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Hydrogen fuel for Long endurance UAVs

Posted by iangl on November 9, 2010 at 9:00am
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They did it. AEROPAK is a UAV specific powering solution. It runs just on water (hydrogen fuel) and delivers lots and lots of electricity.

http://www.hes.sg/

This product has unbeliavable charateristics compared to our primitive battery packs, allowing looong flight times. I discovered it today, and am waiting for a quote from Horizon Energy Systems. They also sell a complete hydrogen power ssolution for RC cars.

New horizons for us! Enjoy
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Comments

  • Developer
    Doug Weibel November 9, 2010 at 7:58pm
    I agree this is not a near term solution for small uav's. However, hydrogen storage tanks do not need to be heavy. I work with a company that manufactures custom liquid hydrogen tanks for the government. They are so lightweight that they cannot support themselves if filled with water. Granted, these are LARGE tanks - like 3 meter spheres.
  • T.D. Gonzales November 9, 2010 at 7:10pm
    The hydrogen containment will be a fun problem. Aren't those usually pretty heavy tanks?
  • Ramon Natal November 9, 2010 at 1:49pm
    Im with you Mathew, we have engineers, electronics techs, software gurus and minds to contibute on this forum
  • Mathew krawczun November 9, 2010 at 1:21pm
    you know we should start a "Fuel cell" project here.

    I'm sure we could come up with a few diy fuel cell (non hydrogen of course) plans using the leftover rc parts and a microcontorer that could do just and well as this and be lighter. I think it could be an interesting idea what do you guys think.
  • Paul G. November 9, 2010 at 12:30pm
    This can't help us with flight power but as backup electrical power on medium size UAS's its going to earn a spot. They will need to lose the fans to be taken seriously but really that's not that hard to deal with.
  • T.D. Gonzales November 9, 2010 at 12:30pm
    I'm just looking at the 500h lifetime. Do you have to just buy a new one after 500h or just run some miserable maintenance? How does that compare to a gas engine or electric motor?

    Although this is a cool application for fuel cells... This looks like they are maybe "taking orders" for tech that they haven't manufactured yet.
  • Sean November 9, 2010 at 9:44am
    I can see where that has some potential use in amature UAV but I need one with significiant more power. Need to be able to deliver 3-5KW continuous and 9KW burst for 30 sec. We'll get there in a few years...
  • Leon November 9, 2010 at 9:42am
    Interesting...
    But internal combustion engine is still the best solution for a lot of applications.
    Combining internal combustion engine, and LiPo battery for silent flights might a very good altenative.
This reply was deleted.