Ceramic Fuel Cells Develops More Powerful Technology

The new fuel cell stacks are designed to produce 1 kilowatt (kW) of electricity and less than 1 kW of heat. The new fuel cell and re-designed system components reduce the system cost in preparation for volume manufacture. The new stack is more easily integrated into distributed generation appliances.

The cells use thin-film technology, comprising very thin electrolytes, which are better at conducting oxygen ions. This increases the amount of electricity that each cell can generate. The new metal-ceramic fuel cell stack combines technical features and intellectual property from CFCL's achievements in developing all-ceramic and metal-ceramic stacks.

CFCL has improved several key components that integrate the fuel cell stack into a m-CHP unit: a 50% smaller steam generator, a 40% smaller heat exchanger, and a 75% reduction in the airflow through the system.

Brendan Dow, Chief Executive of Ceramic Fuel Cells, commented, "We look forward to the next stage of integrating our new fuel cell stacks into micro-CHP units, working closely with our power company customers and appliance manufacturers. We are also ramping up production of these new cells, initially in our Melbourne pilot plant and then in our planned large scale manufacturing plant in Europe."