In my mind, there wasn’t much the residential market could throw at me. I should have guessed something was up by the half-amused look on my customer’s face when he described the problem as “a real hair raiser,” and that a measure of caution was in order … but what could be dangerous about a small furnace?

Approximately two years ago, the United States Navy issued a solicitation for innovative ideas on how to decrease the size of heat exchangers on mobile equipment. The solicitation eventually funded several heat exchanger proposals. Our company was one of many that submitted proposals that were not selected.