Monday, April 16, 2007

HyFish: A Hydrogen Fuel Cell Powered UAV



Horizon Fuel Cell has
issued a press
release about the successful maiden
flight (YouTube video) of a zero emission UAV prototype powered by
hydrogen. The fuel cell powered flying robot, called the HyFish
was
designed by Germany's Deutsches Zentrum
fuer Luft-und Raumfahrt (DLR - aka the German Air & Space Center). A
special fuel cell was developed for the UAV, providing 1.3kW of power
from an 800g cell. The result is a new power density record of 1.5W/gm.
The fuel cell system is expect to allow flight times of 15 to 30 hours.
The zero emission aspect is also helpful in that it may reduce the
amount of greenhouse gas resulting from aviation, which now accounts for
up to 9% of the total. The HyFish UAV will be on display to the general
public at the Hannover Fair
April 16 to 20, Stand G 32/1, Hall 13. More info, including an x-ray
image of the UAV can be found on the DLR
HyFish news release (German language). An older 3D
structural rendering is also available.



Source: http://www.netchain.com

No comments: