Aug 20 2015
HyperSolar, Inc., the developer of a breakthrough technology to produce renewable hydrogen using sunlight and water, today commented on recent news from both a well-known commercial airplane manufacturer, as well as researchers who successfully executed the first hydrogen fuel cell-powered unmanned aerial vehicle flight in the Middle East.
A group of researchers at the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the American University of Sharjah (AUS) conducted the fuel cell powered flight, taking place in the United Arab Emirate and Gulf Cooperation Council regions. The plane cruised comfortably during flight duration of approximately ten minutes, powered only by a Proton Exchange Membrane hydrogen fuel cell (PEMFC). The team will now look to pursue further tests related to payload capacity, endurance, and the ability to fly autonomously.
In the commercial space, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office just awarded a patent to Airbus for a hypersonic passenger plane. The jet is designed to utilize rocket engines to propel to supersonic speeds, where hydrogen-powered wing mounted ramjets would engage to propel the jet to its destination. While still under development, the plane could potentially fly from New York to London in an hour, and from Paris to Tokyo in under three hours.
"While these technologies are not yet available, we see great potential for the use of hydrogen fuel cell technology in the aeronautics space," said Tim Young, CEO of HyperSolar. "These recent news events have occurred due to the global commitment to hydrogen fuel innovation spanning industries including consumer automobile, transportation, industrial, and more. It is our belief that the R&D efforts surrounding new hydrogen technologies will result in an increased demand for hydrogen fuel, one that HyperSolar can potentially leverage upon its own technology's commercialization."
HyperSolar's research is centered on developing a low-cost and submersible hydrogen production particle that can split water molecules under the sun, emulating the core functions of photosynthesis. Each particle is a complete hydrogen generator that contains a novel high voltage solar cell bonded to chemical catalysts by a proprietary encapsulation coating. A video of an early proof-of-concept prototype can be viewed at http://hypersolar.com/application.php.