One With NASA, One With Missile Defense Agency
It's not a huge
contract -- at least, not yet. But it seems to have major
technological promise.
Proton Energy Systems, a subsidiary of Distributed Energy
Systems Corp. says it's gotten the nod for a NASA Small Business
Innovative Research (SBIR)to develop lightweight regenerative fuel
cell technology. The new technology will be used in unmanned aerial
vehicles. Proton also announced the award of a SBIR Phase I
contract from the US Army Missile Defense Agency, or MDA, for
development of lightweight regenerative fuel cell technology for
high altitude airships.
The NASA Phase II contract goal is to demonstrate the
feasibility of producing and operating lightweight unitized
regenerative fuel cell hardware to meet the needs of aerospace
applications. Proton's regenerative fuel cell design incorporates
the Company's core commercial hydrogen generator technology with a
fuel cell design, which is capable of generating its own hydrogen
at pressure. Building upon the Phase II work, the ultimate design
goal specified by NASA is to fill a need for very high energy
density energy storage systems for unmanned aerial vehicles, or
UAV, flight platforms. NASA intends for these UAVs to perform
missions in the areas of terrestrial observation and earth
science.
The goal of the Phase I
contract with MDA is to achieve key milestones that demonstrate the
possibility of manufacturing lightweight regenerative fuel cell
hardware to meet the needs of high altitude airships. The ultimate
design goal is to develop and demonstrate a hydrogen/oxygen
regenerative fuel cell with lightweight packaging capable of
high-pressure hydrogen and oxygen generation and multi-kilowatt
power output.
The MDA contract is part of a Department of Defense initiative
to develop a lighter than air, high altitude airship Advanced
Concept Technology Demonstration, or ACTD, prototype. According to
the Missile Defense Agency, this ACTD plans to demonstrate the
engineering feasibility and potential military utility of an
unmanned, un-tethered, gas filled, solar-powered airship that can
fly at 70,000 ft.
Proton's completion of previous NASA SBIR Phase I and Phase II
contracts, as well as its ongoing contract with the Naval Research
Laboratory funded by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency,
or DARPA, facilitated the demonstration of zero-gravity unitized
regenerative fuel cell operation as well as the ability to
electrolyze water to generate hydrogen and oxygen gases at
pressures exceeding 3,000 psi. Proton's HIPRESS™, a
solid-state electrolysis cell stack design, made the efficient
compression of these gases possible, a key feature in high energy
aerospace density applications.
The NASA SBIR Phase II contract award is valued at $599,160 over
two years. The award is based on Proton's progress against key
milestones in the SBIR Phase I contract. The MDA SBIR Phase I
contract is valued at $69,865 with a 6-month period of
performance.