NOVEL - LOW NOISE, LIGHTWEIGHT, 30 KW APU

ADIABATICS, INC. IS PLEASED TO PROPOSE A RESEARCH PROGRAM TO DEVELOP A NOVEL "COMPACT, MINIMUM NOISE, AUXILIARY POWER UNIT (APU) FOR LIGHTWEIGHT VEHICLES." THE APU USES A COMMERCIAL DIESEL ENGINE AND AN ADVANCED GENERATOR AND NOVEL COOLING TECHNIQUES TO MEET THE STATED REQUIREMENTS. THE KEY PERSONNEL AT ADIABATICS AND SYNCHROTEK ARE WELL AWARE OF THE NEED TO REDUCE THE SIZE AND WEIGHT OF APU SYSTEMS FOR "ALL MILITARY VEHICLES" AND HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN SEVERAL PROGRAMS IN THIS AREA. THE PRIMARY DIFFICULTY IN ACHIEVING THE GOALS OF THIS SBIR TOPIC ARE IDENTIFYING AN EXISTING POWERPLANT WHICH HAS THE POTENTIAL TO ENABLE THE DEVELOPMENT OF AN APU WHICH WILL MEET ALL OF THE STATED AND IMPLIED GOALS. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PHASE I PROJECT IS TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE MARRIAGE OF A STATE-OF-THE-ART HIGH PERFORMANCE DIESEL ENGINE DEVELOPED AS THE WORLD'S FIRST COMMERCIALLY SUCCESSFUL DIESEL OUTBOARD ENGINE AND AN ADVANCED CONCEPT GENERATOR CAN PRODUCE A FAMILY OF APU'S FOR USE ON LIGHTWEIGHT VEHICLES WHICH MEET AND EXCEED THE GOVERNMENT'S EXPECTATIONS. A PROGRAM HAS BEEN PREPARED TO MEET THIS OBJECTIVE AND DELIVER A BRASSBOARD DEMONSTRATION UNIT TO THE GOVERNMENT FOR THEIR EVALUATION. ANTICIPATED BENEFITS/POTENTIAL APPLICATIONS - THE PROPOSED 30 KW AND 60 KW APU'S UTILIZING A NEWLY COMMERCIALIZED LIGHTWEIGHT DIESEL ENGINE DEVELOPED AS AN OUTBOARD MOTOR, AND A NOVEL LIGHTWEIGHT 400 HZ GENERATOR RESULT IN PACKAGE WEIGHTS OF 650 AND 1O5O LBS, RESPECTIVELY. CURRENTLY THE ONLY AVAILABLE APU'S THAT MEET THESE WEIGHTS ARE GAS TURBINE POWERED. COMPARED TO GAS TURBINE POWERED UNITS THE PROPOSED DIESEL APU'S HAVE A SIGNIFICANT COST AND FUEL ECONOMY ADVANTAGE.