Green Careers in Fuel Cells for Portable Power Applications
Protonex Technology Corporation , a leading provider of advanced fuel cell power systems for portable, remote and mobile applications, recently announced that it has received a $265,000 contract from the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for advanced development of high performance fuel cellsystems for small unmanned aerial vehicles(UAVs). This award expands upon a series of efforts by Protonex to miniaturize fuel cellsfor use in smaller UAVs. Fuel cell development for portable power applications is a growing field and represents opportunity for engineers specializing in fuel cell and alternative fuel fields
Under the terms of this AFRL contract, Protonex will integrate a miniaturized high performance fuel cell system into development partner AeroVironment’s “Raven” UAV to demonstrate first flight capabilities for this plane under fuel cell power. The resulting UAV, powered by the Protonex fuel cell system, would be targeted at longer duration mission capabilities.AeroVironment’s Raven is the highest volume production UAV and is a battle proven, lightweight UAV designed for rapid deployment and high mobility for both military and commercial applications.
The advanced fuel cell power system designed for this smaller UAV is a scaled-down version of a system that was previously integrated into AeroVironment‘s “Puma” UAV platform. By incorporating a Protonex power system, the Puma UAV was able to demonstrate three to four times the flight endurance capability of advanced batteries.
About Protonex Technology Corp.
Protonex is a leading provider of advanced fuel cell power solutions for portable, remote and mobile applications in the ten to 1,000-watt range. Based on patented proton exchange membrane (PEM) and solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technologies, these power systems are among the industry’s smallest, lightest and highest performing fuel cell systems for portable applications.Protonexhas developed several products designed for end-users in military, commercial and consumer markets that are currently under-served by batteries and small generators. Products are also being developed for OEM customers looking to integrate high-performance fuel cell power into their products and applications.
Founded in 2000, the Company completed an initial public offering on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) of the London Stock Exchange in July 2006, and a secondary offering in April 2007, raising gross proceeds of $16.2 million and $27.7 million, respectively. To date, the Company has received contracts over $35 million* in total program value withthe US military and government agencies, and has established formal strategic partnerships with Parker Hannifin, Northrop Grumman, Cummins and Raytheon.
About AeroVironment ( companies viewpoint)
AV was founded in 1971 by celebrated physicist and engineer Dr. Paul MacCready, who Time magazine called one of the “greatest minds of the 20thcentury”. For the next two decades, withthe vision of “doing more with much less”, the AV team pioneered a succession of groundbreaking vehicles including the Solar Challenger, the Sunraycer, and the General Motors Impact. These and 30 other “world’s first”; vehicles cemented AV’s position as a premiere development facility for breakthrough vehicle systems.
During the 1990s, the company expanded its focus from contract-based research and development to include the development of production products. In the next ten years, AV developed a portfolio of highly efficient, innovative products with commercial and government applications, including the Charger bicycle, SODAR, the Universal Solar Pump Controller, and an extensive line of market-leading Power Processing Systems.
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Posted by admin
on May 11 2009. Filed under Alternative Energy, Careers, Energy Tech, Environmental, Fuel cells, Green Career, Green Jobs, Hydrogen.
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