Multi-Fuel Burners for Soldier Power

The Army has an ever-growing need to provide electric power to soldiers on the battlefield. Of particular need is an efficient, power dense, jet fuel-powered system for charging batteries. The Army has invested heavily in thermal-to-electric power conversion, most notably in thermoelectric generators or TEGs. Because the conversion efficiency of TEGs is relatively low, and because the hot side temperature of high efficiency TEGs is high, a high efficiency recuperated burner is needed to achieve high conversion efficiency for the overall system. This topic calls for a high efficiency burner technology for thermal-to-electric battery changing in the 30 We power range. We propose to develop a unique, recuperated burner for this application capable of operating on jet fuel or a range of other conventional fuels including gaseous fuels, biodiesel, and gasoline. Our burner technology is general and could be applied to different thermal-to-electric conversion technology including TEGs and thermophotovoltaic systems (TPV). In Phase I, we will complete a system-level design to define requirements for our burner, and then prototype and test an initial embodiment of the burner. In Phase II, we will iterate the burner design and integrate and demonstrate the burner in a prototype battery charging system.