Jan 24 2011
UltraCell, a company offering advanced Reformed Methanol Micro Fuel Cell (RMFC) technology, declared that it has obtained a deal worth $999,000 USD from the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development, and Engineering Center (CERDEC) to improve a fuel cell system for use in the Coalition Warfare Program (CWP).
The signed accord will require the engineers from Ultracel to use a prototype of 150 W fuel cell system, which the company had initially developed for the Defense Science and Technology Laboratory (DSTL) of the Ministry of Defense, the UK. The prototype was developed as a part of Reducing the Burden on the Dismounted Soldier (RBDS) Capability Vision Program of the country. As per the contract, Ultracel will utilize its technical skills and the resources at its command to bring out a new prototype system to achieve Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 7. The company intends to focus its efforts on furthering the advancement of a practical fuel cell power source that can deliver 150 W power for use in diverse military applications.
The proposed system will deploy RMFC know-how to translate the used methanol fuel into electricity to power the batteries and power the other electronic devices that consume more power. The new RMFC solution provides nearly 50% reductions in weight to enable easy use in long missions and makes lesser ecological impact when compared to the use of conventional batteries.