Direct Metal Laser Sintering – the process whereby successive layers of metal powder are fused together to form an object – is a subset of Additive Manufacturing techniques gaining favor in the rocket engine development community because of its ability to quickly and cost-effectively produce complex components.  However, due to current part size “printing” limitations…

Barber-Nichols Inc. (BNI) has been awarded a five-year contract potentially valued at $42.9 Million with options for the manufacture of MK 48 Heavyweight Torpedo alternators and regulators. BNI’s employees and management are proud that the U.S. Navy is confident that we can successfully deliver this mission-critical hardware and the award of this multi-year contract allows…

Aug 2015 Barber-Nichols Inc. (BNI) would like to congratulate Makai Ocean Engineering on the dedication of their 100 kW Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) power plant and we are proud to support you in this achievement. On August 21st the plant came online, generates enough power for 100 homes, and is the first closed-cycle OTEC power plant delivering…

Barber-Nichols Inc. (BNI) is pleased to be awarded a NASA Phase I Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) award for Enabling Pump Technologies for Deep-Throttle Ascent/Descent Rocket Engine Operation. BNI’s proposal was in response to the NASA Glenn Research Center’s interest in developing an engine for future exploration of Mars that uses in situ produced propellants…

Barber-Nichols Inc. (BNI) is pleased to be exhibiting in booth 308 at the 2015 Cryogenic Engineering Conference & International Cryogenic Materials Conference (CEC/ICMC) in Tucson, AZ. The conference opens on Sunday June 28th and goes through Thursday July 2nd. Additionally, Chris Rista, P.E. will be presenting a paper entitled Engineering, Manufacture and Preliminary Testing of the ITER Toroidal…

NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) recently partnered with Barber-Nichols to demonstrate a pump technology capable of deep throttling performance in lower thrust class liquid rocket engine propellant applications. Many, if not most, propellant pumps utilize full emission pump configurations as this technology provides the highest hydraulic efficiency at the design duty point, which applies…

Liquid nitrogen pumps designed and manufactured by Barber-Nichols Inc. (BNI) have recently gone into operation at South Korea’s Jeju Smart Grid Test-Bed on their High Voltage Direct Current (HVDC) Superconductor Cable Project. HVDC superconducting cables have no electrical resistance and can transmit 150 times more power than copper or aluminum cables of the same size…

Newport News Shipbuilding, a division of Huntington Ingalls Industries, awarded Barber‐Nichols Inc. (BNI) a multi‐year contract to produce MK 21 air turbine pumps for the Virginia-class submarine program. The contract is for twenty air turbine pumps delivered over a five-year period starting in 2015. The award was based in part on BNI’s excellent past performance…

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration recently approved Barber-Nichols for participation in its Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP). SHARP participation is reserved for small businesses with exemplary injury  and illness prevention programs deemed models for worksite safety and health. OSHA Safety & Health Achievement Recognition Program (SHARP) Certificate               …

Barber-Nichols Inc. (BNI) is pleased to be selected by NASA for a Phase II Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) award to develop a new high-speed, two-stage compressor for launch vehicle propellant densification. Many of today’s large launch vehicles utilize liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen as engine propellants and densified propellants are desirable for three reasons.…