Fuel Cells for Aviation Support Equipment

The California Clean Air Act, plus the New England states adoption of the Act, has placed a premium on high efficiency non-polluting mobile energy sources. US Military bases must comply with these regulations or pay heavy fines. The powering of a Navy aviation support equipment with a fuel cell system operating on logistic fuel, presents an opportunity to significantly reduced emissions. After demonstration of the fuel cell engine in an aviation support vehicle, the technology can be applied to other equipment. A through understanding of the vehicle mission, along with the capabilities of the numerous fuel cell systems is required to select the right combination. There are five major fuel cell chemistries in various stages of development today, and varying degrees of fact and fiction associated with each. The problem is to sort out the fact from the fiction to design the appropriate fuel cell system for the mission. Giner, Inc. has the hardware oriented technical experience to determine the correct system and to construct that system. The technical objectives of the Phase-I program consist of the selection of a target vehicle as a base for the design analysis; design the best system each fuel cell chemistry provides for the vehicles, then select the best one. The design analysis will place emphasis on the complete system to develop realistic power and energy densities. The result will be preliminary system drawings for the selected fuel cell system. The goal of this project is to develop a system that will demonstrate the feasibility of using non-polluting fuel cell technology to power aviation support equipment and operate on logistic fuels. Phase II will involve the detail design of the fuel cell system.