ROCKLEDGE, FL — December 11, 2017 — Mainstream Engineering Corporation, the manufacturer of QwikProducts, is a 31-year-old US manufacturer with a history of leading-edge research and development of innovative HVAC/R products.  They have been awarded a contract from NASA to develop the compressor and related components for a High Lift Heat Pump.

NASA has identified a need for higher heat rejection temperatures due to an equatorial lunar mission profile, where surface temperatures reach 260F. To meet this need for space exploration vehicles to reject waste heat to high temperature environments, Mainstream has adapted the oil-less refrigeration compressor they developed and currently being used on the International Space Station (ISS). Mainstream’s current oil-less compressor technology is gravity-insensitive, has a long operating life, can be scaled to match various heat loads, and has been mission-proven on the ISS.  This effort will extend this compressor technology to allow operation at extremely high temperatures and high lifts.

ROCKLEDGE, FL — November 20, 2017— Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 32-year-old Brevard County manufacturer with a history of leading-edge research and development that has resulted in advanced, lean-manufacturing, cost-competitive products, which are all Made in the USA, has been awarded a contract from the United States Army for Development of a Chemometric Water Monitoring System.

Mainstream has been awarded a contract to optimize Army water management by developing a smart control algorithm system that uses water quality measurements to classify wastewater.
Mainstream plans to deliver technology that the Army can integrate into its future base camp concept of operations. The Army is developing mobile wastewater treatment and gray water recycling systems to provide tactical base commanders more organic logistics support. The most efficient small base would recycle or repurpose as much waste water as possible to reduce the need for potable water and reduce the need for convoys to haul water out. Mainstream has identified cutting edge research that allows for effective classification of wastewater on a single control platform such as a small circuit board. The smart control algorithm will make decisions such as: 1) water is already safe for non-potable purposes per Joint Regulations (see reference), 2) water is safe for discharge per EPA guidelines (see reference), 3) water is suitable for a microbial process, 3) water can be treated by a non-reverse osmosis filtration process 3) water requires reverse osmosis filtration 4) water would damage reverse osmosis filters.

Mainstream will demonstrate feasibility of our algorithm using basic laboratory data and a data set comprising either 1) collected wastewater from laundry, shower, kitchen, latrine or 2) a statistically robust number of samples from wastewater treatment facility.  Mainstream will then verify measurement accuracy by comparing the results to analysis conducted using the appropriate reference method from the current edition of Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater.

About Mainstream Engineering Corporation

Mainstream Engineering Corporation is a solutions-oriented research, development and manufacturing small business with a history of leading-edge R&D that has resulted in advanced, American-made, cost-competitive products. Founded in 1986, Mainstream’s mission is to transition thermal control, energy storage and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe green, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel engines, thermal control units, biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers and the QwikProducts^™ line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of research include thermal control, energy conversion, power electronics, turbomachinery, chemical technology and materials science.

ROCKLEDGE, FL —November 6, 2017 — Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 31-year-old Brevard County manufacturer with a history of leading-edge research and development that has resulted in advanced, lean-manufacturing, cost-competitive products, which are all Made in the USA, has been awarded a contract from the Department of Energy for Additive Manufacturing of High Strength Steel Components for the Small Modular Reactor.

During this project, Mainstream Engineering Corporation will additively manufacture steel components for small modular nuclear reactors. This will provide lower cost components with reduced lead times which will reduce power plant construction times and reduce energy costs.

About Mainstream Engineering Corporation

Mainstream Engineering Corporation is a solutions-oriented research, development and manufacturing small business with a history of leading-edge R&D that has resulted in advanced, American-made, cost-competitive products. Founded in 1986, Mainstream’s mission is to transition thermal control, energy storage and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe green, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel engines, thermal control units, biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers and the QwikProduct^™ line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of research include thermal control, energy conversion, power electronics, turbomachinery, chemical technology and materials science.

ROCKLEDGE, FL — October 20th,2017 —  Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 31-year-old Brevard County manufacturer with a history of leading-edge research and development that has resulted in advanced, lean-manufacturing, cost-competitive products, which are all Made in the USA, has been awarded a contract from the U.S Air Force for Online Spectroscopic Chemical Diagnostics for Thermally Stressed Fuel Flows.

The limits of high-performance aircraft continue to be pushed, requiring more capacity from thermal management systems as hydraulic, mechanical, and pneumatic power systems are replaced with electrical components. Rejecting this heat to the fuel can lead to composition changes and the production of insolubles and surface deposits via pyrolysis and oxidation at elevated fuel temperatures, especially at walls and hot spots. As such, it is important to understand and monitor online the thermal degradation processes. A few trace compounds have been identified as critical in the thermal oxidative chemical process including hydroperoxides, reactive sulfur compounds, polar organic compounds, trace metals, and dissolved oxygen. Currently, there is no way to measure these compounds in real-time at aircraft-relevant conditions or determine the onset of thermal instability. Mainstream Engineering proposes a spectroscopic approach using solid-state, fiber-coupled components to determine bulk properties and trace indicators of thermal oxidation through chemometric analysis. Phase I will result in a high-fidelity integration of components in the laboratory. Phase II will include testing a prototype demonstrator on the Advanced Reduced Scale Fuel System Simulator as well as development and execution of technology transition strategy.

About Mainstream Engineering Corporation

Mainstream Engineering Corporation is a solutions-oriented research, development and manufacturing small business with a history of leading-edge R&D that has resulted in advanced, American-made, cost-competitive products. Founded in 1986, Mainstream’s mission is to transition thermal control, energy storage and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe green, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel engines, thermal control units, biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers and the QwikProduct^TM line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of research include thermal control, energy conversion, power electronics, turbomachinery, chemical technology and materials science.

ROCKLEDGE, FL — September 15th, 2017 —  Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 31-year-old Brevard County manufacturer with a history of leading-edge research and development that has resulted in advanced, lean-manufacturing, cost-competitive products, which are all Made in the USA, has been awarded a contract from the U.S Air Force for a Demulsification and Purification System to Recover Contaminated JP-8.

Fuel is critical to any military operation. Preserving fuel that is stored and transported to the battlefield is critical to maintaining a high level of operational effectiveness. Fuel convoys and storage facilities are particularly vulnerable to attack, and in the event of such an occurrence, the fuel must be recovered to mitigate the negative effects this disturbance. Fuel that has been compromised as a result of attack, equipment failure, or accident could contain any number of contaminants including moisture, dirt, soot and aqueous film forming foams (AFFFs). Mainstream Engineering will develop an innovative emulsion-breaking device to separate JP-8 from aqueous emulsions containing AFFFs. Supporting system components will then separate and recover the fuel for reuse. In the Phase I, Mainstream demonstrated the technology at the laboratory-scale. In this Phase II, Mainstream will demonstrate a prototype fuel recovery system which will process 10 GPM of fuel. 

About Mainstream Engineering Corporation

Mainstream Engineering Corporation is a solutions-oriented research, development and manufacturing small business with a history of leading-edge R&D that has resulted in advanced, American-made, cost-competitive products. Founded in 1986, Mainstream’s mission is to transition thermal control, energy storage and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe green, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel engines, thermal control units, biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers and the QwikProduct^™ line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of research include thermal control, energy conversion, power electronics, turbomachinery, chemical technology and materials science.

ROCKLEDGE, FL — July 21st, 2017 —  Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 31-year-old Brevard County manufacturer with a history of leading-edge research and development that has resulted in advanced, lean-manufacturing, cost-competitive products, which are all Made in the USA, has been awarded a contract from the U.S Army for Predictive Models of Lead Acid Battery State of Charge and Health.

Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) and flooded lead acid batteries are widely used on 95% of military ground vehicles for Starting, Lighting, and Ignition (SLI) and silent watch applications. Not only does the battery represent one of the top ten ongoing maintenance costs for military vehicles at ~$100M for maintenance costs per year, they tend to fail unexpectedly. Often the first sign of a battery issue is that the vehicle designated for a mission simply will not start. Vehicle battery degradation and failure can occur earlier than expected due both to intrinsic issues and improper maintenance. Common failure modes include: loss of electrolyte, acid stratification, improper charging profiles (failure to fully charge battery) leading to sulfation, electrode corrosion, and separator failure. Current battery testers generally measure cold cranking amps (CCA) and voltage but do not provide information about battery capacity which is arguably the most important measurement of battery performance. Recent results using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) have shown promise providing insight into chemical state of the battery which is important to detect sulfation, electrode corrosion, and separator failure, however, system complexity and difficulty interpreting results have hampered implementation. The Army needs both hand-held and on-vehicle prognostic/diagnostic tools to capable of determine battery state of charge, capacity, level of acid stratification; sulfation, surface charge, and predict imminent failure and provide possible corrective actions regardless of cause. The goals of this topic are to develop an improved understanding of methods to understand the chemical state within a lead acid battery to detect battery degradation and failure modes and develop advanced techniques for monitoring, diagnosis, and prognosis specifically for lead acid batteries to enable reduced battery maintenance and increased battery service life.

About Mainstream Engineering Corporation

Mainstream Engineering Corporation is a solutions-oriented research, development and manufacturing small business with a history of leading-edge R&D that has resulted in advanced, American-made, cost-competitive products. Founded in 1986, Mainstream’s mission is to transition thermal control, energy storage and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe green, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel engines, thermal control units, biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers and the QwikProduct^™ line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of research include thermal control, energy conversion, power electronics, turbomachinery, chemical technology and materials science.

ROCKLEDGE, FL — July 14th, 2017 —  Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 31-year-old Brevard County research and manufacturing company has been awarded a contract from the Army for development of a sanitation system for expeditionary field feeding referred to as the Mobile and Efficient Sanitation System (MESS).

Mainstream’s engineers will develop and demonstrate the highly expeditionary three sink sanitation system to achieve low volume during transportation.  Furthermore, the company will investigate novel methods to achieve increased fuel efficiency, lower weight, and a rugged design tailored to military applications.

Army mobile kitchens require a method to wash, rinse, and sanitize kitchen wares in order to conduct field feeding operations.  The Army currently fields the Food Sanitation Center (FSC) to provide this capability, which is equipped with a three sink system heated by three burners using an open-combustion heat-exchange concept that is noisy, inefficient, and bulky.

Mainstream’s MESS system will consist of three separate sinks with an improved thermal design to reduce the amount of fuel needed to provide hot water for the sinks. The MESS system also features a unique packaging concept to reduce the “pack out” volume during transport. This new sanitation system stands to greatly benefit the Army’s expeditionary field sanitation capabilities, as well as reduce fuel usage, cost, and logistics burden.  If successful, the technology could expand to commercial and industrial food service in remote settings, off-grid communities, and disaster relief applications. 

About Mainstream Engineering Corporation

Mainstream Engineering Corporation is a solutions-oriented research, development and manufacturing small business with a history of leading-edge R&D that has resulted in advanced, American-made, cost-competitive products. Founded in 1986, Mainstream’s mission is to transition thermal control, energy storage and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe green, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel engines, thermal control units, biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers and the QwikProduct^™ line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of research include thermal control, energy conversion, power electronics, turbomachinery, chemical technology and materials science.

ROCKLEDGE, FL — July 7th, 2017 —  Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 31-year-old Brevard County manufacturer with a history of leading-edge research and development that has resulted in advanced, lean-manufacturing, cost-competitive products, which are all Made in the USA, has been awarded a contract from the Air Force for development of a robust, scalable packaging and cooling solution for next generation infrared emitter arrays.

The ability to stimulate advanced infrared weapon and aircraft sensors and seekers with high radiance, high resolution IR imagery of targets, backgrounds, and countermeasures in dynamic hardware-in-the-loop simulation (HITL) and installed systems test facilities (ISTF) is critical in the development, test, and evaluation of those systems. Current IR scene projectors are based on resistive emitter array technology that is approaching physical limits on radiance output, size, frame rates, and pixel density and will likely not provide adequate support for future test and evaluation (T&E) requirements. Next generation IR emitter arrays are required to provide higher resolutions, higher radiance output (apparent temperature), and higher frame rates to test these systems.

Mainstream will develop a common, flexible, scalable, and verified packaging concept to support continued development and use of advanced emitter arrays. The package design will have provisions for cooling the emitter array, keeping the array under vacuum, and providing power and command/control signals to the array.

About Mainstream Engineering Corporation

Mainstream Engineering Corporation is a solutions-oriented research, development and manufacturing small business with a history of leading-edge R&D that has resulted in advanced, American-made, cost-competitive products. Founded in 1986, Mainstream’s mission is to transition thermal control, energy storage and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe green, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel engines, thermal control units, biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers and the QwikProduct^™ line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of research include thermal control, energy conversion, power electronics, turbomachinery, chemical technology and materials science.

ROCKLEDGE, FL — June 30th, 2017 —  Mainstream Engineering Corporation, a 31-year-old Brevard County manufacturer with a history of leading-edge research and development that has resulted in advanced, lean-manufacturing, cost-competitive products, which are all Made in the USA, has been awarded a contract from the Navy for Processing and Fabrication Method to Enhance the Mechanical Performance and Extend the Overall Service Life of Arresting Gear Purchase Cable Wire.

Mainstream will develop a processing and fabrication method to enhance the mechanical performance and extend the overall service life of arresting gear purchase cable wire through incorporation by homogeneous dispersion of reinforcing micro- and nano-particles in the base steel material.
Service life under repeated mechanical loading and degradation-inducing environmental conditions is crucial for consideration for Naval Aircraft Launch and Recovery (ALRE) arresting gear purchase cables within aircraft arrestment systems. Service use cycles, as well as corrosion and bend-over-sheave wear and fatigue, are critical performance factors for such cables. As an alternative to modifying or replacing cable arrestment systems to mitigate cable stresses, enhancement of the base metallic material used in the cable may prove to be more advantageous and economical.

The aim of this project will be to improve the service life of the cable through a designed combination of current base materials and novel reinforcing high-strength particulates. Use of particulate-reinforced composites have allowed for strength, thermal stability and fatigue life improvement in structures and materials, while retaining or lowering overall structural weight. Such benefits have the potential to enhance arresting gear functionality and service life, thus decreasing total ownership cost.

About Mainstream Engineering Corporation

Mainstream Engineering Corporation is a solutions-oriented research, development and manufacturing small business with a history of leading-edge R&D that has resulted in advanced, American-made, cost-competitive products. Founded in 1986, Mainstream’s mission is to transition thermal control, energy storage and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe green, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel engines, thermal control units, biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers and the QwikProduct^™ line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of research include thermal control, energy conversion, power electronics, turbomachinery, chemical technology and materials science.

ROCKLEDGE, FL —June 23, 2017 — Mainstream Engineering Corporation®, a 31-year-old Brevard County research and manufacturing company, has been awarded a contract from the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) to develop a manufacturing line to produce Mainstream’s patent-pending HHYCOR™  military food heating and hydrating devices.  Under prior efforts, HHYCOR was demonstrated to be a flameless, low-cost means for deployed military personnel to quickly and easily heat and purify water and use this water to heat and hydrate their rations, all in a single simple operation.  This new production line will allow low-cost mass production of these compact portable food heating and hydrating devices for military and civilian use.

 

About Mainstream Engineering Corporation

Mainstream Engineering Corporation® is a solutions-oriented research, development and manufacturing small business with a history of leading-edge R&D that has resulted in advanced, American-made, cost-competitive products. Founded in 1986, Mainstream’s mission is to transition thermal control, energy storage and energy conversion technology into high-quality, cost-effective, environmentally safe green, commercial products. Products include lightweight diesel engines, thermal control units, biomass conversion technologies, refrigerators/freezers for shipping containers and the QwikProducts™ line of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R) products. Areas of research include thermal control, energy conversion, power electronics, turbomachinery, chemical technology and materials science.