Fuel cells fail to make inroads with the military.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew

* After more than a decade of development trying to adapt fuel cells for expeditionary operations, the technology has failed to make inroads with the U.S. military.

However, work continues to overcome some of the hurdles preventing them from reaching battlefields.

Although all four services require longer lasting, quieter and denser energy sources, fuel cells are still not ready to replace traditional batteries and combustion engines, several officials said at the National Defense Industrial Association's recent Joint Power Expo in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

"Fuel cell technology has come a very long way and it's something we are looking at," said John P. Howell, project director of soldier systems integration at the Army's project manager soldier warrior office.

But fuel cells intended to be worn by dismounted troops currently are not providing enough energy to justify the extra weight, he said.

"To burden the soldier with another device or capability that only covers a part of that energy demand gap is not something that we want to do," he added.

For years, technologists have been touting the potential of fuel cells in the military as the number of devices requiring battery power have proliferated and the burden of transporting fuel in danger zones came at the cost of treasure and lives. Proponents praise the technology as clean, quiet and highly efficient.

Fuel cells are an electrochemical device that combines hydrogen and oxygen to make electricity. The oxygen comes from the air, but the hydrogen must come from a second source--most often fossil fuels like natural gas or propane or alcohol-based fuels like methanol.

They can be small enough to juice up electronic devices worn by troops, or large enough to power forward operating bases not connected to an electrical grid.

The technology still faces one major hurdle. The services made a decision in the early 1990s to have one primary fuel in order to simplify the supply chain--JP8. But the military's fuel of choice doesn't work well as a source of hydrogen. For logistical purposes, the military will not be transporting propane, methanol or other fuels into the field.

Feeding the fuel cell with oxygen is relatively simple. That comes from air. Hydrogen is another matter. It is difficult to distribute and store. To convert these common fuels into hydrogen, there must be a "reformer." If the reformer lets too many impurities through, it poisons the fuel cell, making it less efficient, or...