Internal Combustion Battery (ICB) Navy SBIR FY2010.2 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2010.2 Topic No.: N102-191 Topic Title: Internal Combustion Battery (ICB) Proposal No.: N102-191-0751 Firm: Irvine Sensors Corporation 3001 Red Hill Avenue Building #4-108 Costa Mesa, California 92626-4532 Contact: Ying Hsu Phone: (714) 444-8772 Web Site: www.irvine-sensors.com Abstract: The Internal Combustion Battery (ICB) is a new type of fueled-based power source designed for applications in portable electronics. The ICB combusts liquid hydrocarbon fuels to produce heat and generates electrical power by thermoelectric conversion. An initial estimate of the ICB designed for Software Defined Radio (SDR) application shows that a weight reduction of approximately 2.2 times is achievable as compared to Lithium-ion battery. Further design optimization will yield even higher weight savings. The ICB can be configured in two design approaches: a modular design that incorporates miniature COTS components and a chip-scale design that uses planer processing technology. The projected performance of the ICB is about 300 W-hr/Kg (average) or about 2 times higher than the Lithium-ion battery used currently by the Air Force today for the SDR. Increasing the mission duration from 10 hours to 20 hours would lead to a ICB design with 520 W-hr/Kg (average). Due to its small mass, the chip-scale ICB technology would yield energy density over 1000 W-hr/Kg. In the Phase I ISC proposes to develop a baseline ICB system design and conduct detailed designs and analyses of the major components, such as the micro combustor, heat exchanger and thermoelectric generator. Benefits: Successful development of the ICB technology will provide DOD with a new type of power source that surpasses existing primary and secondary batteries for low-power applications. The potential applications for the new power source are broad. For the DOD, the ICB power source can be used in portable navigation, communication, and electronic warfare systems. Other DOD applications include small-class unmanned aerial and ground vehicles, unattended ground sensors and soldier power. For commercial applications, the ICB power source can be extended to provide power for laptops, video cameras, battery chargers, and other portable electronics equipment. Return