Real-world environment puts new technology to the test

Published Aug. 29, 2013
By Amy Ausley
Air Force Civil Engineer Center Public Affairs

TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- When it's 125 degrees in the shade, it can be tough to find a place to cool off.

A new joint Air Force/Army project is underway in Southwest Asia to test energy-saving technologies in the expeditionary environment with a goal of providing a little solace for troops deployed to harsh climates, as well as saving money and energy.

Expeditionary facilities house up to 3,300 people in austere locations with bases using up to 10.5 megawatts of power and 13,000 gallons of fuel a day.

The joint research project underway seeks to reduce energy use by at least 50 percent.

In July, the Air Force and the Army shipped 15 small shelters, environmental control units and monitoring systems to the Southwest Asia area of responsibility to evaluate the units in a real-world environment.

This test will show exactly what the updated tents can do, said Rod Fisher, expeditionary modernization engineer at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center.

"It's a much harsher environment than in the states, but it's the actual environment the shelters have to survive in and we need some real-world data," said Fisher. "We'll be looking at how cool we can keep the shelters, how much power they demand in that environment and we'll get feedback from the guys that are living in the tents."

The tents include heat reflective flys, photovoltaic panels to generate power, insulated liners and vestibules with hard doors, as opposed to zippered tent flaps.

It will be interesting to see how the new tents compare to the base's existing ones, said Capt. Clark Smith, 386th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron deputy commander.

"Expeditionary shelters must withstand high temperatures (up to 125 degrees), strong winds and blowing dust, and we have plenty of that here," said Smith. "They are literally side-by-side with the current shelter system we use here (in the AOR) and I'm interested in feeling the difference with the new shading and insulating methods."

Improving efficiency means cooling two shelters with one ECU rather than the current one-on-one configuration, Fisher said.

"That allows us to leave about 125 ECUs and distribution equipment at home and saves about 2.25 megawatts. Switching to a more efficient ECU provides another megawatt of savings," Fisher said.

"Since we shade the tents to improve energy efficiency, we put solar panels on some to generate about another megawatt of power for a full base."

That means less fuel is needed and therefore, fewer fuel convoys, he added.

"We lose one person for every 29 fuel convoys," said Fisher. "One of the biggest issues is keeping the troops out of harm's way by keeping them off the fuel convoys."

The Air Force and the Army have researched expeditionary energy-saving techniques for the past five years. The current project combines lessons learned and researches new technologies.

A follow-on demonstration in an expeditionary environment is planned for the spring of 2015.