SBIR/STTR Research Award
Next-Generation All-Electric Aircraft Auxiliary Power Unit (APU)
Award amount
$750,000Program and phase
SBIR · Phase IIAward year
2016Award details
- Awarding agency
- Department of Defense
- Branch
- Air Force
- Recipient company
- NEXTECH MATERIALS, LTD.
- Proposal award date
- 2016-09-14
- Contract end date
- 2018-12-14
- UEI
- FFT3UEC6K414
- Solicitation number
- 2015.1
- Topic code
- AF151-056
Research abstract
In this project, Nexceris is collaborating with Precision Combustion, Inc. on design of an SOFC based auxiliary power unit for unmanned aerial systemsThe APU leverages Nexceris sulfur tolerant and power dense SOFC stack and PCIs lightweight and sulfur tolerant JP-8 reforming technologies.Nexceris has enlisted the support of Northrop Grumman to enable design of the APU to specific requirements of the Global Hawk UAS.Phase I of the project involved design of a JP-8 fueled SOFC system with 30.7 percent LHV efficiency and CAD modeling of 5 kW scale SOFC systems with gravimetric power density of 106 W/kg.In this Phase II project, Nexceris and PCI will advance the system design and demonstrate key performance attributes of the APU design via integrated system testing.Successful execution of this project will result in a substantial advancement in the performance and capability of the Global Hawk and other unmanned aerial systems of interest to the U.S. military.
Technology keywords
Not reported
Other awards by this recipient
Verified by the same UEI. These are other public SBIR/STTR award pages, not a merged company record.
- Low-Cost Metal-Supported Metal Halide Energy Storage Technology
- Low-Cost Metal-Supported Metal Halide Energy Storage Technology
- Reversible Solid Oxide System Design with Integrated Fossil Assets
- Robust and Reversible Metal Supported Solid Oxide Cells for Lunar and Martian Applications
- Conversion of Biogas to Liquid Fuels on Superior Catalysts
Awards with the same topic code
Verified by an exact topic code match. This is not a text-similarity match.
- Closed-Loop Turbo-Brayton Power System for High-Altitude Aircraft
- SOFC Based APU for Unmanned Aerial Systems
- Advanced Ram Air Turbine Auxiliary Power Unit for High Altitude Long Endurance Aircraft
Research funding history
103 SBIR/STTR records share this UEI (1996–2025). Reported award amounts total $36,209,442. Reported amounts are not federal obligations.
Phases: Phase I, Phase II
Agencies: Department of Energy, Department of Defense, National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency