'Green' Command Van Takes Center Stage at Naval Weapons Station Yorktown-Cheatham Annex for Energy Awareness Month

YORKTOWN, Va. (NNS) -- A next generation command van was developed by the Emergency Ship Salvage Material (ESSM) Headquarters Facility aboard Naval Weapons Station (WPNSTA) Yorktown-Cheatham Annex (CAX) and will be on display at CAX in October during Energy Awareness Month.

The van was developed to reduce the logistical support required to operate it while maintaining full operational capability.

During the Hurricane Katrina disaster response effort by the Supervisor of Salvage and Diving (SUPSALV), an earlier version of the command van was used in Louisiana to coordinate the clean-up effort. Electrical power was supplied by small diesel generator, which used nearly a full tank of fuel each 12 to 16 hour day of operations. The logistic support needed to supply fuel to the diesel electric generators quickly became a significant burden due to location of the command vans deep in the hurricane damage affected zone. This daily trip of 120 miles each way to procure fuel took resources that could have been used elsewhere.

The ESSM HQ Facility was tasked by SUPSALV to design a new command van that incorporated the latest technology for power generation and storage while also utilizing the most efficient products available in the commercial market to lower the van's power consumption. In addition, the new design was not allowed to compromise on any of the current capabilities of the existing system.

The resultant design for the command van contains extremely efficient components: LED lighting, LED monitors, 26 SEER AC/heat pump, high-efficiency refrigerator and High "R" value insulation, leading to substantial power saving. The original design command van consumes power at approximately four-five kilowatts per hour while the new command van consumes power at 0.75-1.5 kilowatts per hour. Power can be supplied to the new command van via traditional methods (diesel electric generator, ship auxiliary power connection, or shore power) or via the integrated solar panel arrrays with active solar tracking and wind power generators.

Power storage is accomplished with 16 lithium iron magnesium phosphate battery modules and an advanced battery monitoring and electrical distribution system.
In battery only mode, the command van can go two-and-a-half days, on an average load of 10 hours per day.
Using solar/wind generation, the command van can last five-seven days on an average load of 10 hours per day. Using solar/wind generation in energy conservative mode, the command van can last an unlimited number of days.

For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.

For more news from Naval Weapons Station Yorktown, visit www.navy.mil/local/nwsyorktown/.