"Special Operations Forces sometimes have to decide between carrying batteries or water, because if they land in the middle of nowhere, they can't communicate without batteries," he said.
http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?F=885610&C=thisweek Posted 06/27/05 12:58 Battlefield Power New Fuel Cell Technology Aims To Reduce Soldiers� Burden By GOPAL RATNAM An ingenious plumbing technique combined with high-tech materials may transform cumbersome fuel cells into nifty devices that can power handheld devices carried by U.S. soldiers. MTI Micro, Albany, N.Y., is claiming a breakthrough that miniaturizes the fuel cell structure and resolves long-standing problems developers of portable fuel cells have faced � maximizing fuel-to-energy ratio while dealing with residual water produced from the chemical reaction. Traditional sources of power involve combustion or some form of burning, but fuel cells produce electricity through electrochemical means, taking hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity, giving off heat and water in the process. Conventional batteries also produce electricity using electrochemical processes, but they go dead when they run out of their finite supply of chemicals. A fuel cell can run as long as it is supplied with fuel. MTI�s patent-pending Direct Methanol Fuel Cell technology involves feeding 100 percent methanol directly into a fuel cell, where it combines with air and water to cause a chemical reaction that produces electricity. Until now, fuel cell makers have either mixed methanol and water in their fuel packs, which reduces the amount of fuel carried in a container, or have devised minute pumps to carry water produced at the end of the chemical cycle back to the fuel injection stage. MTI�s approach does away with both constraints, said Shimshon Gottesfeld, the company�s chief technology officer. �We went to the heart of the fuel cell structure � to ask the water to spontaneously flow back through the cell�s thickness to the fuel side instead of shuttling it using micro pumps, valves and pipes,� he said. Just as high-tech sportswear wicks sweat away from an athlete�s body, special membranes and materials arranged in a particular fashion within the cell�s structure � which is about 1/30,000 of an inch � will cause the water to �spontaneously flow from the air side to the fuel side,� he said. The technology is particularly attractive for handheld consumer devices like cell phones and personal digital assistants as well as a host of military gear. And the U.S. Army is interested. MTI Micro, along with SAFT, maker of conventional batteries in Bagnolet, France, received a $1 million, one-year contract in May from the Army�s Communication-Electronics Research and Development Center (CERDEC), Fort Monmouth, N.J., to demonstrate its technology. SAFT is responsible for providing the lithium ion batteries and systems integration. Once a device is fitted with a fuel cell, the methanol is supplied in disposable cartridges that are about the size and weight of an audio cassette and fully sealed. The demonstration is to prove a couple of uses: that fuel cells can act as the power source for conventional rechargeable batteries and can be used as mission extenders � where a lithium ion battery delivers a high-powered pulse for radio transmission and the fuel cell provides the standby power. �We want to leave soldiers in deployed conditions from 24 hours to 72 hours without resupply,� said Michael Brundage, chief of the power applications branch at CERDEC. �To do that now, we have to give them multiple batteries; the fuel cell hybrid approach is to reduce the size and minimize the power sources they need to carry.� If the demonstration program is successful, the Army expects to test whether the technology can work in adverse conditions, such as extremes of heat and dust. William Perry, former U.S. defense secretary, now a member of MTI�s board of directors, said the increasing demands on portable power could become a potential Achilles� heel for the U.S. Army. A platoon of soldiers carries nearly 500 pieces of equipment on the battlefield, all needing battery power, Perry said. As ground forces go high-tech, and every squad leader is connected with headquarters, sensors and communication equipment will proliferate, he said. In such a scenario, resupplying batteries could become nightmarish, he said. �A 30-man platoon on a five-day mission uses 400 pounds of batteries,� Perry said. �One soldier needs about 80 AA-type batteries � that alone is about 30 pounds.� The Army expects its soldiers in the future � part of its Land Warrior program � would need about 20 watts of power for about 72 hours at a stretch, Gottesfeld said. But in a fuel cell, since the fuel cartridge can be separated from the energy conversion device, the cost and weight of fuel cartridges would be far less than conventional batteries, he said. �Special Operations Forces sometimes have to decide between carrying batteries or water, because if they land in the middle of nowhere, they can�t communicate without batteries,� he said. ⢠E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. 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