Engineering news
Founded at Imperial College and University College London, Bramble Energy today (3 October) said its new solution could create a $100-per-kilowatt stack – ten-times cheaper than conventional fuel cell costs. That could reach as low as $60 due to economies of scale, the company added.
The new paper presents the firm’s patented printed circuit board (PCB) fuel cell technology, and describes how “innovative design, materials selection, and manufacturing processes” will help achieve its ambitious goals.
Unlike traditional fuel cell technologies, Bramble said its PCB-based approach allows for high-volume production within existing facilities. The throughput of a UK prototyping PCB facility is about 250 panels per day, but larger facilities typically handle 25,000 panels per day. High-volume facilities also work with larger panel sizes, which are more cost-effective and allow further freedom of design, Bramble said.
The core substrate of Bramble's PCB fuel cell is a standard PCB laminate, which serves as a bipolar plate, providing structural integrity and fulfilling all typical and complex fuel cell functional roles including gasketing, current collection, sealing and more. These standardised materials are widely used across the PCB industry. “This has resulted in significant economies of scale, accessible even at the smallest production and prototype values,” the announcement said.
PCB laminates are made of conductive and dielectric materials, and are produced in panels. Bramble uses these panels to provide both structural integrity for a gas-tight cell, and electrical conductivity. A single sheet can produce ‘numerous’ fuel cell modules, depending on form factor. Through designing fuel cell form factors to fit within a panel, Bramble said it can maximise material utilisation and further reduce cost.
“Industries are in desperate need of attainable, sustainable, clean energy solutions, so our mission at Bramble Energy is removing the biggest barriers to hydrogen adoption,” said Dr Tom Mason, Bramble Energy co-founder and CEO.
“With high cost hindering the hydrogen fuel cell industry for years, this white paper demonstrates how our printed circuit board fuel cell technology can deliver fuel cells at an achievable cost and the speed at which it be realised compared to existing technology. We hope this paper will provide industries from mobility to energy storage the encouragement for fuel cell technology to reach mass adoption as quickly as possible, and as a result, begin decarbonising immediately.”
The technology is in early-phase testing and in-work through Bramble’s UK supply chain. Short stack testing will be conducted at the end of the year after further core module optimisation, and full stack testing is expected in Spring 2024.
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