re: #62 Dark_Falcon

Fuel Cells seem a better idea for places that are often cloudy or rainy. The Army is also rebuilding a pair of older M1A1 to test the use of Fuel cells in tanks. Naturally, the rebuild will also give them the newest fire control systems. Hopefully, it works well. If we could power our M1’s that way, the Army would save on fuel costs and the operational ranges of ourt anks would be increased. It would also mean less CO2 getting pumped into the atmosphere, which would be a very good thing.

That should work great, actually. Fuel cells can run with up to 60-70% efficiency, and while hydrogen storage is a bit of an annoyance, a properly specified compressed H2 tank should work well. Also, the electric motors used for the drive system have exactly the right power and torque curves for a combat tank (full torque from zero RPM and laser level torque through most of the RPM range).

The other major problems with fuel cells aren’t a big deal, because it’s the military. I’m thinking primarily of the fuel distribution network issues (generating H2 and making it available at refueling station the below-average person can reasonably use).

Finally, there’s some cool opportunities here. A next gen pebble bed reactor could be made small enough that you could package it up with a high-temperature high-efficiency electrolysis plant and drop ship it to a forward base with a ready water supply. No supply lines for your fuel. Normally, I’m an advocate for internal combustion and biofuels, but off the top of my head, hydrogen seems like it could be an excellent technology for the military.