There are actually two Phase 2 contracts that AFTC is working on:
Business Developments:
AFTC is pleased to announce that they have received a Phase II SBIR contract award titled “Ultra-High Pressure Jet Propellant-8 (JP-8) Fuel Injection.” The objectives of this project are to design, develop and conduct durability testing on a multi (6)-cylinder amplified fuel injection system that is capable of producing at least 40,000 psi peak injection pressure using JP-8 fuel. By raising injection pressures from current levels of about 20,000 psi, it has the potential to improve engine efficiency and lower engine emissions. The system will be designed to seamlessly package on a current production medium-heavy duty diesel engine. AFT will develop appropriate injection control strategies and hardware to provide multiple injection capability. The developed system will be run on a test bench for a period of 1000 hours to verify the system reliability and durability. The contract will run for 24 months and is valued at $727,086.
AFTC is also working on another Army Phase II SBIR project titled “Development of the Bosch CP-3 Common Rail Pump for JP-8 Fuel.” This project has been underway since May, 2010, and is valued at $715,829. This project will be completed by May 1, 2012.
The Ultra-High pressure pump(40k PSI)work runs until August 2014:
This Phase 2 project was started in July 2011 and is ahead of plan. We will have hardware running in several months. This is an extremely challenging program because of the very high pressures that must be achieved. To our knowledge, there are no commercial fuel injection systems that can achieve 40,000 psi.
This program will be completed in August 2014. When successful, we believe that there will be a U.S. and international market for this product using both DME and diesel fuel. We are already starting to look at packaging a special version of the intensified injector on popular truck, construction and agricultural engines.