Ultra small 700 bar hydrogen/oxygen tank?

[SteveDeFacto]

I want to build a toy quadcopter but with a 1w fuel cell. I'm hoping it will last hours instead of minutes. I've found reasonably priced 1w fuel cells that are light enough but I can't find any small 700 bar tanks to hold the hydrogen and oxygen. Anyone know where I can find small tanks that can hold such great pressures?

 

[CaptainPanic]

The market for such things is so tiny (if it exists at all) that you will probably just have to phone someone working at a company that deals with high pressure systems, or perhaps is specialized in the construction of lab equipment and hydrogen lab-infrastructures.

 

Also, it's gonna be heavy. I'd be surprised if it was light enough to build into a helicopter or quadcopter.

[Enthalpy]

Some directions :

 

- Find a methanol-fuelled cell.

- See what drones use. Many ones fly on fuel cells but they're bigger.

- Check the minimum weight of a hydrogen tank (don't store oxygen, use air) and compare it with a lithium battery. I bet hydrogen is worse.

- Store liquid hydrogen instead. Polystyrene foam is light.

 

Some hydrides and chemical reactions release hydrogen but I expect them all to weigh more than a lithium battery.

[InigoMontoya]

Do they make butane powered cells?

 

With just a very small amount of pressure you get a liquid fuel (energy density goes way up).