Portable Cogeneration of Power and Cooling

An SBIR Phase II program is proposed to develop a Steam Powered Electricity And Refrigeration (SPEAR) system to provide a demonstration of its capabilities for powering and cooling military electronic equipment shelters. The SPEAR system will utilize a scroll steam expander in a Mesoscale Steam Engine Generator (MSEG) to produce electric power. Yankee Scientific developed the MSEG power cycle for the Army through a DARPA sponsored program. A Steam Jet driven chiller will provide the cooling capability. The normal operation of the MSEG produces the proper waste steam supply that is needed to implement Steam Jet refrigeration, thereby minimizing the additional hardware required. Importantly, this program will take full advantage of the testing and design work conducted during the SBIR Phase I effort and DARPA is generously offering available hardware developed during the MSEG program for use in this Phase II program. The capacity of the proposed SPEAR system will take best advantage of this available hardware. Sized to deliver 1.3 kW of electric power and 5.3 kW of cooling (1.5 tons of refrigeration), the SPEAR demonstration system will provide load following electric power, cooling and heating capability suitable for military electronics shelters.