Expeditionary Energy Assessment Environmental Control Unit Alternatives Study
Abstract
The objective of this study was to support the USMC Expeditionary Energy Office (E2O) with the development of a transparent and repeatable analytical process for measuring energy savings of proposed equipment purchases in the context of a fielded equipment list. The tasks defined an exploratory effort to 1) examine the energy consumption of environmental control units (ECUs) that provide heating and cooling to deployed Marine forces and facilities and 2) establish the significance of this consumption in the context of theater-level operations. The Study Team decided to model the entire system in order to put ECU consumption in context. However, the Study Team recognized it needed to build energy consumption from the bottom up in order to generate the necessary model fidelity and insight. Fuel usage was determined via the product of the fielded inventory of systems, system employment rates, and fuel or energy pull rate. As the study proceeded and the scope and scale of the analysis became apparent, the Study Team formalized the methodology and created the Marine Air-Ground Task Force (MAGTF) Power and Energy Model (MPEM). The study approach modeled a base case using the equipment and energy footprint of the Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF) Forward (FWD) in Afghanistan and four alternative cases to examine the impact of improvements in energy (fuel) consumed to maintain desired temperatures. Three excursions were conducted over a range of energy efficiencies 10%, 20% and 30% - compared with the existing baseline ECU suite. A fourth excursion examined an alternative energy case where the existing baseline ECU suite was augmented with solar-powered ECU systems. The study established that sufficient data was available to support the quantitative modeling of energy consumption at the theater level. MPEM energy usage results for the base case were compared to reported actual usage and agreed to the degree necessary to provide face validation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 28, 2011
- Accession Number
- ADA550136
Entities
People
- Paul Tabler
- Peter Bulanow
- Shawn Charchan
Organizations
- Marine Corps Combat Development Command