PAGE CONTENTS
Objectives
The aim of the project is to design, build and perform a breadboard demonstration of a closed loop regenerative H2/O2 fuel cell system corresponding to 15 years of a telecom satellite in orbit. Prototech as prime contractor shall use PEM / HTPEM technology, while subcontractor Astrium GmbH – high temperature alkaline technology.
The objective of the project is to design, manufacture and set up a closed loop regenerative fuel cell system for the demonstration of water management and collection of measured performance data. The ultimate goal is to perform a Breadboard Demonstration of a closed loop hydrogen / oxygen regenerative fuel cell system corresponding to 15 years of a telecom satellite in orbit. Two tasks complement the main work: Task 2 – Conceptual design of thermal control system and Task 3 – Preliminary outline of high pressure reactant storage system.
Challenges
The key issues addressed in the project were integration of a phosphoric acid doped PBI-based HTPEM fuel cell stack with a PEM electrolyzer in a closed loop, closed loop design, creation of software to automatically execute breadboard cycle testing, construction and testing of a liquid-cooled HTPEM fuel cell stack.
Plan
The work was broken down in two phases.
Phase 1 – Proof of concept – aimed to prove that the proposed PEM electrolyzer / HTPEM FC stack system was capable to fulfil the requirements (250 cycles with degradation < 0,01% U per cycle).
Phase 2 – Closed loop RFCS demonstration – aimed to design and build a complete closed loop FC – ELY system with water management and thermal control and resulted in demonstration of 1350 complete cycles corresponding to 90 eclipses per year for 15 years in orbit.
Current Status
The main goal of the project has been achieved. The concept of a closed loop FC – ELY system has been proven in Phase 1. Liquid-cooled HTPEM FC stack of 1 kW-class was developed and manufactured by Prototech and used in breadboard testing. Closed loop breadboard demonstrator has been designed, built and successfully operated from 28.09.2012 to 27.11.2012. The system operated autonomously for 1350 FC cycles and a double amount of ELY cycles. Valuable data on the system performance was obtained. In addition, a conceptual design of thermal control system and preliminary design of reactant storage system have been developed.