Design and Development of a 30Watt Solid Polymer Electrolyte Fuel Cell Power Source Fueled with Calcium Hydride.

摘要

In recent years MERDCOM has shown renewed interest in the Solid Polymer Electrolyte Hydrogen-Air Fuel Cell. It focuses on the broad spectrum of applications where power requirements are quite small ranging from fractions of a watt to a few hundred watts. Handling simplicity and versatility are of utmost importance in this power range. The SPE cell is uniquely suited. It is operative at about ambient temperatures, is rugged and has excellent life characteristics. Combined with a solid hydrogen source such as calcium hydride or magnesium high energy densities are attainable. A 24 Volt, 30 Watt device was developed under the contract consisting of a static SPE stack integrated with a hydrogen generator utilizing cartridge contained calcium hydride. Even in short missions of a few hours energy densities are well in excess of those obtained with secondary batteries.