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A World Breakthrough in UAV Propulsion

Posted by Quadzimodo on January 17, 2014 at 4:44am

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Energy Density of up to 0.65-0.8Wh per gram.  Very Exciting!

Excerpt from Manufacturer's Website

AEROPAK is an ultra-light power supply enabled by fuel cells, designed to increase flight endurance for small electric Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). It uses an on-demand hydrogen supply system from a chemical stored in a swappable cartridge.

The special characteristics of AEROPAK-1 allows to reduce weight progressively over the course of a flight, by purging spent fuel during flight. This means the average energy density of the system can increase up to 675Wh/kg for a 2 kg system, weighing 1kg after consuming all of its fuel.

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Excerpt from Isreal's Homeland Securty Home

A cooperation between Israel and Singapore has resulted in a breakthrough in powering unmanned air systems. “This will change the world of UAVs and opens many new paths for using them in many applications” an Israeli source said.

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Comments

  • Rob_Lefebvre January 17, 2014 at 11:07am

    It seems to me like these things don't make any sense at all until you're WELL into the multiple hours flight time area?

    And then, given that flying beyond visual range flying is illegal for any commercial operation I'm aware of, the applications for this would seem to be extremely limited.  What are you actually going to use it for?  

    Seems application of these things is mostly limited to military?

  • LanMark January 17, 2014 at 10:21am

    Reminds me of the Lockheed Martin fuel cell UAV that they have:

    http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/military/planes-uavs/lon...

    That article also mentions the AEROPAK.

  • Quadzimodo January 17, 2014 at 9:21am
    Brett - Simon mentioned in his most recent post that the Aeropak (didn't specify the size) cost around $15k, so yes, much more expensive than an equivalent lipo. Even at this price though, I certainly think it has the potential to be a cost effective solution in professional applications where endurance is of key importance. I would assume that swappable cartridge would be a refillable via a purpose build electrolyser, but they may well be single cycle units - I am not at all sure.
  • Brent Alderton January 17, 2014 at 8:48am
    I wonder what the cost of this tech will be? Surely way more than a lipo. And how/where do I refill a hydrogen fuel cell?
  • Quadzimodo January 17, 2014 at 6:49am
    Dave - Yeah, 200W is the continuous discharge not total capacity. Note the x axis on the above chart is flight time in hours. So, taking the 10 hour example, which weights a total of 3.8kgs, and assuming a system voltage of 22.2 (6S equivalent voltage)... 200W of continuous discharge means 9-amps of continuous current draw. 9-Amps for 10-hours would be the equivalent to a 90000mAh 6S lipo pack. But a 90000mAh 6S lipo would weight 4-5 times more.
    Guiseppe - Yes, only suitable for endurance fixed wing flight. No good for rotorcraft.
  • Giuseppe Persechino January 17, 2014 at 6:18am

    Aeropack is a great product, but especially for fixed wing.

    The fuel cell systems may have, even with a buffer lipo battery, low rate of discharge with respect to their capacity.

    So for rotorcraft systems are difficult to use, unfortunately

  • Quadzimodo January 17, 2014 at 4:54am

    Be sure to check out Simon Howroyd's earlier posts part 1, part 2 and part 3 to follow the progress of one of us already making headway in this area.

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