40 Nutmeg Lane
Glastonbury, CT 06033
Tel: (860) 657-9014
Email: thought@Thoughtventions.com
40 Nutmeg Lane
Glastonbury, CT 06033
Tel: (860) 657-9014
Email: thought@Thoughtventions.com
Dr. Bates has been performing research in the area of van der Waals solids since 1991.
Cryostabilized Additive Sublimation Concentration. Dr. Bates has been pursuing the concept of sublimation concentration since 1996 through unfunded research. This work has resulted in the scientific and engineering concepts and calculations that form the bulk of this proposal. Thoughtventions has invested over 30k$ in capital equipment funds to purchase the equipment needed to perform this program. The proposal has been previously submitted and refined in response to reviewer comments, none of which has pointed out a major flaw in the science or experimental plans. The work has formed the basis of published papers on Cryostabilized Propellant Additives [1] and Techniques is Cryostabilized Additive Concentration [2].
Dr. Bates has been working on this concept as part of a broader program to produce high concentration CSA's. Dr. Bates is pursuing research to develop atmospheric-pressure cryogenic van der Waals compounds submitting NSF proposals in this area since 1997 through the U. of CT where he is a Research Professor. The overall program also includes research into producing HO2, a radical that is expected to be a CSA stable at 100% concentrations.
Cryosolid SBIR's. Dr. Bates has been PI on four previous Phase I SBIR cryosolid projects. The first SBIR (AF) was concerned with the development of a solid oxygen propulsion system through pellet injection [46] and the second (AF) was concerned with the development of a H2 pellet combustion system [45] . The third program (NASA) developed the concept of using solid H2 particle fueling of scramjets [47] . The fourth program (NSF) was concerned with developing a means for forming reactive metals using solid argon. These projects have all been ended not by a lack of technical success, but by a lack of funding for long term research. Currently Dr. Bates is pursuing research in cryosolid van der Waals compounds, cryogenic radical storage, cryochemistry, long term cryosolid storage, solid hydrogen ablation, and CSA concentration through sublimation.
In the solid O2 Phase I, a propellant system was designed based on condensing O2 directly from a gas into a solid in a cooled storage vessel, extruding it out of the vessel, forming it into pellets, and performing metered injection of the pellets into a combustion chamber at high pressures. Little was known about the mechanical properties of solid O2, so a significant part of the project consisted of a literature search for what little was known and could be inferred from related measurements. To supply some fundamentally important information on the mechanical properties of solid O2, experiments were performed to measure the shear strength of solid O2 [48] . The properties of van der Waals solids in general were also studied to gain some information about solid O2. Cryogenic engineering aspects of solid O2 are similar to those encountered with H2, except that the temperature is higher and there are materials compatibility problems that are not present when using H2. Solid O2 behaves as a plastic material at high temperatures, becoming increasingly strong and brittle with decreasing temperature.
In the solid H2 Phase I program a H2 pellet combustion system was developed, and work was begun on the problem of solid H2 ablation. This problem was found to be so complex that it could only be physically outlined. During this work the potential uses of the high ablation rates of solid H2 were recognized. A complete pulse combustor system was designed, well suited for H2 pellet combustion as well as high energy solid H2 materials testing. Issues related to solid H2 particle preparation and transport were examined.
For the solid H2 scramjet fueling program [49] , [47] , wall injection of solid H2 into the supersonic airstream of a combustor was proposed to provide low-loss rapidly distributed fuel mixing for a practical large scramjet engine. Phase 1 research demonstrated feasibility by defining the needed injection/ablation parameters for the solid H2 particles, and showing that the concept satisfies these requirements. Modeling of the extremely complex ablation physics was compared with experiments photographing high-speed H2 pellets injected into a gas to verify prediction of the scramjet fueling process. Extensive work was done with the dynamics of melting and vaporizing solid H2. Research was also done on the properties of solid H2 and sH2/lHe slurries. Dr. Bates has patented this concept [50] , and continues solid hydrogen ablation research.
