Fuel cell technologies and their issues and trends in military applications
Student name: Ms Neethu Paul
Guide: Dr O.P. Rao
Year of completion: 2013
Host Organisation: TATA Power SED, Mumbai
Supervisor (Host Organisation): Mr Devendra Goyal
Abstract: The objective of the project being to analyze the option of fuel cell use in military
applications, a detailed study on various fuel cell technologies is carried out. The technology
itself being a vast area of study, the research is limited to a theoretical analysis of its issues
and trends in commercial and army applications. To find the suitability of fuel cell in military
in place of batteries and generators, different components and parameters involved in each
fuel cell technology is scrutinized. Though the fuel cell application in armed forces is very
similar to the commercial, they need to fulfill certain environmental specifications, which is
vital for any military operations. Taking into consideration the fact that the US army is
currently using these cells in their operations opens up the possibility to introduce fuel cell
into Indian army too. Cost not being a major constraint in military, focus is given to the
various issues and challenges involved in using the technology. Moreover, commercialization
of the technology is highly dependent on the support from the government and military
funding. Hence, the current trends and research on this field is also looked into, which shows
a reduction in cost as a matter of great advancements made in the technology during the past
few decades. The research would provide the information on the fuel cell technology, which
is apt for armed force applications with the key observations on this regard.
Keywords: Fuel Cell, Army, Technology, Issues and Trends
