North Haven, CT (July 6th, 2018) - Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) announced today that it has received a Department of Defense (DOD) NAVY SBIR Phase I contract to develop a breakthrough technology enabling a new logistics-fueled, high efficiency all-electric power and propulsion (PnP) system with potential to improve mission range and logistics for Navy UAS platforms.
The proposed technology will enable advancement in all-electric PnP systems fueled with military logistics fuels and jet fuels. This fuel cell system offers multiple notable capability improvements for UAS compared to the current IC engine solutions, including higher efficiency, increased mission duration and reduced acoustic signature. A major objective of the project is to provide a proof-of-concept system solution and design to address the needs for increasing mission duration while decreasing operating costs through reduced maintenance cycle.
Christian Junaedi, the project’s Principal Investigator, states “The concept builds on PCI’s experience with integrating and evaluating fuel cell systems which have operated on liquid fuels, such as JP-5 and JP-8. The goal of the project is to develop a baseline integrated fuel cell system (IFCS) that produces 500-1,000 Watts of power and show feasibility for integration into UAS platforms.”
PCI’s Director of Marketing and Business Development Tony Anderson comments, “The primary market for this IFCS-based hybrid PnP system will be for military and commercial fuel cell system applications for various Group I-III unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The technology is initially targeted for application in UAS as directed by the customer to an integrated fuel cell-based hybrid PnP system. The solution utilizes a compact and lightweight reformer subsystem and is modular and scalable for various airframes including those operated by the Army and Air Force and also may be applied to ground or marine based unmanned vehicles. There will also be promising potential for a spin-offs into commercial UAS platforms where the ability to use heavy fuels such as diesel would be a breakthrough for multiple applications.”
Precision Combustion, Inc. is a clean energy technology innovator directed to energy sector applications. To learn more, visit www.Precision-Combustion.com
For more information, please contact:
Director, Marketing and Business Development
203-287-3700 ext. 290