The goal of the WHIX-08 project is to conduct a demonstration/validation project in a selected Western Hemisphere partner nation that will utilize a suite of renewable energy technologies. The project will entail the development of a mobile medical clinic which is powered by a suite of renewable energy technologies in support of military missions in the USSOUTHCOM Area of Focus (AOF). The suite of renewables will include wind, solar, bio-diesel and lithium ion batteries.

 

The development and deployment of the mobile medical clinic will be in alignment with the objectives of the Western Hemisphere Information Exchange program which include: strengthening the defense cooperation with the western hemisphere, enhancing sustainability and stewardship of U.S. military presence as well as increasing overall sustainability and security in the Western Hemisphere.

 

 

The project will demonstrate the field use of a light-weight modular system that can be deployed rapidly by air or land vehicle to be used as a mobile and/or light-weight tactical emergency medical center or disaster response operations center. The structure is approximately 500 sq. In addition the project will demonstrate the integration of a suite of renewable energy sources for electrical power that provides 24 hours of continuous, sustainable electrical power to the mobile/tactical clinic/center.

 

As part of the suite of scalable renewable energy sources, the FIU WHIX Team will provide and demonstrate a variety of energy systems and an advanced system of battery storage, which working in conjunction will provide a minimum electrical output of 3KW continuous power.

 

 

 

 

The tent structure is a mobile, light-weight structure which is easily assembled and dismantled. The tent may be assembled by 4 people in 3 minutes. It is provided by Utilis and has an internal usable area of 520sqft.

 

 

 

 

The tent structure contains a thermal fly in order to provide shade and cool the tent. The solar panels utilized for the WHIX-08 project are thin-film photovoltaic cells which are incorporated directly into the thermal fly of the tent. The PV cells provide approximately 4.8kW of power in addition to providing shade and cooling for the tent structure. The solar panels will be used to charge the battery bank. For increased power production, addition thin-film PV cells are laid on the ground at the base of the wind turbines.

 

*image taken from utilisusa.com

 

 

 

The system will incorporate two 1kW wind turbines provided by Bergey Wind. The wind turbines will be mounted on retractable telescoping masts which will allow for ease of transportation of the towers. The wind turbines will each be used to charge the bank of lithium ion batteries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The WHIX-08 Mobile Medical Clinic will incorporate a state of the art bank of high power density lithium ion batteries. The power generation systems (i.e. wind and solar) are used to charge the li-ion batteries and the batteries in turn provide power to the utilities. The battery bank is designed such that it can provide a day and a half of power without being recharged by wind or solar power.

 

 

 

The bio-diesel generator is used as a system back-up for times when the batteries become fully discharged and there is no wind or solar power being generated to recharge the batteries. This would be an extreme case and in general the generator will not turn on except in such cases. This will minimize the bio-diesel consumption as well as the need to deliver fuel on site.