Hydrogen Storage

This technology was the Air Force winner in the OSD Office of Technology Transition & DoD TechMatch Hot Technologies Contest. This invention is a step forward in the utilization of fuel-cell technology, particularly in the personal electric power sector. It constitutes a significant underpinning to future developments in this arena, and is a critical component to successful storage and use of hydrogen fuel. The combination of a hydrogen generator, ammonia fuse, and a fuel cell will outperform the most energetic batteries currently available by a factor of two in specific energy (aka energy density). Such a system for personal electric power was conceived, developed, and tested for military use, where it would power devices such as radios, night vision goggles, laser range finders, GPS receivers, and other similar military hardware totaling about 15 to 150 watts of power consumption. The commercial equivalent of those military needs are easily envisaged; notebook computer, cell phone, music player, GPS receiver, PDA, video player, ebook. The power requirements are similar. The invention, also known as an ammonia fuse, controls gas flow when a feed gas and a contaminant gas are present. In an environment containing hydrogen gas as a fuel, this invention prevents contaminants from polluting the fuel supply to a contaminant-sensitive device such as a fuel cell. The ammonia fuse would be an essential part of an ammonia-hydride hydrogen generator, which can provide hydrogen fuel to a fuel cell for the purpose of electrical power production Benefits: Pure hydrogen is supplied to the fuel cell. The overall mass of the hydrogen generator, ammonia fuse, and fuel cell weighs significantly less than that of batteries producing the same amount of energy. The savings is at least a factor of two, comparing a PEM fuel cell with BA5590 primary lithium/SO2 batteries.