Demonstration of a High Energy Density Phase-Change Storage System

The objective of this effort is to demonstrate an innovative phase-change thermal storage system that can exceed the 1000 kJ/kg and 180 MJ/m3 thermal storage objective sought in the SBIR topic description. This Phase I effort will address a current need of the airframe system integrators for a thermal energy system for directed energy applications. Phase I will experimentally demonstrate a new concept that will reduce the size and weight of the necessary thermal storage system. The focus of the Phase I effort will be to demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed phase-change thermal control approach with experiments, develop a preliminary overall design configuration, and provide a detailed comparison with SOA alternatives. The effort is significant because the proposed system will exceed the thermal storage objectives for the complete thermal control system. Clearly, Mainstream has the prior experience in this area, and the effort proposed in Phase I, which includes a preliminary design and bench-top demonstration experiments, exceeds the scope of effort proposed in the Phase I solicitation; however, Mainstream is well into this research and excited about the commercial potential for this technology. Phase II will address the fabrication and demonstration of a complete system.