SBIR-STTR Award

With the integration of new technologies and advanced electronics into military vehicles, there grows an increasing demand on electrical systems to sustain adequate energy during extended 'silent watch' periods. Meanwhile, on-board storage systems must be capable of delivering sufficient electrical power to start heavy-duty engines under extreme cold temperatures. Conventional storage systems, including military lead-acid batteries, represent a compromise that is neither optimized for prolonged energy nor instantaneous power delivery. As a result, many heavy-duty vehicles in their present configurations will be unable to meet future silent watch and cold engine starting requirements. However, through the use of a dual-power distribution system, it is possible to optimize for both of these performance criteria simultaneously. Potential innovations include the integration of ultracapacitors to deliver maximum power during engine starting in conjunction with deep-cycle batteries that maximize the delivery of stored energy over extended periods of time. The objective of the proposed Phase I program is to demonstrate the feasibility of developing a dual-power distribution system for a heavy-duty military vehicle platform that outperforms convention implementations.

Benefits:
There are a number of anticipated benefits from developing heavy-duty military vehicles with dual-power distribution systems, including greater power delivery for cold starting, enhanced energy delivery for longer 'silent watch' periods, improved load leveling and battery life, superior vehicle reliability, and reduced operating costs. Direct applications exist for dual-power technologies in the commercial automotive and trucking industries. Other potential commercialization targets include construction equipment, marine and aerospace applications, mobile power generators, and other motorized systems.

Keywords:
ultracapacitors, fuel cells, 42-Volt electrical system, Valve Regulated Lead Acid batteries, energy delivery, power delivery, dual power distribution system, load shedding

Heavy Duty Army vehicle energy storage systems are under increasing demand to supply energy to a multitude of electrical sub-systems on the vehicle, to deliver this energy for a sustained period of time for silent watch missions and to do it at wide temperature extremes. Many current vehicle platforms are not currently able to meet these stringent demands and thus fail to meet silent watch requirements and in many cases cannot reliably start under extreme cold conditions. Global ET will address the cold starting problem with a solution that can be implemented quickly and inexpensively and that can be immediately applied to current vehicle fleets as part of a Spiral Upgrade initiative as well as become the approach for future military needs. Further research in Phase II will include investigating the use an innovative configuration of advanced battery chemistry as opposed to a ultracapacitor / battery combination solution. Global ET is uniquely qualified for an efficient implementation of the Phase II SBIR as much of the work being done on an existing Global ET Phase II Project is directly transferable to a solution of the cold starting problem.

Keywords:
Cold Starting Heavy Duty Military Vehicles, Advanced Electrical System Technologies, Advanced Battery Chemistries, Dual Power Distribution, Power Mana