The pioneering helicopter flight, using a high power density PEM fuel cell, took place on October 11, on the East Hartford campus of UTRC, the central research and innovation arm of United Technologies Corporation.
The remote-controlled helicopter, originally designed to run on batteries, had a rotor diameter of 2 m and a takeoff weight of 10 kg. The helicopter is capable of carrying a 5 lb (2.3 kg) payload.
The fuel cell powered flight lasted approximately 20 minutes, but the UTRC team plans to demonstrate longer helicopter flight durations in the future.
The helicopter power plant is a PEM fuel cell prototype developed by UTRC, and based on proprietary fuel cell technology from UTC Power. The maximum output power of the fuel cell was 1.75 kW, with the system power density exceeding 500 W/kg.
The hydrogen was stored in a 4200 psi (290 bar) pressurized tank. In the self-sustaining system, the fuel cell power plant automatically starts with the supply of hydrogen. There are no additional batteries.
‘Achieving vertical flight represents a key milestone in fuel cell powered flight, as the power density requirements are much greater than for fixed wing aircraft,’ says Dr David Parekh, Vice President for Research, and UTRC Director. ‘In addition, this environmentally friendly power system produces zero pollution, zero emissions of greenhouse gases, and operates with very low noise.’