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| Albuquerque Company Developing High-Powered Capacitors for Navy Ships |
January 05, 2006 |
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Rep. Wilson Secured $1.5 Mil for Continued Technology Development
Albuquerque, NM - U.S. Congresswoman Heather Wilson announced today that she has secured $1.5 million in defense funding that will help deploy high-tech energy capacitors on the battle field and on U.S. Navy ships. And, Wilson says, much of the ground-breaking work is taking place at a small company based in Albuquerque.
Wilson joined employees at TPL, Inc. today to make the announcement, and took a tour of the facility to see the technology first-hand.
“This great, home-grown company has found a way to bottle lightning,” says Wilson. “The flash on your camera holds an electrical charge, then outputs it all at once. TPL, Inc. has developed a capacitor similar to the one in your flash, but on a much larger scale and with the ability to power the next generation of military weapons.”
“We appreciate Congresswoman Wilson’s hard work to secure this funding,” says TPL, Inc. President Hap Stoller. “We employ 55 people in New Mexico, and as we move forward with the manufacturing stage of this technology, we could grow much larger and employ more New Mexicans. Congresswoman Wilson understands the fact that our technology aids our national defense and the war on terror, and we appreciate her support.”
Wilson says a challenge the military faces in the field is providing the energy to power the next-generation of weapons. Capacitors that can provide the necessary energy are often too large for portable applications, like on an Army tank or a Navy ship. TPL, Inc. has figured out how to squeeze enough power in a package small enough to be used by the Navy or the Army. The company will use the defense research dollars to test the technology and move towards manufacturing and field implementation.
There are several military uses for the high power density capacitors produced by the company. But the first application that may result from TPL, Inc.’s work is in the form of “Rail Guns” on Navy battle ships.
The electromagnetic rail gun uses a magnetic field powered by electricity to accelerate a projectile up to 52,493 feet per second. And while current Navy guns have a maximum range of 12 miles, rail guns can hit a target 250 miles away in six minutes. The rail guns would be used as an alternative to current large artillery like those mounted on a Navy battleship, and have the advantage of not relying on traditional gun powder . Electricity, rather than gun powder, will create the force necessary to launch the missiles or projectile. Rail gun ammunition, in the form of small tungsten missiles, would be relatively light, easy to transport and easy to handle. And because of their high velocities, rail gun missiles would be less susceptible to bullet drop and wind shift than current artillery shells.
Providing an adequate power supply that works in a small enough footprint is one of the challenges to deploying a rail gun in the field. Capacitors must store an electric charge until a sufficiently large current can be accumulated, much the way a flash on a typical consumer camera works.
TPL, Inc. hopes their product, once fully developed, will provide enough energy in a small enough package to be used on a Navy Ship.
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