Innovative Advanced Fuel Cell Manufacturing

Practical use of a regenerative fuel cell (RFC) for solar powered aircraft and similar high altitude applications is limited due to a lack of proven technology designed for mission requirements. One of the most important issues to be addressed for high altitude airship applications is the stable, reliable operation of a closed-loop pure oxygen-feed proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Distributed Energy Systems Corp. (DESC) proposes to develop a closed-loop pure oxygen PEMFC for integration into an RFC for high altitude applications. The development of this closed-loop PEMFC is based upon a unique cell architecture designed for space fuel cell technology that has been successfully demonstrated by DESC. Optimizing the hardware for the high altitude fuel cell application requires system level trade studies, fundamental technology development, and sub-scale system level demonstrations that provide a pathway to the final product.