technology is reduced performance when ambient temperatures are too high. ARA's ACTIVE cooling system is an innovative approach that will provide power plant supplemental cooling and energy storage with zero water loss.

Over this three-year contract, ARA will further develop and demonstrate the ACTIVE dry cooling technology that meets APRA-E performance and cost standards for both new and existing power plants.

Dr. Aly Shaaban, leader of ARA's SMART Energy Group, said that ARA's ultimate goal with ACTIVE technology is to ensure maximum power plant thermal efficiency. "ACTIVE will ensure the United States a technological lead in developing and deploying advanced energy technologies and open new global markets for American products," said Shaaban.  Dr. Gong Zhou, the lead chemical engineer on the project, said that the combination of his experimental modeling with Dr. Sergio Escobar's CFD modeling of the ACTIVE system will insure smooth transition of the technology from the laboratory scale to the pilot scale prototype.

The development team for the project includes SPX Corporation, a leading supplier of highly engineered HVC products, detection and measurement technologies, and power equipment. "We are looking forward to learning more about this interesting technology," says Eric Rasmussen, Director of Global Research and Development.

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Media Contact: 
Dr. Aly Shaaban, Director of ARA Energy Initiative, 850.914.3188, ashaaban@ara.com
Ellen Gallegos, ARA Marketing Director 505.881.8074
 
About Applied Research Associates, Inc.

Applied Research Associates, Inc. is an international research and engineering company recognized for providing technically excellent solutions to complex and challenging problems in the physical sciences. Our mission is to provide in-depth and diversified research, engineering, and technical support services. We have a broad range of technical expertise in biomedical engineering, defense technologies, civil engineering, computer software and simulation, systems analysis, and environmental technologies. For additional information, please visit http://www.ara.com.