Affordable Electrical Accumulator Unit

OUSD (R&E) CRITICAL TECHNOLOGY AREA(S): Mission Readiness & Disaster Preparedness; Renewable Energy Generation and Storage The technology within this topic is restricted under the International Traffic in Arms Regulation (ITAR), 22 CFR Parts 120-130, which controls the export and import of defense-related material and services, including export of sensitive technical data, or the Export Administration Regulation (EAR), 15 CFR Parts 730-774, which controls dual use items. Offerors must disclose any proposed use of foreign nationals (FNs), their country(ies) of origin, the type of visa or work permit possessed, and the statement of work (SOW) tasks intended for accomplishment by the FN(s) in accordance with the Announcement. Offerors are advised foreign nationals proposed to perform on this topic may be restricted due to the technical data under US Export Control Laws. OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate a low TRL Affordable EAU coupled in an experiment utilizing relevant ACP energy storage that showcases the benefits of an EAU with minimal additional cost, weight, and volume. DESCRIPTION: An Electrical Accumulator Unit (EAU) is an electrical power system device that works in parallel with an aircraft's primary electrical power source to stabilize an aircraft's electrical bus using stored energy to quickly sink and source power. This device is bi-directional, so that it can both sink and source power to the bus, damping electrical fluctuations. EAUs have historically been sized to rely on larger batteries and have been tailored for more exquisite vehicles. Recovery requirements for ACP vehicles already tend to specify the inclusion of a backup battery (or batteries) floating unmanaged on the electrical bus, to power flight-critical systems (often at 28 VDC). There is an opportunity to leverage this storage with an EAU converter and control technology that can meet both emergency / recovery energy needs and electrical transient requirements from EMAs, motor drives, and mission systems, both for 28Vdc and potentially 270Vdc loads. Such an EAU would not only help stabilize the EPS, but could also provide peak power to supplement the PTO-limited primary source which could expand the mission capabilities of ACP, without adding additional mass and cost. This approach could be done affordably and targeted towards cost-optimized vehicles that are currently being considered for ACP. PHASE I: As this is a Direct-to-Phase-II (D2P2) topic, no Phase I awards will be made as a result of this topic. To qualify for this D2P2 topic, the Air Force expects the applicant(s) to demonstrate feasibility by means of a prior Phase I-type effort that does not constitute work undertaken as part of a prior or ongoing SBIR/STTR funding agreement. To demonstrate that the technology is ready for a D2P2: the applicant(s) should substantiate that they have a technically feasible approach and the capability to precede to a detailed design, the majority of the key capabilities and fundamental features of an Affordable EAU, and that they have clearly identified potential technical limitations and areas that require additional development. PHASE II: At the end of the POP an ideal result would be a low TRL demonstration of an affordable EAU coupled in an experiment utilizing relevant ACP energy storage that showcases the benefits of an EAU with minimal additional cost, weight, and volume. PHASE III DUAL USE APPLICATIONS: This technology has relevant applications in other aerospace applications with partners sharing similar needs being: Army, NASA, and NAVAIR. Depending on the level of success, future efforts utilizing core project/program funding (non-SBIR) will be considered to: expand the proposed solution to additional application areas, enhance the capabilities and feature set, and/or further refinement and development into a commercial product leveraging input from transition partners. Being an affordable technology, a solution with strong alignment to CCA will create additional avenues for work and funding. REFERENCES: 1. INVENT Modeling, Simulation, Analysis and Optimization; AIAA-2010-287. 48th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting Including the New Horizons Forum and Aerospace Exposition, Orlando, Florida, January 4-7, 2010. 2. Integrated Aircraft Electrical Power System Modeling and Simulation Analysis; 2010-01-1804: Power Systems Conference, November 2010, Fort Worth, TX, USA, Session: Modeling, Simulation, Analysis & Control. KEYWORDS: Electrical Power, Energy Storage, Constant Power, Electrical Stability, MIL-STD-704