Intermediate Transient Support of High Rate and Pulsed Loads Navy STTR FY2012.A Sol No.: Navy STTR FY2012.A Topic No.: N12A-T022 Topic Title: Intermediate Transient Support of High Rate and Pulsed Loads Proposal No.: N12A-022-0245 Firm: RCT Systems, Inc. 1745A West Nursery Rd MS4018 Linthicum, Maryland 21090-2906 Contact: Richard Young Phone: (410) 694-8054 Web Site: http://www.rct-systems.com Abstract: RCT Systems proposes to develop a conceptual design for an Intermediate Energy Storage Module (IESM) that will provide the energy storage, power electronics and controls necessary to keep high power pulse loads from disrupting the ship's distribution grid and allow the power system to meet the specifications in MIL-STD-1399. In its system tradeoff and analysis, RCT Systems will also consider a novel approach which could result in a significantly reduced total amount of energy storage. The advanced energy storage element for the IESM will be designed with modularity to match the load modularity and recognizing that an element of design risk is acceptable in order to minimize size, weight and cost. While there will be focus on advanced developments in capacitors and batteries, RCT Systems will also consider other types of energy storage which might fit the unique needs of the system energy storage solutions identified in our approach. Benefits: Successful completion of Phase I will result in assurance that pulse power charging equipment can be developed to meet the Navy power density requirements while limiting the peak power drawn from ship's power. This will assure power quality on the ship's main power distribution bus and eliminate any influence the pulse power system might have on other ship's loads. At the system level the techniques discussed in this proposal are directly applicable to micro-grid applications where the impedance of the various sources powering such a grid are much higher than the source impedance of the utility grid. Transients on the utility generally trigger inductive component voltage drops which can be compensated by reactive power converters (VAR compensators) but in a micro-grid, as in the ship's supply, the generators themselves have limited ability to absorb sudden steps in load such as large motor starts. Generally, the big weakness of distributed environmental sources such as wind, wave, tide and photovoltaic sources is the transient nature of their operation, and while they can produce many kilowatt-hours over time on an intermittent basis, their ability to supply high power short term loads is very limited. Any developments increasing energy and power density of storage technology resulting from this program and followed by a period of value engineering to make a cost effective product can immediately find a home in the commercial market place for electric propulsion, stand- by power supplies and buffering energy storage for distributed environmental sources. Return