News

CWRU and Ashlawn Join on Fuel Cell Research

April 26, 2004 by Jeff Shepard

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU, Cleveland, OH) is working with the Ashlawn Group LLC (Alexandria, VA) to develop fuel cells to double the shelf life of the US Department of Defense “smart” munitions. The research also positions Case and Ashlawn to help create much-needed research and development, as well as potentially creating up to 100 manufacturing jobs in two years and an estimated 1,000 jobs for Northeast Ohio in five years jobs. Case and Ashlawn signed a one-year, $500,000 research agreement to work together to develop manufacturing and production capability in Ohio to supply the devices to the military.

Current munitions batteries only last 5 to 10 years. As the US military continues to utilize more “smart” munitions, power supply issues become increasingly critical. Case, through its School of Engineering, has developed the technology that allows very small fuel cells to be built and to deliver the long-range power needed to operate the munitions. Ashlawn is designing patented fuel cells with the appropriate packaging that can withstand the difficult gun-launch environment. Case researchers will be subcontracting with the team at Ashlawn to develop a “meso” fuel cell – about the size of a D-cell battery - for use in smart munitions. The Ashlawn project will work on cell stacks of two different sizes, one roughly the size of a D battery, another the size and weight of an AA battery.