Hydrogen-Powered Fuel Cell Unmanned Air Vehicle Sets 26-Hour Flight Endurance Record

The Naval Research Laboratory’s Ion Tiger, a hydrogen-powered fuel cell unmanned air vehicle (UAV), has flown 26 hours and 1 minute carrying a 5-pound payload, setting another unofficial flight endurance record for a fuel-cell powered flight. The test flight took place on November 16th through 17th.

The electric fuel cell propulsion system onboard the Ion Tiger has the low noise and signature of a battery-powered UAV, while taking advantage of hydrogen, a high-energy fuel. Fuel cells create an electrical current when they convert hydrogen and oxygen into water and heat. The 550 Watt (0.75 horsepower) fuel cell onboard the Ion Tiger has about four times the efficiency of a comparable internal combustion engine and the system provides seven times the energy in the equivalent weight of batteries. The Ion Tiger weighs approximately 37 pounds and carries a 4- to 5-pound payload.

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Tags: electric fuel, energy fuel, flight endurance record, fuel cell, fuel cells, high energy, hydrogen, naval research laboratory, propulsion system, uav, unmanned air vehicle

This entry was posted on Sunday, December 6th, 2009 at 10:12 am and is filed under Cutting-edge Research, Innovation, Project Energy, Science Digest / Science Daily. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.