News Archive
Earl Industries and Acumentrics Develop Power Supply for US Navy
12/01/2011
(Westwood, MA – December 1, 2011) Limited space, weight allowances, and the need to access components of an integrated system required a new solution. Acumentrics, working with Earl Industries, modified an existing Rugged UPS to power an innovative, vertically mounted voice-data-video (VDV) network node for the Nimitz Class Aircraft Carrier.
Due to the ever changing demands of communications and surveillance systems for military applications, it is imperative that power source suppliers like Acumentrics maintain strong engineering capabilities and nimble manufacturing processes. This along with the company’s ISO9001:2008 certification meant that Acumentrics was the top choice to assist Earl Industries in fulfilling its contract.
According to Keith Hubble, MilCOTS Department Manager, Earl Integrated Power & Controls. “From the very beginning the Acumentrics team has been incredibly responsive to our requirements as well as the specifications of the contract.” He went on to say that, “It has been an excellent experience, leading to a sound, trusting business relationship we plan to maintain for a long time.”
While Acumentrics has fielded many shipboard UPS systems, the specifications for the VDV contract required significant modifications. After implementation of the adaptations, the newly designed unit was successfully tested and certified to MIL-STD-1399 and MILSTD-461.
Physically, it had to conform seamlessly to the overall system and into a shock mount enclosure. The battery also needed to be user replaceable from the vertical orientation when the enclosure was in the “rack out” position.
In terms of changing internal components, the inverter portion of the Rugged UPS had to be integrated between the server and modem. This was accomplished through two alterations. First, the team developed a 1U battery pack that would mount in the vertical position. Next, a redesign of the chassis to eliminate the space of the existing battery compartment to save room and provide cabling and connectors to tie into the separate battery pack. Other features were added including multiple AC inputs for redundancy.
“Our relationship with Earl Integrated Power & Controls is a prime example of how Acumentrics can work closely with a partner to modify an existing product to meet demanding specifications,” said Steven Graves, vice president of sales and marketing at Acumentrics. “It was a collaborative effort, not without challenges. In the end, we delivered a certified product, on-time, which met all of our customers needs and further strengthened the relationship between our companies.”
About Earl Integrated Power & Controls
Earl Integrated Power & Controls, a division of Earl Industries, is a leader in the design, fabrication and installation of Mil-Spec solutions based on commercial-off-the-shelf products and open standards. It also designs and manufactures rugged Hybrid Renewable Power solutions for United States Expeditionary Forces, and Power Distribution and Security Systems for the United States Navy. The company installs and supports its products globally.
About Acumentrics
Acumentrics Holding Corporation, headquartered in Westwood, Massachusetts, consists of two wholly-owned subsidiaries: Acumentrics RUPS (Rugged Uninterruptible Power Supplies) and Acumentrics SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cells). The RUPS subsidiary is a trusted market leader in rugged AC and DC power sources for harsh and combat environments as well as heavy-duty industrial applications. RUPS products provide clean power conditioning and battery backup when reliability is mission-critical. In business since 1994, Acumentrics is a preferred supplier of US-made power electronics to most of the world’s largest prime defense contractors.
The SOFC subsidiary develops and manufactures a line of clean, reliable electric power generators with DC or AC outputs up to 10kW. These electrical power generators apply a proprietary tubular, ceramics-based fuel cell technology to serve remote, off grid and military applications. Acumentrics generators efficiently convert commonly available propane, natural gas or liquid fuels directly to electricity without combustion.
Acumentrics Holding Corporation is an ISO 9001:2008-certified company. For more information, please visit www.acumentrics.com, or call or +1-.
