SMALL AIR-DRIVEN POWER MODULES

THE PUBLIC DOMAIN LITERATURE CONTAINS VERY LITTLE INFORMATION ON SMALL (UNDER 1 KW) AIR-TURBINE-DRIVEN POWER SYSTEMS. THE PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR AND PROPOSING FIRM HAVE EXPERIENCE IN THIS AREA THAT IS SPREAD OVER MANY YEARS, INCLUDING A RECENT SBIR PHASE I PROJECT. DATA PRESENTED IN THIS PROPOSAL SHOWS THAT SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE 8.4 WATT UNIT CAN BE MET USING APPARATUS AND TECHNOLOGY CURRENTLY POSSESSEDBY THE PROPOSING FIRM. THERE ARE, HOWEVER, SEVERAL ASPECTS OF THE EXISTING SYSTEM THAT CAN AND WILL BE IMPROVED PRIOR TO BUILDING AND DELIVERING A WORKING PROTOTYPE UNIT TO DARPA. THESE INCLUDE IMPROVING THE IMPULSE TURBINE EFFICIENCY, INCREASING THE ALTERNATOR POWER DENSITY BYUSING NEW HIGH ENERGY DENSITY PERMANENT MAGNETS AND THE DESIGN OF A MORECOMPACT POWER CONDITIONER/REGULATOR. IMPLEMENTING THESE IMPROVEMENTS WILL, SIMULTANEOUSLY, PERMIT US TO MEET THE SPECIFICATIONS FOR THE 56 WATT UNIT. PHASE I WILL DELIVER ONE WORKING PROTOTYPE AND SEVERAL DESIGNS FOR OTHER POWER MODULES. DARPA MAY SELECT THE DESIGN CRITERIA WHICH THEY WISH TO EMPHASIZE AND THEN, IN PHASE II, OPTIMIZED VERSIONS OFTHESE DESIGNS, SELECTED FOR INCREASED EFFICIENCY AND LOWER PRODUCTION COSTS, WILL BE BUILT DURING PHASE II. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS - THIS PROJECT WILL RESULT IN A NEW APPROACH TO THE DESIGN OF EFFICIENT, RUGGED, COMPACT POWER MODULES. THE HIGH POWER DENSITY ALTERNATOR THAT IS DEVELOPED HERE SHOULD FIND WIDE APPLICATION IN SMALL, PORTABLE, EMERGENCY POWER SUPPLIES THAT SPAN THE POWER RANGE FROM 5 WATTS TO OVER 30 KW.