 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| . |  |
. |
San Diego CA (SPX) Jun 07, 2010 General Atomics' Advanced Power Systems Division has announced that it has completed testing of an advanced thermal energy storage device capable of cooling directed energy weapons (DEW). The 3 megajoule device is the first large scale module capable of storing heat at a high rate as required for DEW. "We are very pleased with its performance, which shows that it can store heat at an average rate of 230 kilowatts. To put it into perspective, it's the equivalent of melting about 20 pounds of ice in 13 seconds," said Dr. Paul Clark, Manager, Advanced Power Systems of General Atomics. Heat is stored in the 35 kilogram module by melting a wax-type phase change material. These materials, by themselves, cannot support the high heat transfer rate and must be combined with other materials to enhance their thermal properties and make them work. Thermal management is one of the many challenges of DEW, which produce tremendous amounts of waste heat. Rejecting heat from these systems in real time is not practical, making thermal energy storage a necessity. High power lasers and high power microwave systems will both benefit from this technology.
Share This Article With Planet Earth
Related Links General Atomics Learn about laser weapon technology at SpaceWar.com
Army Testing Green Laser Kits In AfghanistanPicatinny Arsenal NJ (SPX) Jun 07, 2010 The Army's Program Executive Office Soldier is fielding several Green Laser Escalation of Force, or GLEF, kits to units in Afghanistan for operational assessment. The GLEF systems are mounted as an accessory to Common Remotely Operated Weapon Stations or CROWS, the turret system that provides Soldiers the ability to employ cameras, sensors and weapons from inside the protection of an armor ... read more |
|
|
| The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2010 - SpaceDaily. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement,agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by SpaceDaily on any Web page published or hosted by SpaceDaily. Privacy Statement |
del.icio.us
Digg
Reddit
YahooMyWeb
Google
Facebook