Technologies

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Solid Oxide Fuel Cell for Mobility Systems

Technology Overview

To combat climate change, the transportation sector, which is one of the largest contributors to greenhouse gas emission, has been actively seeking alternatives to replace fossil fuel vehicles. One potential solution is solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) vehicles which has zero emission while utilising clean and green fuel source.

The technology owner has developed a SOFC that is able to convert hydrogen into electricity by chemical reaction at an extremely high efficiency. It can utilise hydrogen directly or harvest hydrogen from green hydrocarbons – e-fuels (butane, propane, LPG, CNG etc.). This technology has been applied to the development of the powertrain for vehicles with a fully electric range of 1400 km at 1/4 of current powertrain costs.

Technology Features, Specifications and Advantages

The technology provider has developed a new compact and highly efficient SOFC which runs on hydrogen. This technology can directly utilise hydrogen or harvest the hydrogen from e-fuels. This allows the technology to tap onto existing fuelling infrastructure until green hydrogen becomes readily available. Using this technology, the owner has developed an electric powertrain with a range of 1400 km at only 1/4 of the current cost (no platinum required) with only a 5 min refuelling time. Lastly, the powertrain solution developed using this technology is cheaper than battery electric vehicles (EVs) and traditional combustion vehicles.

Potential Applications

The primary application for this technology would be for transportation sector especially for EVs. This technology would be able to decrease charging time and costs while increasing the range of the EVs. An example of this would be an EV using this technology only takes seconds to charge with a range of 1000 miles and can be charge using existing e-fuels, hydrogen, LPG or CNG gas station infrastructure.

Another potential application for this technology would be for the drone industry. Currently, drones carrying high loads that runs on batteries can only stay in the air for up to 40 minutes. Adaptation of this technology extends the flight duration to 24 hours.

Considering just EVs, the estimated market size for this technology is US$171B and expected to grow to US$802B by 2027.

Customer Benefit

This technology has multiple application possibilities like airspace, automotive, e-bikes, trains and emergency generators. It can provide improved performance and cost saving capabilities compared to conventional batteries etc. Furthermore, this technology requires little to no additional adaptions on the SOFC itself.

The technology owner is looking for partners in automotive and airspace with emphasis on the electric mobility market. The owner is looking to develop and integrate their technology into the assemblies and electronics made by partners.

OVERVIEW
Contact Person

Martin Pentenrieder

Organisation

kraftwerk TUBES GmbH

Technology Category

  • Energy
  • Fuel Cells

Technology Readiness Level

Keywords

fuelcell, hydrogen, e-fuels, aSOFC, energy, innovation, future, mobility