News:

06-12-2024

Dutch Ministry of Defence and Solidflow are to developing oxygen generators for wounded soldiers

Contract for the first prototype development signed in Noordwijk

Colonel Kleinhout, Staff Physician of the Royal Netherlands Army and Berry Sanders, General Manager of Solidflow, signed the contract for the development of a new, innovative oxygen supply for wounded soldiers during a ceremony on December 3, 2024. The contract, part of the National Technology Program of the Dutch Ministry of Defence (MoD), covers the development of a demonstration model that can be tested in the field.
Military personnel who are wounded in the front line must be treated as quickly as possible to increase their chances of survival. Oxygen is essential here. Due to the explosion hazard, pressurized oxygen bottles are dangerous for use in the front lines. For this reason, oxygen can only be administered behind the front or in the BOXER Armored Ambulance. In addition, the Dutch MoD wants to reduce the logistics footprint of oxygen supliesn as much as possible.
For the Dutch MoD it is important to ensure the maximum chances of survival for their personnel and that is why it came into contact with Solidflow, which had a solution for this.


 

 



Oxygen Cool Gas Generators

Solidflow develops and builds Cool Gas Generators that produce a pure gas at ambient temperature from a solid propellant. The technology is derived from solid propellant rocket motors for space applications. An oxygen Cool Gas Generator produces pure oxygen, cannot leak, is not pressurised, requires no maintenance and has a long shelf life under difficult conditions and in harsh environments. Oxygen Cool Gas Generators are therefore ideal for providing oxygen to wounded soldiers in the front line.
Operational concepts for an oxygen generator system have been developed together with the Innovation Department of the Royal Netherlands Army and preliminary designs have been made based on the needs of Dutch MoD. The project structure and approach was set up, based on these designs. The  collaboration between defense and industry is an important part of the project in order to achieve a “tailor-made product” for Dutch soldiers.
Cool Gas Generators were originally developed by TNO Defense, Safety and Security. In 2011, they were spun out to innovative start-ups for further development. Solidflow has improved the technology, supported by subsidies and financing from the Province of South Holland, Netherlands Space Office, European Space Agency (ESA) and the Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO). Since 2019, Solidflow has been part of the Space Business Innovation Center in Noordwijk.
This development is a good example of how different organizations and sectors can work together to translate knowledge from knowledge institutions, through the help of governments, to end users.
After this development, Solidflow will certify the oxygen Cool Gas Generator and plans to start production in a new facility that it plans to construct in collaboration with NL Space Campus. This will generate new high-tech activity for the Noordwijk region. Solidflow plans to open its first pilot production facility on the NL Space Campus in Noordwijk in 2025.

LinkedIn post



15-11-2024

Meet Solidflow and HDES at the Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen


Solidflow as well as its parent HDES Service & Engineering BV will be present at the Space Tech Expo Europe in Bremen from 19 to 21 November. We will bring several Cool Gas Generators with us, among them are the Minos CO2 generator, the new ICARUS type 250 nl CO2  Cool Gas Generator, the micro and nano generators of 5 and 0,2 normal liters CO2 and our oxygen generators.
Sigurd Ravnan, Toby Sap, Shanti Verschoor and Berry Sanders of Solidflow and HDES will be available to answer your questions and to show you our hardware. Ask for us at the Dutch Pavilion or contact us directly via our website or our LinkedIn pages.
Come and see us in Bremen!




13-09-2024

Meet us at the Industry Space Days in ESTEC

SolidFlow will be present at the Industry Space Days at ESTEC on 18 and 19 September. We will be bringing our Cool Gas Generators with us and are open for discussions and talks.

The 20 normalliter MINOS generator will be shown there as well as our new 5 normalliter CO2 generator. We can also inform you on our new product, like the oxygen generator and other new and exciting developments.

If you want to meet us, contact us via the ISD website and send a meeting request or send an E-mail or LinkedIn message to us and we will be there to talk to you.
We look forward to meet many old friends there and to make many new ones.




12-06-2024

ICARUS Horizon Europe project Kick-off successful

On the 5th and 6th of June 2024, Toby, Sigurd and Berry went to Madrid for the kick-off of the ICARUS Horizon Europe project. This project aims at demonstrating an Inflatable Re-entry System by a sounding rocket flight in 2028. HDES S&E is one of the 11 partners in this project and responsible for the inflation system that will make use of larger Cool Gas Gas generators.
During the kick-off the project goals were discussed and re-affirmed and the team members had the first opportunities to meet and discuss among each other. Several technical bottle-necks were identified and possible solutions were investigated.
In this project, HDES S&E will start the development of a 500 nl CO2 CGG but will also examine alternative and more efficient gas generators like hydrogen and mixed gas systems.
The project is led by Deimos Space Systems of Tres Campos in Spain with participation of ONERA (FR), DLR (D), CIRA (I), Atmos Space Cargo (D), Politechnico Torino (I), HDES S&E (NL) and Demcon (NL).


LinkedIn post


17-05-2024

Meet us at the Space Propulsion 2024 conference in Glasgow

SolidFlow will be present at the Space Propulsion 2024 conference in Glasgow from 20 to 23 May. As part of the HDES team we will present a paper on the MINOS Cool Gas Generator for pressurization of liquid propulsion systems development and testing. This paper will be presented by HDES of which SolidFlow is a spin-off, but is a joint development of HDES, Bradford Engineering funded by the Netherlands Space Office. The presentation will take place during session 137 on Wednesday 22 May at 15:30. We will also bring our Minos generator and two new products with us, the 5 nl CO2 generator and the micro CO2 CGG, both of which are now in development. Sigurd Ravnan of HDES and Berry Sanders of SolidFlow will be available to answer your questions and to show you our hardware. Reach us via the conference app or contact us directly via our website or our LinkedIn pages.



23-11-2023

3rd prize: Hydrogen cool gas generators as an emergency power supply

SolidFlow BV was awarded the third prize in the ESA Tech Transfer competition 2023 with its proposal for a Hydrogen Cool Gas Generator for emergency power supplies. The prize will be used to perform preliminary research into the technical and economical feasibility of such a Cool Gas Generator. This study not only provided more insight in applications and cost, but also provided us with formulations for a hydrogen cool gas generator that can be developed in the next phase.
Hydrogen cool gas generators, like all other Cool Gas Generators, are not pressurised and do not need any maintenance. Therefore they are ideally suited for as a reliable long-term emergency power supply for example for. hospitals or emergency services during natural disasters.
See also [https://www.sbicnoordwijk.nl/winners-space-for-energy/ Winners space for energy]