Portable fuel cells integrating SFC technology win U.S. Department of Defense’s Wearable Power Prize for mobile power supply solutions 

1st place (prize money: US$ 1 mio): Portable M-25 fuel cell prototype

3rd place (prize money: US$ 250.000)   Commercial JENNY 600S portable fuel cell

From Left: Dennis Kountz, DuPont; Christian Böhm and Dr. Peter Podesser, SFC; Undersecretary of Defense John J. Young-Jr.; Sevilay Kaya, SFC; Mark S. Baunchalk, DuPont; Christoph Sonntag, SFC

 

SFC is especially proud to announce: In the internationally renowned Wearable Power Prize Competition of the U.S. Defense Department two portable fuel cell systems integrating SFC technology won first AND third prize.

The Department of Defense Research and Engineering established the Wearable Power Prize in 2007 to encourage innovation in energy systems carried by personnel during field missions.

The Test

The tested systems had to perform in hard realistic field scenarios. Attached to a standard military vest, the systems were required to provide 20W of average electric power for 96 hours, meet brief peak-power demands of up to 200W and weigh no more than 4 kg (8.8 pounds). After that they had to pass a simulated field use.

The SFC Systems:

SFC entered two different systems in two team efforts in the challenge:

Together with U.S. technology partner DuPont: the prototype of the M-25 Portable Fuel Cell System by SFC
Together with U.S. partner Capitol Connections LLC: the commercially available portable Jenny fuel cell by SFC

Both SFC systems entered followed SFC’s proven hybrid approach, successfully used with almost all SFC fuel cell systems: to meet peak power demands up to 200 W both systems cooperated with a special lithium ion hybrid battery. While the battery easily covers peak power demands, the fuel cell automatically recharges the battery on demand, thus ensuring that the battery does not become empty. This approach is ideally complemented by SFC’s long expertise in power management: both systems feature an integrated charge control for a flexible, fully automatic, performance optimized battery recharge. By means of integrated 12 and 24 V outputs both systems self-adjust to the required voltage without requiring user interventions. In addition, both systems – just like all SFC fuel cells – are characterized by safe and easy handling and a considerably reduced weight compared to traditional battery power solutions.

The Result:

…and the Winner is:

Under the harsh test conditions described above the portable SFC fuel cell system M-25, entered in a team effort with DuPont, won the $1 million first prize against 170 competing systems.

Award ceremony 1. Prize, from left: Dave Schimmel, U.S. Army PEO Soldier; Dennis Kountz, DuPont; Mark S. Baunchalk, DuPont; Sevilay Kaya and Christoph Sonntag, SFC.

…two systems entered – two systems won:

SFC’s Jenny fuel cell, entered with U.S. partner Capitol Connections LLC of Middleburg, Va., won $250,000 for third prize in the competition. The Jenny fuel cell is already commercially available worldwide for defense applications

Award ceremony 3. Prize, from left: Peter Rabenseifner, SFC; Jim Stephens, Capitol Connections LLC

Better than the Requirements

Contrary to competing fuel cell systems, both winning SFC fuel cell systems still had considerable fuel reserves at the end: the tanks contained still more than 100 g methanol at the end of the tests. In addition, the batteries, too, were still fully charged and could have operated the devices for many more hours. This clearly shows that even in these harsh test scenarios both systems still had plenty of capacity.

Together with the two winning systems SFC had sent two additional non-competing fuel cell systems into the test. These two systems, too, performed reliably and met all requirements. This clearly proves the consistent performance of SFC’s portable fuel cell systems in defense applications and shows that they – just like the mobile EFOY fuel cells for industry and leisure applications – have now become the gold standard in fuel cell power solutions for defense applications.

Fuel Cells – The best Technology wins

Another important result of this Challenge: even though the request for proposal of the WPP Challenge did not draw any limitations as to the kind of power solution to be used, in the end there were four fuel cell systems among the top five winners. This is ample proof for the fact that the hybrid approach combining a power generator (fuel cell) with a power storage (battery) results in the lowest weight and the highest power density possible. Competing technologies based on primary batteries could not keep up with these advantages. The results signalize: fuel cells are definitely becoming one of the most important power solutions for defense applications.

Infrastructure and safety – addressed and resolved by SFC

The SFC fuel cell systems in the test used non-pressurized methanol declared safe for use on soldiers in Army Research Lab and Natick Soldier Center investigations and tests. Here, again, SFC’s many years of commitment in providing safe, user friendly fuel solutions and in creating international fuel infrastructure networks, fully paid out. All SFC fuel cartridges are safety tested and carry the respective TUEV and other safety seals. With this, SFC has a clear safety advantage in operation, storage and transport matters over pressurized gases like hydrogen, propane or butane use in competitor products.

Summary:

Excellent, innovative technology combined with many years of application and power management expertise and dedicated infrastructure commitment form the basis for the victory of both SFC fuel cell systems in the Wearable Power Prize Challenge.

More information on the Jenny fuel cell at http://www.sfc.com/en/man-portable.html