Development of a Military Hardened Expeditionary, Energy Efficient and Waterless/Low-Flow Laundry System

In this effort Technical Products Inc. (TPI) will develop a High Efficiency Laundry System (HEELS) with reduced water, power, and waste support requirements and minimal transportation and logistics ‘footprint’ whilst still enhancing the soldier’s quality of life. TPI’s HEELS system concept: • can use almost any local water as an input (that is, it does need potable or even clean non-potable water as a resource) • minimizes water usage by purifying and recycling the clothes washer water • minimizes water usage by using the concentrate from the Reverse Osmosis (RO) water purification sub-system for the clothes washer 1st wash cycle • effectively uses only 0.2-gal of water/lb of clothes (an 85% reduction) • requires 0.1-kWhr/lb of clothes of grid electrical power (a 70% reduction) The objectives in Phase II are to: • finalize selection of subsystems and components • complete the systems engineering of the HEELS prototype • integrate the system into a multi-modal shipping system of a TRICON container with environmentally managed user spaces • test and evaluate the prototype against system performance objectives • derive a realistic commercialization plan and complete a teaming agreement with an appropriate partner