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The Korean hydrogen fuel cell-powered drone flew a successful test flight on Tuesday. /Courtesy of KAIST
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A team of Korean researchers has developed an unmanned aerial vehicle, or drone, capable of flying more than 10 hours on one charge of its hydrogen fuel cell. That's a remarkable feat considering a U.S.-made drone that is powered by batteries can fly only 40 to 60 minutes. The researchers expect the hydrogen fuel cell used in the drone will also be used in digital cameras and robots.
The team from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) led by Prof. Kwon Se-jin and Shim Hyun-chul from the department of aerospace engineering said on Tuesday that they succeeded in fitting out the small drone with a fuel cell and that it performed a long-term flight.
Water can be separated into hydrogen and oxygen by using an electrical current. A hydrogen fuel cell, on the other hand, produces electricity through a chemical reaction between hydrogen and oxygen. Last year a joint research team from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory and Georgia Institute of Technology developed a drone that uses compressed hydrogen gas to lengthen its flight time.
According to Prof. Kwon, sodium borohydride, the liquid fuel used in the fuel cell, can produce more hydrogen than hydrogen gas and is also more convenient for commercialization. The hydrogen fuel cell produces about 10 times more electricity than existing batteries, making it an attractive power source for robots and digital cameras.
The team's drone measures 1.2 m wide and 0.7 m high and weighs 2 kg, including the 750 g fuel cell system. That's about the same size as U.S. military drones. With 500 grams of fuel, the fuel cell drone can fly more than 10 hours.
"The research team is consulting with Korea Aerospace Industries and Uconsystem, aiming at commercializing the hydrogen fuel cell within two years," Prof. Kwon said. The researchers plan to develop an automatic flight control system that will allow the drone to remain in the air for extended periods.
(englishnews@chosun.com )
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