Low Cost Valve Technology

The Air Force needs highly reliable, reusable, low-cost engine valves for reusable liquid rocket booster engines. We propose to develop a Frictionless Ball Valve (FBV) to meet Air Force needs. Our FBV uses friction-free hydrostatic bearings to maintain tight clearance seals and eliminate wear, which makes our FBV highly reliable and reusable. The friction-free operation reduces requirements for actuator torque by a factor of two, which permits the use of small lightweight actuators and, therefore, reduces engine weight and costs. In addition, a low count of long-life parts further reduces costs. In Phase I, we will design, model, simulate, build, and demonstrate throttling and sealing with a reduced-scale breadboard FBV. In Phase II, we will optimize our FBV design to maximize performance and reliability and minimize costs, and we will build and test an optimized FBV. In Phase III, we will sell our FBV for many applications in the government and private sector. BENEFIT: The friction-free operation of our FBV reduces requirements for actuator torque by a factor of two, which permits the use of small lightweight actuators for reusable liquid rocket booster engines and, therefore, reduces engine weight and costs. In addition, a low count of long-life parts further reduces costs. Our FBV will benefit liquid propellant rocket engines for the Air Force and NASA. Our FBV will benefit large-scale ground-based cryogen handling for NASA. Our FBV will benefit flow-control applications for the following industries: cryogenic air separation; LNG storage, distribution, and transportation; aerospace; oil and gas; automotive; chemical; water-treatment; power; food and beverage; cosmetic; and pharmaceutical.