Eatontown, N.J., 10 July 2006. Millennium Cell Inc., a developer of hydrogen battery technology, has been awarded a $730,000 Phase II Small Business Innovation Research Program (SBIR) contract by the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM). Under this two-year program, the company and its subcontractor ReliOn, a Spokane, Wash.-based fuel cell manufacturer, will develop a modular 500-watt power system with the ability to use available field water with a variety of impurities.
The power system will combine Millennium Cell's Hydrogen on Demand technology and ReliOn's Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell to create a 500-watt hydrogen battery. The completed system will be evaluated by Selfridge Air National Guard Base and have the capability to support a number of military uses including silent watch power, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) countermeasure systems, battery charging, and critical backup power for telecom, as well as communications equipment for air traffic control.
The standardized 500-watt hydrogen storage modules will be designed to run in parallel or in series with a modular fuel cell to reach power ranges of up to 5kW and can provide for extended run times for applications as needed at lower power ranges.
ReliOn, maker of modular, cartridge-based, PEM fuel cells for stationary and backup power applications, will provide fuel cells and integration support for the program.
Concurrent Technologies Corporation of Johnstown, Penn., will test the system.
"This contract will fund the development of a flexible, fully modular, efficient, and lightweight power source that can provide the military with an inherently safe, state-of-the-art solution for a variety of applications," says H. David Ramm, Millennium Cell CEO.
