Waste Heat Recovery for Tray Ration Heating

Reduction of fuel consumption at forward deployed sites has the potential to greatly improve the safety of our Marines. The burdened cost of fuel to the battlespace in both lives and dollars has grown to a level that demands innovation to reduce fuel consumption and improve efficiency. The Tray Ration Heating System (TRHS) currently utilized by the Marine Corps requires 30 gallons of diesel for 59 hours of operation. Mainstream Engineering Corporation proposes an exhaust gas heat recovery system to replace the TRHS burner and eliminate the fuel consumption. The proposed system will utilize the exhaust heat generated by the HMMWV to heat the water for ration heating. The heat generated by the HMMWV engine is a free source of heat and will require no increase in fuel consumption by the vehicle. Waste heat recovery will improve the utilization of each gallon of fuel that must be supplied to forward operations. In the Phase I effort Mainstream will design and experimentally demonstrate an exhaust recovery heat exchanger and ration heating system.