The US Navy’s new aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford, is set to feature an on-board liquid oxygen generating plant, developed by Rix Industries and incorporating Chart’s new Qdrive® Acoustic-Stirling Liquefier.
The US-based engineering and equipment company states that the new technology will decrease ownership cost, by reducing operational manpower and virtually eliminating maintenance, while delivering additional benefits in safety, life-cycle, performance and control.
Chart was part of the industry team, led by Rix Industries, charged by the US Navy and Huntington Ingalls to develop a next generation system to succeed the oversized, energy intensive distillation columns installed on all current US Navy nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. As well as delivering on the energy savings, the new system produces liquid oxygen 20 minutes from start-up, instead of almost 24 hours with conventional technology, and is impervious to rolls and lists, which means uninterrupted supply.
In addition, the size and weight of the plant is approximately 50% of its predecessor, helping the Navy attain their overall reduction goals.
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