AlumiFuel Power Inc., wholly-owned operating subsidiary of AlumiFuel Power, Corp. (“API”), www.AlumiFuelPowerInc.com, while in early production stage, is an alternative energy company with an incredibly portable niche-application hydrogen production technology based on a chemical reaction between water and aluminum, and revolutionized by the Company’s proprietary additives.
API proudly announced the award of a U.S. Navy R&D contract today working in conjunction with the Rockford, Illinois-based Ingenium Technologies, Inc., the team selected for Phase 1 award by the Navy’s Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) program.
An STTR solicitation from the U.S. Department of the Navy, for a new air-independent fuel cell power source to be employed in future Unmanned Undersea Vehicle (UUV) missions, has found its ideal candidate in the API UUV hydrogen generator, which utilizes the same powerful process as the proven PBIS-1000 hydrogen generator used to inflate weather balloons – a process that can be quickly turned on and off, providing instant, on-the-spot supply.
The Navy’s call for an underwater vehicle infrastructure fully-integrated with future surface ships and submarines and capable of helping to achieve battlefield dominance through tactical awareness via autonomous surveillance, mine counter-measures, and transport for special forces units, is answered by this paradigm-shattering combination of hydrogen generation and fuel cells, from which the Navy is anticipating multiple efficiency improvements downstream, notably alleviating mission energy requirements.
Funding and project start date is July 1 this year and the contract will be broken into phases:
• Phase 1: develop a hydrogen generation system based on solid fuel cartridges which can be refueled and which demonstrates continuous production of fuel cell-grade hydrogen for an interval of 8 hours (starting from other such recent systems developed and implemented by API) – typical award of $70k over 7 months with a $30k option
• Phase 2: funding for second phase migration of the system towards commercialization is typically up to $750k
• Phase 3: $3M general ceiling for this phase, which would seek to integrate the technology into existing platforms, resulting in eventual procurement by the Navy
Ingenium will operate as primary contractor, handling the broader aspects of designing the system, and API will provide its key hydrogen generation technology as the fuel source, using Drexel University as an institutional research partner due to the already tightly-knit relationship between AFPW and Drexel Nanotechnology Institute (formed due to the ongoing powder research conducted there by the Company).
This move to capitalize on two years of success in supplying defense contractors with novel hydrogen generation solutions for a variety of U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and commercial marketplace submersibles is a major “first step”, according to President & CEO of API, David Cade, towards developing and commercializing the Company’s “multiple power source approach for UUVs”, which offers substantial benefits to existing technologies.
Mr. Cade concluded by expressing his confidence that, working with the Ingenium team, API would be able to solve the power source problem and enhance the Navy’s war-fighting capabilities profoundly.
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