North Haven, CT (April 4, 2022) – Precision Combustion, Inc. (PCI) announced today that PCI’s “Additively Manufactured Electrochemical-Chip Based Scalable Solid Oxide Fuel Cells” proposal was selected for award under the Advanced Research Project Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) 2021 OPEN program. The OPEN program supports novel approaches to the nation’s clean energy challenges.
PCI’s $1.5 million two-year OPEN project will advance solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system design through additive manufacturing of key components, and will include working with the Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology (CCAT) and others. The design offers improved start-up times, compactness, repeatability, efficiency, and cost-effectiveness, and is targeted for transportation and distributed power applications for both commercial and military uses. The system will be designed for operation on both conventional and future fuels, and will reduce the carbon footprint for power generation. A successful outcome would also address shortcomings of state-of-the-art H2-Fuel Cell and battery electric vehicles by reducing challenges arising from material costs and availability (lithium for batteries; platinum for PEM fuel cells), and range limitations (limited onboard high-pressure H2 storage or battery capacity, and availability of H2 and charging network). PCI will build on its portfolio of technologies including reforming reactors, sulfur cleanup, combustors, power and control electronics, packaging, and hybridized power generation systems.
The U.S. transportation sector produces nearly 2 billion metric tons of CO2 emissions annually. SOFC systems efficiently using carbon-neutral fuels offer a sustainable, low carbon alternative without compromising performance or cost. PCI’s President Kevin Burns stated, “The ARPA-E win will give us resources to develop our new fuel cell system architecture and supporting technologies, enabling us to demonstrate the system’s capability and potential as well as to further develop relationships that will help advance the technology to market entry.”
Principal Investigator and PCI’s Vice President, Research and Engineering, Subir Roychoudhury adds, “We’ve assembled a team of experts and a set of technologies that together offer the potential for a breakthrough in lowering cost, improving performance, and repeatable manufacturing of key components. We look forward to working with ARPA-E to advance the technology and addressing market transition needs.”
“Congratulations to PCI on this well-deserved award!” said Jackie Garofano, Chief Technology Officer at CCAT. “We are excited to partner with the team, leveraging our additive manufacturing technology platforms and expertise in the development of this transformative approach to SOFC systems.”
About CCAT
The Connecticut Center for Advanced Technology, Inc. (CCAT), a nonprofit organization founded in 2004 and headquartered in East Hartford, CT, is an innovative applied technology organization that leads regional and national partnerships that assist global industrial companies and the manufacturing supply chain across industry sectors in driving advancements, efficiencies, and the adoption of leading-edge technologies. Our vision is transformative solutions for a connected world, with the mission is to lead the advancement of applied technologies, power the workforce of the future and inspire change. Learn more by visiting ccat.us or reaching out to Denise Gordon, CCAT’s Marketing and Communications Lead,
About Precision Combustion, Inc.
Precision Combustion, Inc. is a clean energy technology company. We create, develop, manufacture, and market sustainable solutions for the energy and environmental sectors. Learn more about us by visiting https://www.precision-combustion.com.
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