In 2018, Barber Nichols (BNI) was awarded a contract from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) for the design and development of an Electric Torpedo Advanced Propulsion System (TAPS). The goal of this effort was to build upon and carry forward studies conducted by NUWC-Newport since the 1960s pertaining to Aluminum-Silver Oxide (Al-AgO) battery technologies.…

BNI teamed with Lockheed Martin to work on an unmanned, lighter-than-air vehicle that will maintain a geostationary position at an altitude of 65,000 feet. The vehicle, known as a High Altitude Airship (HAA), is being built by Lockheed Martin and is being funded by the Missile Defense Agency. Specifically, Barber-Nichols designed and produced the transonic fans…

Optimized design for product performance in a real-world application   Application Expertise  – Reducing fuel consumption is a growing priority as Large Commercial Vehicles (LCV) contribute to increasing levels of greenhouse gas emissions. Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC) systems recover power from engine waste heat to increase efficiency. BNI has designed an additively manufactured dual-entry turbine…

The Authentic Business Relationship Cultivated Between Barber-Nichols Inc. and Newport News Shipbuilding Pays Dividends with Lower Cost, Improved Schedule, and Superior Quality In 2014 Huntington Ingalls Industries / Newport News Shipbuilding (NNS) awarded Barber-Nichols Inc. (BNI) a multi-year contract to produce MK21 Air Turbine Pump Assemblies for the U.S. Navy’s Virginia-Class Submarine Program. The contract…

In 2004 the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Nuclear Energy and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) theorized that replacing a traditional steam Rankine cycle in a power plant with a supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) Brayton cycle would be 7% – 12% more efficient and allow power plants to deliver more electricity from…