SBIR/STTR Award attributes
High efficiency and high specific power fuel cells are ideal for providing electric power, for UAS missions. In the 1-10 kWe auxiliary power range required for UAS applications, fuel cells maintain their high efficiency, while other power sources cannot compete. Altex is proposing to leverage its 0.25-l0 kWe proven fuel cell power systems, which operate on MIL Spec JP-8, JP-5, SPK and biofuels, to develop an Integrated Fuel Cell System (IFCS) for integration with UAS, which is scalable from 1 to 10 kWe and meet the topic requirements, including high altitude UAS operation. Under Phase I of the proposed project, design and bench scale testing will be utilized, to show the feasibility of the approach. The Phase I work will be the basis of a Phase I Option and Phase II effort, under which a 1 kWe prototype will be developed and delivered, for high fidelity testing.
