SubscribeSFC Smart Fuel Cell AG, the world’s leading manufacturer of fuel cells for mobile use, today announced a cooperation programme with the German Federal Army‘s Military Vehicle and Tank Technology Department WTD 41.
Under this programme, SFC is to develop a next generation portable fuel cell as power supply for soldiers in the field.
The objective is to increase their tactical operating range. As a result of the programme, weight and size of a soldier's equipment will be significantly reduced compared to existing, battery based solutions, while at the same time increasing the amount of available electrical energy. Soldiers today must carry a weight of up to 40 kg (88 pounds) in mission relevant equipment, in some cases even more.
This weight is mainly caused by electrical devices, e.g. communication systems or sensors and the batteries required running them. Also, the number of electrical devices needing electrical energy is continuously growing.
This situation dramatically increases the need for a significantly smaller, lighter and more economical mobile power source. Realizing this objective is the main focus of the development programme. SFC's current solution, the SFC C20, already offers a significant improvement over even the most advanced and much more expensive batteries, as a weight comparison of alternative power supply solutions for a typical three day mission, needing an average of 20 watts of electrical power, shows:
In case of rechargeable, secondary batteries, a soldier typically has to carry 12.6 kg (27.8 pounds) of battery weight. Much more expensive primary batteries that have to be thrown away after usage, still weigh a substantial 9.3 kg. (20.5 pounds). Today's SFC C20 however, weighs in at only 3.3 kg. (7.3 pounds), including the fuel.
This is a mobile field charger based on the
SFC A50 commercial fuel cell
This comparison clearly shows the already impressive weight savings the current model, the SFC C20, has to offer. Under the programme, the weight of the new DMFC product, SFC's C20-II, will again be significantly reduced to an extremely low 2.2 kg (4.9 pounds). Thus reducing the soldier's weight burden to approximately one sixth of the weight of rechargeable batteries and to one fourth of the weight of primary batteries!
In addition, the new product will benefit from SFC's class leading competence in the areas of design, silent and vibration-free operation and reliability, much like SFC's line of commercial fuel cells. The product will also contribute to a considerable reduction of operating and logistic costs, as the cost of consumables is extremely low compared with batteries.
Furthermore, the fuel cell will eliminate the need to discard partially discharged batteries as well as minimize transportation and logistics costs. The new product will work reliably even at very high or low ambient temperatures and will be robust, shock resistant, and waterproof.
As a result of the programme, the new generation SFC C20-II will be used with existing equipment and become the standard power supply for the soldier of the future. E.g. in the IdZ Infantryman of the Future (Infanterist der Zukunft) project of the German Federal Army. The SFC C20-II is able to either directly feed electrical devices or to recharge secondary batteries.
The development of the new product is expected to be finalized by the end of this year. The German Federal Army will do lab and field testing of the product in real operating conditions and compare the results with battery based solutions. The objective is to make the fuel cell fully ready for use by the army as soon as possible.
Brunnthal, August 03, 2005
