Combined Heat and Power System (CHPS)

The wide range of combined heat and power system (CHPS) needs identified by Natick for Army field kitchen applications includes the containerized kitchen (CK), mobile kitchen trailer (MKT) and battlefield kitchen (BK). Much of Phase I was directed toward the CK application needs, but several factors that arose during and subsequent to the original Phase I contract effort led to a current Infinia Corporation recommendation to focus a potential Phase II program on the BK as the preferable first field demonstration system platform. These factors include evolving progress and prioritization of field kitchen development activities at Natick, better synergism with other Infinia programs, and substantial recent progress in the development of 3-kW free-piston Stirling engines at Infinia. The BK focus will enable the proposed Phase II demonstration program to deliver a BK CHPS to Natick that is much closer to a final configuration than is generally possible within SBIR resource limitations. The Phase II prototype unit will be suitable for field test and evaluation.