Supercooled thermal storage for high load short duration cooling
AssigneeHamilton Sundstrand Corporation
InventorMark G. Vignali
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A thermal management system for a directed energy weapon includes a heat exchanger thermally coupled to the directed energy weapon. The heat exchanger has a heat exchanger inlet and a heat exchanger outlet. A storage reservoir contains a thermal material. An outlet of the storage reservoir is arranged in fluid communication with the heat exchanger to form a closed loop having a thermal management fluid circulating therethrough. The storage reservoir is thermally coupled to a secondary system. A control valve is positioned downstream from the outlet of the storage reservoir. The control valve is adjustable to control a temperature of the thermal management fluid provided to the heat exchanger.
Claims20
A thermal management system for a directed energy weapon comprising:
- a heat exchanger thermally coupled to the directed energy weapon, the heat exchanger having a heat exchanger inlet and a heat exchanger outlet;
- a storage reservoir containing a thermal material, the storage reservoir having an outlet and being arranged in fluid communication with the heat exchanger to form a closed loop having a thermal management fluid circulating therethrough, wherein the storage reservoir is thermally coupled to a secondary system;
- and
- a control valve positioned downstream from the outlet of the storage reservoir, wherein the control valve is adjustable to control a temperature of the thermal management fluid provided to the heat exchanger.
A method of operating a thermal management system for a directed energy weapon, the method comprising:
- circulating a thermal management fluid through a closed loop system including a heat exchanger, a storage reservoir containing a thermal material, and a control valve, the heat exchanger being in thermal communication with the directed energy weapon and the storage reservoir being in thermal communication with a secondary system;
- operating the directed energy weapon in a firing mode;
- and
- adjusting the control valve to control a temperature of the thermal management fluid provided to the heat exchanger.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.