How Do Propane Fuel Cells Work?

A series of subsystem upgrades – known collectively as the “Havoc” configuration – has doubled the flight endurance and payload capacity of the base VXE30 Stalker system.

San Luis Obispo, CA – May 6, 2024 – Edge Autonomy, a leading provider of uncrewed autonomous systems, announced today a major performance enhancement to the field-proven VXE30 Stalker UAS. Through a series of subsystem upgrades – known collectively as the “Havoc” configuration – Edge Autonomy has doubled the flight endurance and payload capacity of the base VXE30 Stalker system, closing the gap between the capabilities of small UAS and large UAS.

“We have been evolving the Stalker series for nearly two decades, and the VXE30 is the product of intense mission-focused innovation to meet the real needs of our customers,” said Joshua Stinson, Chief Growth Officer for Edge Autonomy. “The Havoc configuration builds on years of deployed operations and direct user feedback accumulated over more than 100,000 flight hours across six continents to provide the warfighter with an unparalleled system that is ready for use on the battlefield.”

“Our goal was to provide a single, highly flexible UAS that could meet the needs of a wide range of operational units, from the company level to the brigade,” said Allen Gardner, CTO of Edge Autonomy. “By upgrading key subsystems on the VXE30, we can provide a solution that is light and mobile enough for small forward-deployed units while also able to hit the payload capacity, range, and endurance numbers of the higher echelons – all with the field-proven, silent, VTOL configuration UAS that our customers have relied on for years.”

With the flexibility and adaptability to host a wide variety of configurations – all without wasting time and budget on reconfiguring the airframe itself – the Havoc not only meets the demanding mission challenges faced by today’s uncrewed aerial systems but anticipates potential issues facing the battlefields of the future.

Current VXE30 operators require no additional training in order to operate the Havoc configuration, and all user interfaces remain unchanged between the various configurations of VXE30. The system remains payload agnostic and is prepped for third party integrations through a Modular Open Systems Approach (MOSA) frequently utilized by customers to integrate new payloads and subsystems without the need for Edge Autonomy support.

“Edge Autonomy is committed to meeting the changing needs of the warfighters we support, and we are excited to see what they will accomplish with the Havoc” said John Purvis, CEO of Edge Autonomy. “We built a system that would be easily reconfigurable, giving operators equipment to meet the growing mission demands they are facing now and in the future.”

About Edge Autonomy

Edge Autonomy is a leader in providing innovative autonomous systems, advanced optics, and resilient energy solutions to the U.S. Department of Defense, U.S. Federal Civilian Agencies, allied governments, academic institutions, and commercial entities. We believe that innovation – in all forms, from all sources, and at all stages of development – creates solutions that enable mission success. Our uncrewed technologies are used in nearly 80 countries by government, commercial, and academic customers.

Edge Autonomy has a team of 600 employees and draws on nearly four decades of proven aerospace engineering, manufacturing expertise, and advanced technology. With headquarters in San Luis Obispo, CA and nearly 300,000 square feet of manufacturing and production capabilities across the U.S. and abroad, Edge Autonomy’s experienced team delivers mission-focused results around the world.

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A fuel cell converts chemical energy of a fuel, like propane or hydrogen, into cleanly and efficiently produced electricity. Fuel cells are unique in part because of their flexibility and ability to be used in a variety of applications; they can provide power for systems as large as utility power grids and as small as a drone. There are different types of fuel cells, but today we’re going to focus on propane fuel cells.

Why Propane Fuel Cells?

When people think of fuel cells, hydrogen is often the first type to come to mind. They’re reliable in normal conditions and have low greenhouse gas emissions.

However, hydrogen presents a host of limitations: high cost, lack of portability, patchwork delivery infrastructure and unreliable performance in extreme weather conditions. However, it is inefficient to convert hydrogen into power when compared to how efficiently the same process is done with propane.

Just like hydrogen, propane-powered fuel cells burn clean with low-carbon emissions. But propane fuel cells have the added benefits of reliability in extreme temperatures and no routine maintenance requirements.

As a fuel, propane has a host of benefits. It’s cheap, reliable and readily available — even at offgrid or remote locations anywhere in the world. Plus propane does not degrade over time. While diesel can hydrolyze, oxidize or grow microorganisms within six months of storage, propane can remain stable for 10 to 30 years. It’s also great in extreme weather conditions, including freezing temperatures thanks to the lack of liquid water. That’s why our Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) systems can sit idle for years and then cycle on when needed. Especially in remote areas where fuel must be airlifted, the reliability of propane is crucial.

How Propane Fuel Cells Work

Propane fuel cells electrochemically convert propane into electrical power. A fuel cell is composed of an anode, cathode and an electrolyte membrane. An anode is the negative electrode that propane atoms enter into, releasing their electrons and oxidizing during the electrochemical reaction. The cathode is the positive electrode where the positively-charged propane atoms take on electrons from the external circuit and are reduced during the electrochemical reaction. Here’s a quick step by step of the process:

Propane breaks down into hydrogen and carbon monoxide (both fuels for SOFCs).
Hydrogen enters the anode and electrons are ripped away, traveling to the cathode where they combine with oxygen to make an oxygen ion.
The oxygen ion travels through the electrolyte and combines with the electron-deficient hydrogen to form water.
Power is then harnessed by placing a load, battery, pump, light bulb, etc. in the circuit between the anode and the cathode so that the removed electron has to pass through the load device to make its way back to the cathode.
The presence of water and carbon monoxide in an SOFC will react to form carbon dioxide and more hydrogen — this reaction is called the water gas shift reaction.

And propane fuel cells can be used in a wide range of applications thanks to how quiet, clean, and dependable they are. You can see how Adaptive Energy’s customers are utilizing fuel cells for backup and off grid power here.

How Do Propane Fuel Cells Work?

A series of subsystem upgrades – known collectively as the “Havoc” configuration – has doubled the flight endurance and payload capacity of the base VXE30 Stalker system.

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