SBIR-STTR Award

Novel High Energy Density Fuels Development
Award last edited on: 11/19/2018

Sponsored Program
SBIR
Awarding Agency
DOD : Navy
Total Award Amount
$974,992
Award Phase
2
Solicitation Topic Code
N171-022
Principal Investigator
Bradley Richard

Company Information

Advanced Cooling Technologies Inc (AKA: ACT)

1046 New Holland Avenue
Lancaster, PA 17601
   (717) 295-6061
   info@1-act.com
   www.1-act.com
Location: Single
Congr. District: 11
County: Lancaster

Phase I

Contract Number: N68936-17-C-0043
Start Date: 4/27/2017    Completed: 8/15/2018
Phase I year
2017
Phase I Amount
$224,999
There is currently a need to increase the range of platforms and weapons without altering the overall design of existing systems. This can be accomplished by using higher density fuels. However, current solutions of high energy density liquid hydrocarbon fuels have high viscosities and freezing points which limit their use in cold regions and at high altitudes. Advanced Cooling Technologies, Inc. (ACT) together with Penn State University (PSU) propose an innovative coating to stabilize energetic nanoparticles for addition to liquid fuels which can increase the volumetric energy density by 10%. During the Phase I program ACT will demonstrate the feasibility and performance of the proposed coating method and the addition of coated particles to fuel.

Benefit:
The proposed addition of coated energetic nanoparticles to liquid fuel will increase the volumetric energy density. This will in turn increase the range of current platforms and weapons systems. The proposed technology can then be transferred to the commercial fuel additive market for increased performance.

Keywords:
volumetric energy density, volumetric energy density, fuel additives, liquid fuels

Phase II

Contract Number: N68936-19-C-0015
Start Date: 10/29/2018    Completed: 10/28/2020
Phase II year
2019
Phase II Amount
$749,993
Increasing the energy density of liquid fuels can increase the range of current platforms and weapons without the need to redesign existing systems. However, newly developed high density hydrocarbon based fuels often have viscosities too high for use on weapons systems. An alternative solution is to add metallic particles to current fuels (JP-10) for an increase in energy density without undesirable changes to other fuel properties such as viscosity, flash point, and freezing point. In the Phase I program the addition of boron nanoparticles to JP-10 was successfully demonstrated to increase the volumetric energy density of the fuel by 10%. An innovative plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) coating was added to the boron nanoparticles to improve stability in JP-10 and prevent oxidation during storage. Additionally, a surfactant, AOT, was identified which further improves stability lowering the viscosity to within the requirements of current platforms. As part of the Phase II program the surface chemistry of the PECVD coating and surfactant concentration will be tuned to further improve long term stability, and a low temperature hydrogen plasma will be used to remove any oxide present on the boron nanoparticles prior to coating for increased energy density.

Benefit:
The expected result of this program is an improvement in the energy density of JP-10 by 10% while maintaining a low viscosity. This will increase the range of current systems without the significant cost associated with redesign. The first targeted application is missiles, but the same technology can be applied to a wide range of liquid fuels for both Department of Defense and commercial markets. For example, the energy density of JP-8 can be increased with boron nanoparticles to equal that of JP-10 which offers potentially significant logistical and cost related benefits.

Keywords:
JP-10, Suspension Stability, Nanofluids, Boron Nanoparticles, Plasma Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition, viscosity, Fuel Energy Density