Conceptual Design of Turbocharged High Temperature PEM Fuel Cell Based Energy Storage System for Advanced Airborne Applications

The objective of this this Direct to Phase II effort is to design of a 500 kW-class turbocharged HTPEM hydrogen fuel cell system for use in manned aircraft with energy density five times greater than current batteries. This effort leverages ongoing IR&D and AFWERX Phase I STTR investment in turbocharged HTPEM hydrogen fuel cell technology, including system design, architecture development and ground-based fuel cell component lab tests. Successful development of air borne HTPEM Fuel Cell technology will enable eVTOL to meet customer requirements, eliminating battery risks while posturing the technology for DoD applications such as distributed logistics, rescue and MEDEVAC. FAA certification of HTPEM Fuel Cell technology on the PA-890 will open broader aviation and ground-based applications of this transformative technology. The research and development of high reliability light weight electric power systems that leverages the extreme energy density of hydrogen is a key enabler for the development and deployment of eVTOL platforms. The proposed research in an air borne turbo air-cooled High Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (HTPEM) hydrogen fuel cell power system will be conducted to assure power densities, failure modes, reliability and maintainability are achieved at scale.