General Atomics to Develop Hydrogen Fueling System for US Army

General Atomics Electromagnetic Systems (GA-EMS) has been awarded a contract from the US Army Contracting Command for a high-pressure hydrogen generation system to support refueling of hydrogen vehicles in the field.

Under the two-year contract, GA-EMS will develop, fabricate, and demonstrate a hydrogen on-demand platform using the company’s proprietary aluminum alloy hydrogen producing technology.

“Vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells offer a more reliable, efficient, quiet, reduced thermal signature and environmentally-sound option to support field operations,” stated Scott Forney, president of GA-EMS. “With a battlefield-based hydrogen fueling station, the Army can improve vehicle range, improve efficiency, and reduce dependency on oil and the logistical burden that is associated with it.

Under this contract, we will provide a deployable, hydrogen generation platform with the capability to produce high-purity, high-pressure hydrogen for more efficient ground vehicle support.”

GA-EMS will design, fabricate and test a prototype mobile platform for the on-demand generation of high pressure hydrogen. Hydrogen will be generated through a reaction between water and a dry, bulk-transportable aluminum alloy.

The system uses locally available water resources, thus eliminating the need to transport water to the refueling site. On-demand hydrogen generation also eliminates the need to transport and store large amounts of hydrogen, along with the associated safety concerns, to support longer range power requirements.