“Das Boot” is now cleaner, greener and earth friendly

If you’ve been patiently waiting for a hydrogen fuel cell car and just can’t understand why it’s taking the automotive designers so long to come out with an engine design that works take heart; the military is way ahead of the curve.
For nearly four years Germany has had a prototype hydrogen fuel cell powered attack submarine in its arsenal and now has another three under construction. Dubbed the ‘type 212A’ this sub features a traditional diesel/electric power plant with a new silent running 50kW Siemens proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell plant, which produces electrical energy from oxygen and hydrogen, and permits the new class of submarines to cruise under water for weeks without surfacing. Unlike the reactor power plant of a nuclear powered submarine, the hydrogen fuel cell produces no heat thereby eliminating the tell tale detectable wake of warm water that nuclear boats release into the ocean. Needless to say the navies of the world are very excited about this new development with Italy, Greece, Portugal and South Korea either ordering or building their own versions of the sub under license. An improved fuel cell is also under development that will deliver 120kW per module that will permit even longer submerged operations.
This sub is the child of the traditional diesel/electric submarine that has been around since World War I that featured an air gulping, exhaust spewing diesel engine for surface cruising and a battery powered electric motor for underwater operations. Unfortunately the batteries were huge and heavy and never delivered enough juice to allow the sub more than a few hours of slow underwater prowling. The nuclear power plants that were developed during the 1950’s seemed to solve all of these problems. They offered an engine that could run independent of the atmosphere and could keep things humming along underwater at high speed for as long as the crew had food or could stand not seeing daylight. It was a perfect solution until navies developed even more sophisticated detection technology to track the little sounds that reactors gave off (think Hunt for Red October) and of course there was that warm water. Oh, and then there were the series of at-sea accidents that the Soviets had as reactors failed, boats sank and crew members were exposed to lethal doses of radiation.
But I digress from my opening; waiting for the auto industry to muddle through the hydrogen fuel cell development mess. Kind of amazing that they can develop something to push a submarine through the water, but can’t move a car with the same technology, technology that is both clean and affordable. But then again the military has never been affordable has it? Governments will pour billions into quiet submarines, but what are they currently investing in clean alternatives to the internal combustion engine? Oh right, there was an electric car once, wasn’t there?
Sources: www.fuelcelltoday.com www.deagel.com