H-Cell Generators

            MF’s use a new marvel of technology known as a Hyper Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell or H-Cell as it is commonly referred as to provide power to all the applications used. The H-Cell’s basic principle is that a single cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity.

            The H-Cell is composed of 4 parts:
The Anode: The negative post of the H-Cell has several jobs. It conducts the electrons that are freed from the hydrogen molecules so that they can be used in an external circuit. It has channels etched into it that disperse the hydrogen gas equally over the surface of the catalyst.
The Cathode: The positive post of the H-Cell has channels etched into it that distribute the oxygen to the surface of the catalyst. It also conducts the electrons back from the external circuit to the catalyst, where they can recombine with the hydrogen ions and oxygen to form water.
The Electrolyte: This is the proton exchange membrane. This specially treated material only conducts positively charged ions. The membrane blocks electrons.
The Catalyst: This is a special material that facilitates the reaction of oxygen and hydrogen. It is usually made of platinum powder very thinly coated onto carbon paper or cloth. The catalyst is rough and porous so that the maximum surface area of the platinum can be exposed to the hydrogen or oxygen. The platinum coated side of the catalyst faces the PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane)

            H-Cells are much more powerful than the more common Fuel Cell which only produces about .7 volts. A single H-Cell produces up to 2.8 volts.
The H-Cell is fueled by a Hydrogen Capsule (H-Capsule), a technology that was created during the first explorations to Mars where the once limited Hydrogen became excessive. 

Electrostatic Ion Thruster (Ion-Thruster)

            This is the main type of thruster used to power the acceleration and flight of MFs. This type of design utilizing the electricity created by the H-Cell, specifically it uses high voltage electrodes in order to accelerate ions with electrostatic forces.
Operation

1. Fuel atoms are injected into the propulsion chamber. The fuel atoms are bombarded with electrons from a hollow cathode, causing the atoms to lose electrons of their own and become ionized, thus forming positive ions. The thruster walls and grid absorb the lost electrions.
2. The positively charged ions move towards the exit of the chamber due to diffusion. Ions will leak into a plasma sheath just upstream of the positively charged grid.
3. Once ions enter the sheath they see the potential between the positive and negative grids at the exit of the chamber, they are electrostatically accelerated away from the positive grid and towards the negative one.
4. The positive grid is at a much higher potential than the negative grid, thus the negative grid pulls on the positive ions. As the ions approach the negative grid they are electrostatically focused through the apertures of the negative grid and out at a high speed.
5. The expelled ions propel the MF in the opposite direction according to Newton’s 3rd law, "For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction."
6. Electrons are shot from a cathode, called the neutralizer, towards the ions behind the MF to ensure that equal amounts of positive and negative charge are ejected. Neutralizing is needed to prevent the MF from gaining a net negative charge.

Fuel for Ion-Thrusters
            Ion-Thrusters use Xenon atoms for fuel; they are much less corrosive and became the fuel of choice.

Plasma Thrusters

            Is another type of thruster that is only used in prototype experiments, it is a type of ion thruster in which the MF is accelerated by an electric field in a plasma discharge with a radial magnetic field. P-Thrusters use the Hall Effect to trap electrons and then use the electrons to ionize propellant, efficiently accelerate the ions to produce thrust, and neutralize the ions in the plume.

Magnetoplasmadynamic (MPD) Thruster
           
A highly experimental type of thruster that is a form of electric propulsion which uses the Lorentz Force (a force resulting from the interaction between a magnetic field and an electric current) to generate thrust. The MPD thruster produce extremely high specific impulses of up to and beyond 11,000s (110 km/s exhaust velocity.) Which is triple the value of xenon-based ion thrusters.  Its main feature is its high fuel efficiency. It is fueled by any gaseous substance.

The Nuclear Fission Reactor/Generator

            This type of nuclear reactor is based on fission reactions which split the nucleus of an atom into two smaller fragments with a neutron. This method usually involves isotopes of uranium (uranium-235, uranium-33) or plutonium-239)
A nuclear reactor requires neutrons that have slowed down, and because of this the reactor/generator has a built-in delay and cannot explode like a nuclear bomb. The chain reaction is controlled by the use of miniaturized control rods which are inserted among the fuel of the reactor. These control rods strongly absorb neutrons- e.g. of the metal cadmium, also used in electroplating. By absorbing free neutrons, these rods slow down or stop the chain reaction. Due to nature 1% of the neutrons released in fission are not emitted rapidly but are delayed, by a fraction of a second. Reactors/generators operate to produce barely enough neutrons to sustain a chain reaction. If for some reason the heat output starts to rise, the delayed neutrons slow down the rate of increase to where an automatic mechanism lowering or raising the control rods is fast enough to stop it.
In the past Nuclear waste was a problem however new resources and materials have been dug up from Mars and have allowed the creations of converters that absorb the nuclear waste and accelerate the “burn out” to occur in a period under 30 minutes. The converters are wrapped tightly in an alloy that impedes the radiation so the pilot resting in the cockpit would remain safe. The benefits of a fission reactor/generator would be that it creates a nearly infinite supply of energy for the MF.
However this is a theory and a single nuclear reactor/generator that would replace the H-Cell has yet to be successfully created.