USA flag logo/image

An Official Website of the United States Government

Control Strategy and Optimization of Available Heat Sinks within Aircraft…

Award Information

Agency:
Department of Defense 		Branch:
N/A 		Award ID:
 Program Year/Program:
2011 / SBIR
Agency Tracking Number:
N103-200-0755 		Solicitation Year:
2010 		Solicitation Topic Code:
N103-200 		Solicitation Number:
2010.3
Small Business Information
Mainstream Engineering Corporation
200 Yellow Place Pines Industrial Center Rockledge, FL -
View profile »
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No
 
Phase 1
Fiscal Year: 2011
Title: Control Strategy and Optimization of Available Heat Sinks within Aircraft Thermal Management Systems for Maximizing Mission Life
Agency: DOD
Contract: N68335-11-C-0094
Award Amount: $79,729.00
 

Abstract:

With the reduced emphasis on ram-air and the disadvantages of using engine fan-bypass air as heat sinks, onboard fuel has become increasingly popular to deposit waste heat. However, with advanced aircraft, such as the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF), replacing traditional hydraulic-, mechanical-, and pneumatic-powered systems with high-powered electrical systems, the waste heat load can exceed the thermal capacitance of fuel being transported from the tanks to the main-engine combustor during low-thrust operational. Thus the fuel is recirculated to the tanks, lowering the remaining thermal capacity. The goal of the SBIR effort is to demonstrate a user-friendly interface and control software that monitors the remaining heat capacity of the onboard fuel. Mainstream"s approach will yield a software and hardware suite capable of not only monitoring the available thermal capacity of the fuel, but optimizing the utilization of on-board heat sinks (fuel and fan-bypass air for the JSF thermal management system). The Phase I effort will focus on the development of the control architecture and optimization strategy while demonstrating performance using operational mission profiles. The Phase II will focus on the user interface and demonstration of the integrated software and hardware with an experimental TMS representative of the JSF TMS.

Principal Investigator:

Michael Cutbirth
PI/Engineer
(321) 631-3550
mcutbirth@mainstream-engr.com

Business Contact:

Michael Rizzo
Chief Financial Officer
(321) 631-3550
mar@mainstream-engr.com
Small Business Information at Submission:

Mainstream Engineering Corporation
200 Yellow Place Pines Industrial Center Rockledge, FL -

EIN/Tax ID: 592744408
DUNS: N/A
Number of Employees:
Woman-Owned: No
Minority-Owned: No
HUBZone-Owned: No