Bladder Fuel/Oxidizer Delivery System for Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) and Weapon Applications

The objective of this program is to develop and demonstrate a bladder storage and delivery system to supply reactants used in air independent propulsion systems. The system design will be adaptable to a variety of reactant types and propulsion systems (e.g., meet capacity, flow and pressure requirements), provide a robust and cost effective means for delivering the reactants, minimize power consumption, reduce fuel system noise and maintenance requirements, be reusable and otherwise meet the desired service life/environment requirements, and provide the potential to increase mission profile. The intended air independent fuels include borohydride, dodecane, hydrogen peroxide, caustic solutions, acidic solutions, Otto Fuel II, and HAN). Key design elements desired include the ability for the fuel system to discharge more than 99% of the fuel load, support draining and refueling via a simple through hull penetration, and be adaptable to flow rate requirements from 0.02 to 20 SLPM with fuel cell capacities ranging from less than 40 liters for small UUV systems to volumes potentially exceeding 3000 liters for larger UUV applications with extended mission profile requirements.