KOSEN 한인과학기술자네트워크

Oxygen Source for Underwater Vehicle Fuel Cells Primary Sponsor: Department of Defense Deadline: 4/11/2001 KEYWORDS TECHNOLOGY AREAS: Ground/Sea Vehicles, Materials/Processes, Weapons DOD ACQUISITION PROGRAM SUPPORTING THIS TOPIC: AN/BLQ-11 (Long Term Mine Reconnaissance System) OBJECTIVE: Develop and demonstrate an oxygen storage and generation system capable of providing oxygen to a fuel cell power source for an underwater vehicle. The oxygen system must be safe, readily recharge or replenished, compatible with operation on surface ships and submarines, and capable of providing sufficient oxygen to operate a fuel cell over a broad power range. DESCRIPTION: Underwater vehicles will serve as key elements in integrated operations of future surface ships and submarines, providing a range of support functions including autonomous surveillance, mine counter measures, and special forces transport. However, current power sources for these vehicles (rechargeable silver-zinc batteries or high-energy primary batteries) do not meet the energy requirements for future missions, or they impose a tremendous logistics burden on the host vessel. Fuel cells offer a viable option for meeting mission energy requirements, an at the same time, they can reduce the host vessel logistics burden if the fuel and oxidizer can be generated onboard or stored in a high energy density format. Fuel cells operating on hydrogen or more complex fuels (such as high energy density hydrocarbons) and oxygen are attractive as underwater power sources because they are efficient, quiet, compact, and easy to maintain. The total energy delivered by a fuel cell system is limited only by the amount of fuel and oxygen available to the fuel cell energy conversion stack. Unlike ground and air transportation fuel cell systems that only require an onboard fuel, underwater vehicles must carry both the fuel and the oxygen source because the oxygen concentration in the ocean is insufficient to meet vehicle power requirements. The underwater vehicle oxygen source must possess a high oxygen content (both weight and volume based) to accommodate the weight and volume constraints of the vehicle design. On the other hand, traditional high-density oxygen sources, such as NaClO3 candles, are not readily recharged and can easily exceed 50% of the total weight of the fuel cell system. Therefore, innovative oxygen storage and generation systems are sought to provide gaseous oxygen for fuel cells operating in self-contained underwater vehicles. The oxygen source must be readily and rapidly recharged or replenished using gaseous oxygen, chemical or electrochemical regeneration, mechanical replacement, or other innovative approaches. The proposed system must include all components to (i) store oxygen in a safe high-density format, (ii) deliver clean oxygen at nominal fuel cell cathode operating conditions (e.g., 1 – 3 atmospheres of pressure), and (iii) accomplish rapid recharging or replenishment on a host vessel. Oxygen generation should be capable of multiple stops/restarts and be controllable over a broad range of oxygen delivery rates. Delivery rates should be sufficient to power a typical fuel cell stack from 10 W to 10 kW (ca. 0.1 to 100 grams oxygen gas per minute). Oxygen storage capacity should be scalable to provide a minimum of 50 kilograms of useable oxygen gas. The available oxygen capacity should be maximized on a total system weight basis (i.e. weight percent oxygen), while maintaining a high volumetric density for the overall system. PHASE I: Demonstrate a high-density oxygen storage and generation system in bench-scale experiments. Demonstrate the capability to recharge or replenish the oxygen source. Provide detailed design of an integrated oxygen system. PHASE II: Construct and evaluate the oxygen system at the brassboard level of integration. Demonstrate controlled oxygen generation rates from 0.1 to 100 grams per hour, start/stop/restart capabilities, and recharge or replenishment capabilities. Make system available for attachment to a fuel cell for Naval laboratory testing. PHASE III: Design and construct a fully integrated oxygen system for operation in Navy-designated undersea vehicle powered with a fuel cell. DUAL-USE POTENTIAL: High-density oxygen storage and generation systems will make it possible to power commercial underwater vehicles with fuel cells. Rechargeable oxygen systems can be used to provide breathable oxygen for scuba diving, medical applications, emergency respirators, and aviation air supplies. Portable oxygen generators can be used to replace high-pressure oxygen cylinders for many industrial applications requiring on-site oxygen or enriched air processing. REFERENCES: (1) Fuel Cell Systems, Leo J. M. J. Blomen, Michael N. Mugrewa, Ed., Plenum Publication Corp., NY (1994). (2) Undersea Vehicles and National Needs, National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington D.C. (1996). (3) An Assessment of Undersea Weapons Science and Technology, National Research Council, National Academy Press, Washington D.C. (2000). (4) Russel R. Bessette, et al., J. Power Sources, 80 (1999) 248-253. (5) Øistein Hasvold, et al., J. Power Sources, 80 (1999) 254-260. KEYWORDS: Oxygen; Fuel Cell; Underwater; Power; Energy; Respirators DoD Notice: Between January 2 and February 28, 2001, you may talk directly with the DoD scientists and engineers who authored the solicitation topics, to ask technical questions about the topics. The Topic Author is listed in the box below. For reasons of competitive fairness, direct communication between proposers and topic authors is not allowed after February 28, 2001, when DoD begins accepting proposals under this solicitation. TPOC: Richard T. Carlin Phone: 703- 696-5075 Fax: 703- 696-6887 Email: carlinr@onr.navy.mil 2nd TPOC: Thomas Curtin Phone: 703-696-4119 Fax: 703-696-3390 Email: curtint@onr.navy.mil After February 28, 2001 proposers may still submit written questions about solicitation topics through the SBIR/STTR Interactive Topic Information System (SITIS). If you have general questions about DoD SBIR program, please contact the DoD SBIR Help Desk at (800) 382-4634 or email to SBIRHELP@teltech.com. NOTE: The Solicitations listed on this site are copies from the various SBIR agency solicitations and are not necessarily the latest and most up-to-date. For this reason, you should use the agency link listed below which will take you directly to the appropriate agency server where you can read the official version of this solicitation and download the appropriate forms and rules. The official link for this solicitation is: http://www.acq.osd.mil/sadbu/sbir/sttr01/dod_sttr01.htm. DoD will begin accepting proposals on March 1, 2001. The solicitation closing date is April 11, 2001.