The NSF program used solid argon as a vehicle for forming reactive metals. The properties of solid argon were investigated and a variety of experiments performed. The argon protects the metal from contamination during processing. The experimental preparation, use, and economics of solid cryogens were investigated in this program.
He is also pursuing concepts in the long-term storage of cryofluids as solids (current submission to NASA SBIR), and pure metastable radical catalytic chemical cryostorage for use as a propellant additive.
General Cryogenics. Dr. Bates had extensive experience with cryogenics during his work at the Fusion Energy Division at ORNL. His primary experience is with the large liquid helium panel cryopumps that permitted low vacuum operation of the high power (3 MW nominal injected power) neutral beam injectors used for plasma heating [51] , [52] . These pumps were LN2-cooled protective outer panels with LHe cooled cores. The pumps operated for days at a time and had their own liquid helium production system. Other experience was with closed-cycle cryopumps used for a variety of diagnostics. He is designing a superconducting liquid cryogen valve.
Dr. Bates has also performed extensive work on cryogenic insulation. Work on the transparent furnace [53] led to detailed investigation of vacuum insulation and radiation heat transfer. Work on the gold coated mirror tube led to a great deal of research into radiation insulation and the experimental and theoretical properties of high efficiency radiation reflectors such as copper, gold, and silver. He has researched a variety of cryogenic devices and has studied extensively materials properties at cryogenic temperatures.
Materials Topics. Dr. Bates has worked on a wide variety of related materials topics. He has been PI on projects to investigate plastics degradation at high temperature, metal sintering, coal pyrolysis and thin film deposition techniques. He has investigated many engineering and theoretical issues in metal, crystal, and glass properties, concentrating in high temperature behavior. He has investigated and had experience with a very wide variety of materials characterization techniques, especially through plasma-surface physics studies.
Van der Waals Solids. Aside from extensive work with the standard cryogenic van der Waals solids, Dr. Bates is pursuing concepts in cryogenic van der Waals compounds, specifically He/Ne compounds. He has also worked extensively with a less well known van der Waals solid - Fullerenes. Fullerenes (C60, C70, etc.) are unique in forming a room temperature van der Waals solid. Dr. Bates has worked with C60 as an ion thruster fuel [54] , synthesis and diagnosis of C60 production, and diamond growth from C60 fragmentation, a process for which he has received a patent [55] .
Crystal Growth and Crystal Characteristics. A 3 year NASA SBIR program to build high temperature transparent furnaces [53] has led to the study of a wide variety of issues in crystal growth. Dr. Bates was also a PI on a NASA program for using auxiliary optical heating for interface control during crystal growth [56] . He has worked extensively on the crystal growth and properties of sapphire, and impurity effects on sapphire's optical properties.
Surface Films. Dr. Bates has done a wide variety of work on surface films and coatings. Thoughtventions has performed a variety of vacuum deposition work related to gold coatings on quartz. Dr. Bates has long been involved with optical thin films and has worked extensively with surface films on sapphire. Most recently, Dr. Bates has been pursuing an AFOSR Phase 1 program to clad sapphire fibers with platinum [57] that has involved many areas of surface film deposition and behavior, both physically and optically.
Collaborative Work. Dr. Bates maintains ongoing contacts in the area of cryogenic spectroscopy with Prof. W. Stwalley, the Head of the Physics Dept. at the University of Connecticut where Dr. Bates is an Adjunct Professor. For a number of years he has been in contact with Prof. Vadim G. Manzhelii, Head of the Department of Thermal Properties of Molecular Crystals at the Institute for Low Temperature Physics & Engineering in Kharhov, the Ukraine, world leaders in the field of solid H2 and cryocrystals. He maintains contact with ORNL researchers who have been a critical part of solid hydrogen fuelling of fusion plasmas.
Please email Steve Bates at thought@Thoughtventions.com to discuss this research.