Earl Industries to Present LPD-19 Thermal Management System Report at FMMS 2011 in San Diego
08/03/2011
On 30 and 31 August, Earl Industries will be exhibiting and presenting at the American Society of Naval Engineers’ annual Fleet Maintenance & Modernization Symposium. At FMMS 2011, located in San Diego this year, Earl Industries representatives from Ship Repair, Precision Manufacturing and Integrated Power & Controls will be exhibiting in Booth 40/41. On Tuesday the 30th, Earl’s Keith Hubble and Milo Hyde will present a technical paper entitled Energy Savings from Application of a Variable Air Volume Thermal Management System in the Medical Spaces of USS Mesa Verde (LPD-19). Earl Industries installed its MIL-PRF-32168 compliant variable speed drive in this thermal management system prototype earlier this year, and will be reporting the results based on data recently collected from the ship’s Mediterranean cruise. This design is expected to significantly reduce energy consumption by reducing the load on the ventilation fan motor and chilled water system and minimizing use of the energy-intensive resistive re-heaters.
Sea-Air-Space Exposition 2011
04/01/2011
The Navy League’s Sea-Air-Space Exposition was founded in 1965 as a means to bring the U.S. defense industrial base, the private-sector U.S. companies and the key military decision makers together for an annual innovative, educational, professional and maritime based event located in the heart of Washington, DC. Since 1965, Sea-Air-Space has become the largest maritime exposition in the world and has continued as an invaluable extension of the Navy League’s mission of maritime policy education and sea service support.
Earl Integrated Power & Controls will be an exhibitor at the Sea-Air-Space Exposition April 11-13, located in .
New MilCOTS Lab
09/01/2010
Earl Integrated Power & Controls (IPC) has undergone significant changes in our Fabrication Shop to accommodate a new MilCOTS (Military Commercial Off-the-Shelf) Lab. Beginning July, 2010 construction began on two new rooms for our MilCOTS Department: a large room for production (32’ X 40’) and a smaller room for storage (14’ X 17’), pictured below. Keith Hubble (MilCOTS Division Technical Program Manager) lead the design of the additions and a building contractor was hired to construct the new facilities. The production room will serve three basic functions: assembly and test of production hardware, a lab for prototype development and testing, and a customer demo area. The MilCOTS Lab will be ready in time for production of shipsets for the Data Distribution Center (DDC), Ventilation Control Panel (VCP), Ventilation Control Connection Enclosures, Variable Speed Drive (VSD), and Voice Terminal Box (VTB) for USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN78).
Fleet Maintenance & Modernization Symposium (FMMS) 2010
08/01/2010
The Tidewater Section of the American Society of Naval Engineers (ASNE) presents this annual Symposium (alternating between Tidewater and San Diego) to provide a forum for professional growth, business development, networking, and an open exchange of ideas of those who support the ships and craft of the US Navy and US Coast Guard. ASNE anticipates over 150 exhibits and 2,000 visitors in the exhibit hall for FMMS-10 being held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center in Virginia Beach, VA September 14-15. Earl Industries is proud to be a Gold Corporate Sponsor for this event. Earl IPC will be one of the exhibitors at the Symposium (Booths 716/717) highlighting our new MilCOTS Variable Speed Drive technology. Additionally, Earl Industries will host the Continental Breakfast on Day 2 of FMMS-10.
International WorkBoat Show
07/01/2010
Earl IPC will once again be an exhibitor at the International WorkBoat Show held in New Orleans in December, 2010. At the 2009 Show, our company highlighted the Bow Thruster Controls equipment and software we designed, manufactured and installed on the USNS WATSON Class (T-AKR 310). Also featured at the 2009 show were our MilCOTS products such as the Rockwell PLC Panel, developed for USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN78) Prototype Machinery Control. At this year’s show, Earl IPC will exhibit a Security System we designed, manufactured and installed on a Military Sealift Command (MSC) Container Ship MV LTC JOHN U. D. PAGE (T-AK 4543). We anticipate receiving a contract to provide the same system for her sister ship, MV SSG EDWARD A. CARTER, JR. (T-AK 4544). Earl IPC will also highlight our newly developed CVN78 Flexible Infrastructure HVAC Control System, via a large-scale HMI display. This sophisticated diagram will demonstrate each component of the MilCOTS equipment and how each component will interface with the System.