US looks to H2 cartridges to power drone flight

Known as FLASH (Fuel Additives for Solid Hydrogen), the one-year project will look to advance a new hydrogen carrier technology developed at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as part of a previous research programme. Honeywell said it will provide technological expertise, testing for the fuel cartridge technology, supply chain support, prototyping and fuel cell evaluation. According to the partners, H2 cartridges have the potential to dramatically boost the range of electrified UAVs, where battery power limits range and payload.

FLASH will seek to deliver an alternative approach whereby solid hydrogen storage is coupled to a fuel cell that converts hydrogen to electricity. The resulting system will enable long-range flights, but without the noise and tail-pipe emissions of combustion engines. It will also enable sensitive drone applications like atmospheric monitoring, where exhaust gases and engines could reduce performance.

“Today’s long-range drones are typically powered by internal combustion engines,” said Katherine Hurst, NREL senior scientist and group manager. “While they provide the required range that battery-powered electric UAVs lack, these engines have issues with excessive noise, vibration and emissions, including carbon emissions. This is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate the performance of hydrogen storage materials that we developed in our laboratory together with Honeywell to fuel a real-life flying vehicle.”