FCAT Team: Corinna Davis, Morgan Morrison, Alexandra Sandoval, Achillea Huang
2022-2023: In collaboration with Fidelity Center for Applied Technology (FCAT), this student team designed a system for capturing and repurposing heat generated during cryptocurrency mining. The project supports FCAT’s interest in innovation around the Bitcoin mining process to reduce environmental impact and energy use.
The team reviewed different waste heat repurposing methods, industrial use cases for the heat, and immersion cooling technology for the ASICs. After selecting the direct reuse approach for the waste heat, the team developed a conceptual system design with two closed loops (immersion cooling and water reuse) connected by a heat exchanger. The team then built and tested a small-scale prototype with two ASICs to evaluate different flow rates and confirm system temperatures. Based on these results, the team prepared initial calculations for two water heating use cases: hospitals and fish farms. The team delivered their results and recommendations to FCAT for future consideration.