General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc.
General Atomics Aeronautical Systems Inc. (GA-ASI) is working with long-time collaborator Conflux Technology on the design and manufacture of a new fuel oil heat exchanger (FOHE) for the MQ-9B.
The company is developing this enhanced thermal solution for its MQ-9B SkyGuardian and SeaGuardian Remotely Piloted Aircraft.
GA-ASI, a leading developer of unmanned aircraft, has worked with Conflux since 2018 to develop heat exchangers for aerospace. Conflux is a thermal management system solution company based in Australia.
“GA-ASI wants to optimise and augment the performance of our current units by minimising the differential pressure across the FOHE,” said Stephen Eiting, Vice President or Manufacturing Operations for GA-ASI. “We want to maximise the overall heat extraction capacity, while looking for opportunities to lower the mass and volume of the FOHE.”
GA-ASI is also aiming to develop an AM heat exchanger design that can be 3D printed, post-processed, and bench-tested. As part of this most recent purchase order, Conflux will produce a fully functional prototype unit that can be tested by GA-ASI.
“Our mission is transforming heat exchanger performance. For our project with GA-ASI this means drop-in replacements that remove thermal load and maintaining a compact profile, while also increasing performance to meet higher system demand,” said Abe Masoud, Business Development Manager, North America. “When you are leading the charge on advanced technology, you need a world class team and agility to do it right. This is where Conflux comes in.”
The two companies have worked on four different AM projects since the partnership began four years ago. Most recently, the two teams have leveraged 3D printing to develop a cold plate heat exchanger that provides additional cooling capacity for its high-dissipation line-replaceable unit used in a variety of GA-ASI’s UAS platforms.
