News Releases

TPL, Inc.'s Capacitance Technologies Wins
NIH SBIR Phase I

September 2008

TPL's Capacitance Technologies was awarded an NIH SBIR Phase I entitled Power Source Development for Compact Proton Accelerators.

Radiation therapy is one of the primary weapons in the battle against cancer, but even with the advances we have made, there remains significant room for improvement in radiation-based treatment technologies. Proton therapy is considered the most advanced form of radiation therapy available for cancer treatment, but the size and cost of currently available proton-therapy devices have severely limited the technology’s use and availability. The high-voltage machines required to generate proton beams are massive—weighing several hundred tons and requiring 90,000 square feet to house. They also cost $100M or more to build. A substantial reduction in the size and cost is required for proton therapy machines to be rendered practical for use in typical cancer-treatment centers. Ideally, a proton-therapy machine would be miniaturized to the point that it would fit into a standard linac radiation vault and could replace existing X-ray machines.

TPL Inc., and collaborators have defined a technical approach that we believe will allow development of the first low-cost, compact proton-therapy machine. As envisioned, the new device will be an order of magnitude smaller and one-fifth the cost of the machines being used today. The key to developing this next-generation proton-therapy device is an extremely compact accelerator design based on a novel, high-voltage insulating material (dielectric) developed by TPL. This enabling material, developed initially for defense-related pulse-power applications, is a composite structure comprised of a formulated polymer resin and nano-size ceramic particles.

The Phase I award will allow TPL to showcase the feasibility of this technology.

TPL, Inc. Capacitance Technologies Selected for DoD SBIR Phase I

September 2008

TPL, Inc.’s Capacitance Technologies was selected for a DoD SBIR Phase I entitled High Temperature Nano-composite Film Capacitors for Hybrid Electric Vehicles.

Future ground vehicles for Army applications are envisioned to use hybrid electric propulsion. Hybrid electric vehicles will require electrical power systems which are more compact and more efficient than those used in current vehicles. Power converters are being developed to fit this requirement, operating at high frequencies to reduce the size of passive components such as capacitors and inductors. DC bus capacitors for these converters are a major consumer of available volume in present designs. Reduction in the size of DC bus capacitors for power converters would be highly desirable, while still providing high temperature (up to 200°C) and high frequency (greater than 60 kHz) ripple current capability, and maintaining efficiency, reliability, and service life.

TPL will develop a novel nano-composite dielectric film and capacitor technology that is compact, fault-tolerant and withstands the operating temperature and ripple current requirements for the Army’s envisioned hybrid electric vehicle. TPL has extensive experience in the development of nano-composite material systems for advanced dielectric properties and associated high performance capacitors. The capacitor is projected to have a packaged specific capacitance > 1.2 µF/cm3, an operating temperature range of -40 to +200°C and adapt easily to converter circuits and cooling systems.

The Phase I award will allow TPL to showcase the feasibility of this technology.

TPL’s EnerPak Solves Power Management Challenge for Energy Harvesting

May 2008

TPL, Inc. is an Albuquerque, NM small business focused on materials science-based technology development and manufacturing with expertise in energetic materials, dielectrics and micropower systems. The Micropower Technologies Division of TPL Inc. was formed in 2006 to concentrate efforts on commercialization of EnerPak products to meet the need for reliable, long-lived power in the growing wireless sensor market.

TPL’s EnerPak provides an innovative power management solution to accommodate the low, variable and intermittent nature of energy harvesting sources. The patent pending design combines ultra-low power circuitry, a microprocessor-controlled charge management system that dynamically responds to fluctuating input energy levels and can continue to charge the storage system even when the harvested voltage is below battery voltage, and an optimized energy storage system.

Designed around the Texas Instruments MSP430 ultra-low power microcontroller, the EnerPak can consume as little as 5-8µA, enabling efficient use of the harvested energy for the application. The system also includes a lithium-polymer battery to provide back-up power in the event of a failure of the ambient energy while low impedance supercapacitors enable efficient delivery of high power burst loads. Proprietary charging methods enable efficient battery charging even when the harvester power is low.

Nominally designed for use in low-power wireless sensor applications (e.g. ZigBee, HART, SP100), etc.,) the EnerPak can be customized for any user-specified profile. It is also compatible with multiple different energy harvester devices (e.g. thermoelectric, photovoltaic, vibration) as the application demands. Currently two systems are available: the power management electronics and energy storage system that can be used with a harvester of the user’s choice (EP-1), or a module with an integrated 1”x 2” photovoltaic (PV) array (SC-1). With a total volume comparable to that of a standard D cell, the EnerPak is available either as an enclosed system, or as a stand alone board. TPL’s EnerPak is now available for beta-testing for interested customers.

For more information please email Dr. Charles Lakeman or contact by phone at (505)342-4427.

TPL, Inc., 3921 Academy Parkway North NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109, 505-344-6744, Fax 505-344-1412

Copyright 2007 TPL, Inc. All rights reserved.