SUAV: Project Case Study to Integrate a Tubular Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Hybrid System into a Small UAV

SUAV is a 4 year investigation with the aim of designing, manufacturing and integrating a 3kg Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) into an existing 11kg fixed wing UAV which is already in commercial service. The project comprises of a collaboration of ten partners, each having a commercial or scientific interest in the design. Individual partners provide specific specialist knowledge at system component level.

This paper will present an overview of the problem space and show the methods used to generate the system level requirements. A top level overview of the resultant system design is also given.