Powering up: Recovery Act to inject more funds into military fuel cell research.

• Author: Magnuson, Stew
• Position: Tactical Power

NEW ORLEANS -- Atop craggy hills in Afghanistan, soldiers manning remote observation posts are currently using fuel cells to power their lights, radios and other electronic devices.

"This is the ideal scenario for fuel cell use," said Michael Dominick of the Army's Communications-Electronics, Research, Development and Engineering Center.

"This is not an exercise or demonstration. These fuel cells are actually being used in theater."

This news comes as the Obama administration announced plans to spend $20 million of Recovery Act funding on military fuel cell technology. The Defense Department's director of defense research and engineering (DDR&E) office will be spearheading these efforts.

For years, technologists have been touting the potential of fuel cell use in the military as the number of devices requiring battery power has proliferated.

Fuel cells are electrochemical devices that combine 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. They can be small enough to power electronic devices worn by troops, or large enough to power camps not connected to an electrical grid.

They have faced several hurdles, though. JP8, which is the military's fuel of choice, doesn't work well as a source of hydrogen. The technology is relatively new and not widely used. And the devices on the market need to be ruggedized for the military.

Many of these issues are spelled out in a fuel cell technology roadmap that is being published this month by the joint defense manufacturing technology panel's power sources technical working group, which comprises members of all four services and the Defense Logistics Agency.

A renewed focus on the war in Afghanistan may push the technology into widespread use as war fighters require more power for longer missions. Remote outposts, where everything must be backpacked in, and soldiers remain for days at a time, spurred an order under the Rapid Fielding Initiative to deliver the technology, Dominick said at the National Defense Industrial Association Power Expo here.

"We feel this is a very significant event since this is a real mission application," he said.

Authors of the fuel cell roadmap see the Recovery Act funding efforts as a potential breakthrough.

"There is a customer pull on this. And if the technology is successful, they will buy" fuel cells, said Marc Giegter, a project leader in the CERDEC Army power division. "The time has come for the small fuel cell to make its debut into the Army inventory," he added.

Fuel cells could potentially solve one of the major battlefield energy problems, their proponents have said. The weight foot soldiers or marines must bear has increased along with the number of electronic...