Ultracell,
Livermore CA: UltraCell has announced that it has received a contract award for delivery of its XX25, a 25-watt reformed methanol fuel cell system, to the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, for use as an airman power device.
The contract was awarded by GTS, with the fuel cell units scheduled for delivery in September 2006.
“UltraCell has made significant technical progress with the XX25,” noted Lt. Josh Johnson, of the PRPS group at AFRL, “and this award reflects AFRL's commitment to integrate fuel cell technologies into our development programs.”
UltraCell's patented reformed methanol fuel cell (RMFC) system internally generates fuel-cell-ready hydrogen from a highly concentrated methanol solution. The new portable power system thus has the power density of a hydrogen fuel cell but uses readily available, low cost methanol fuel in a convenient, compact cartridge.
The portable, lightweight XX25 has up to a 75% weight advantage over currently available military rechargeable batteries, based on a 72-hour mission at 20 watts. (Longer missions at higher power levels will show greater improvements.) The XX25 also reduces operational costs through the reduction of throwaway primary batteries and the logistic burden of recharging batteries.
“This latest contract award demonstrates the continued support of our portable power technology by the military,” said James Kaschmitter, CEO of UltraCell. “We look forward to working with the Air Force Research Laboratory in Ohio in its on-going fuel cell evaluation program.” UltraCell has designed the XX25 for use by various U.S. military agencies, with units scheduled to be tested in field environments.
In addition to military evaluation, UltraCell is also accepting lead beta site customers in critical markets for testing a commercial version, the UC25.
UltraCell's methanol micro fuel cell systems provide “Totally wireless – portable power anytime, anywhere”. Both the XX25 and UC25, for example, will be able to run a ruggedized laptop computer for up to three working days on a single fuel cell cartridge.
It will run other portable electronic devices for emergency responders, operating off of simple and inexpensive methanol cartridges. The XX25 and UC25 can also be configured with large volumes of fuel for weeks of runtime in stationary applications such as remote video monitoring.
