iquidPiston, a developer of efficient engine technology and hybrid power systems, has been awarded an $8.3-million contract by Parsons Corporation to integrate its recently launched high-performance rotary X-Engine, the XTS-210 (earlier post), into a lightweight, compact 10 kW generator set to be field-tested by the US Army, delivering unmatched power flexibility and portability to the warfighter. The XTS-210 is a 25 horsepower, two-stroke, supercharged, liquid-cooled 210cc X-Engine variant currently under development that reduces size and weight by nearly 80% over diesel engines with comparable power output while targeting an SFC of less than 350 g/kwh at maturity.
The XTS supercharger adds up to 1 bar boost while operating on a 2-stroke cycle, producing 6 combustion events per revolution of the rotor, to deliver smooth power from a minuscule package. The LiquidPiston generator set (genset) will be approximately one-quarter the size and weight of the currently fielded Advanced Medium Mobile Power Source (AMMPS) generator system. Given its smaller footprint and inverter type operation, LiquidPiston’s new genset could replace multiple existing generator power classes with a single genset platform, greatly simplifying Army genset procurement and logistics.
Leveraging LiquidPiston’s patented High Efficiency Hybrid Thermodynamic Cycle (HEHC) and compact, heavy-fueled rotary engine, the new genset will offer several key benefits:
* Lightweight: 75% lighter and smaller than the currently-fielded AMMPS
*Easy to transport: can be man-portable, instead of requiring a truck, trailer, or forklift
*Space-efficient: occupies only ~9 cubic feet of space
*Fuel-efficient: targeted to use up to 8% less fuel
Current military mobile generators are too heavy and inefficient for modern use cases, which also makes them a potential hazard. A 2009 report commissioned by the Army Environmental Policy Institute (AEPI) developed a methodology for calculating casualty factors for fuel and water resupply convoys in theater operations. The authors demonstrated the methodology based on historical data from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Casualties calculated include Army soldiers and civilians killed or wounded while transporting fuel or drinking water to consuming units and forward operating bases in the military theatre.
The report found that the casualty factor for fuel resupply in Afghanistan was 0.042—i.e., 0.042 casualties for every fuel-related resupply convoy or one casualty for every 24 fuel resupply convoys in Afghanistan. For Iraq, the fuel casualty factor was 0.026.
The report estimated that in 2007 there were 5,133 required fuel convoys for Iraq and 897 required fuel convoys for Afghanistan—or 170 casualties (132 in Iraq, 38 in Afghanistan) from fuel convoys in 2007 alone. With the power density of LiquidPiston’s 10 kW genset, nearly 4x the power could be deployed to the battlefront for the same transport volume as currently-fielded gensets; this would reduce the frequency of refuelling and therefore the risk to the troops.
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