Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021 - 56

SPINOFF

Spinoff is NASA's annual publication featuring
successfully commercialized NASA technology. This
commercialization has contributed to the development
of products and services in the fields of health and
medicine, consumer goods, transportation, public safety,
computer technology, and environmental resources.

Hot Water on Demand
NASA expertise leads to improved in-home tankless water heaters.

ith traditional home water heaters,
you have to wait for the right temperature to come from the tank but with
a clever design by NASA, waiting for hot
water could be a thing of the past.
The story begins in the 1970s, when
Thomas Harman began working at
Lockheed as a NASA contractor. As
staff engineer, Harman was deep in the
growing field of microelectronics. He
helped install mini-computers in testing facilities at NASA's Johnson Space
Center in Houston that would put
space vehicles through their paces.
This included instruments like a vibration-control system to test equipment
under the stresses of liftoff and reentry.
In the early 1980s, he became a panel
member for the National Electrical
Code and helped to create standards
used in everything from laboratory testing to home design.
At the same time, Louis Everett was a
faculty member at Texas A&M University
where he was a consultant for NASA
Johnson. Much like Harman, Everett was
an expert on microelectronics. Working
with NASA engineer Leo Monford, Everett helped develop improvements for
the space shuttle's robotic arm.
The Dexterous End Effector (DEE)
project made manipulating the shuttle's
Canadarm easier for astronauts. Everett and Monford's element was a mirror
system called the Targeting and Reflective Alignment Concept (TRAC). A video camera at the end of the arm
would look at its refection in a mirror
attached to a target object. This mirror was dotted with small markings,
with corresponding markings fixed to
a monitor inside the shuttle. When an
astronaut lined up the pairs on the
monitor, the arm was aligned with the
target. And when an onboard computer
was reading the alignment marks, the
arm could automatically orient itself.
In the early 1990s, Everett joined
NASA Johnson and as part of the Space
Shuttle Columbia's STS-62 mission, he

In 1994, Space Shuttle Columbia carried experimental improvements to its robotic arm, testing microelectronics programmed by Louis Everett. Everett
would go on to write code for the Seisco tankless
water heater. (Credit: NASA)

supported DEE's in-flight tests from the
ground. When astronauts maneuvered
the arm into position, Everett's programming picked up metal bars and
slotted them into place inside the shuttle's payload bay. After Everett left Johnson, he had an idea that could " supercharge " people's homes.
Tankless water heaters have existed
since the 1930s but David Seitz, CEO of

Seisco water heaters could work in conjunction
with an existing heater. The Supercharger's
specialized controls assisted in heating water
much more quickly than a tank by itself.
(Credit: Seisco)

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Seisco, wanted to make their design
better for the home. Typical water
heater systems use a large tank of
water with an electric or gas heater to
deliver high temperatures but tankless water heaters are smaller, easier
to install in some homes, only use
power when you need it, and only
heat as much water as you need. This
small size, however, was impractical
for a full home.
Seitz devised an electric tankless
heater that could fully replace or work
alongside a home water heater. Seisco's design uses a system of snaking
pipes to accomplish its job incredibly
quickly. Three gallons per minute of
water can flow through the system.
However, Seisco needed digital controls for maximum reliability, so they
turned to Harman, asking how wholehome tankless water heaters could work
within the bounds of the National Electrical Code. Harman would soon join
the team as the company's head of R&D.
While developing a control scheme,
Harman realized that he could use concepts similar to his vibration-control
work for NASA to keep the heater from
getting too powerful.
Seisco patented a new design that
used microcontrollers to keep the water
from heating to dangerous levels and
Everett was the right coder for the
job. Although the heater was developed in Houston, it's being used
around the world. The original
design for home use has been expanded to heat water in apartments,
office buildings, factories, and gas
stations.
Seisco's water heaters are well suited
to homes and businesses powered by renewable energy. They are less taxing on
solar panel systems and have been used
in model homes to showcase efficient living. Seisco is no longer making new
heaters but its technology helped to
open up the market.
Visit https://spinoff.nasa.gov/water-heater.
Tech Briefs, May 2021

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Tech Briefs Magazine - May 2021

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