TACTICAL AND STRATEGIC ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
Abstract
This project is focused on the unique challenges facing the DoD in developing and demonstrating advanced power generation and energy storage technologies. It will address critical military needs for improved energy efficiency and availability to support a range of military missions that include the individual warfighter and small unit operations, large platform operations, and sustainment of forward operating bases (FOBs). At the individual warfighter and small unit operations level, efforts are addressing the need for mission extending power generation and energy storage technologies with particular emphasis on portability and robustness challenges that are unique to the DoD. At the large platform and forward operations scale, efforts are addressing needs for deployable energy storage and more efficient power generation and distribution technologies. As electronic systems are common to all scales of power generation and energy storage and management, this project also investigates improved board-level power conversion and regulation strategies to more efficiently convert and distribute high voltages to locally required low voltages for powering integrated circuits and sensors. Included in this project are efforts to improve the utilization of larger generators at FOBs and on large platforms, by improving efficiency and developing multi-fuel capability that will allow for greater use of indigenous sources. Smart energy distribution at the FOB level will allow for more effective energy management, improved overall distribution efficiency, and the effective integration of host country resources. Efforts exploring power generation for FOB operations from ruggedized nuclear-fueled reactors, and ultra-high-efficiency gas turbine engines for power generation on large platforms including Navy cruisers and destroyers, will also be investigated. At the small-scale tactical-level, a new generation of robust fuel cells, batteries, and supercapacitors will be developed to handle the demanding loads found on portable electronics carried by the individual warfighter and many small military platforms. New storage technologies beyond batteries will be explored that are exploiting novel approaches to electrochemical conversion of carbon-based fuels. Also included in this project are scalable power management systems from integrated circuits that exploit novel magnetic materials through large power controls for efficient grid power management and distribution, novel regenerative or electrochemical storage technologies allowing for the recovery of excess energy produced during low peak periods, and environmentally robust energy sources that can meet the energy requirements for military operations in extreme environments.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Project
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2012
- Source ID
- MBT-03_0602715E_2_0400_PB_2012
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