Compact, light, efficient and reliable turbo compressor for fuel cell vehicles

Project Information

Turbo-FuelCell

Grant agreement ID: 790379

DOI

10.3030/790379

Project closed

EC signature date 25 November 2017

Start date 1 December 2017

End date 31 March 2018

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Smart, Green And Integrated Transport

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

CELEROTON AG
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Turbo-FuelCell (Compact, light, efficient and reliable turbo compressor for fuel cell vehicles)

Reporting period: 2017-12-01 to 2018-03-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Almost all of the world's transportation energy comes from petroleum-based fuels, largely gasoline and diesel, representing 48.9 million barrels per day and ~9 Gt energy-related CO2 emissions in 2017. In Europe, transport triggers almost 25% of greenhouse gas emissions, being the main cause of air pollution in cities. Fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEV) have irrupted in the transportation market to diminish the CO2 emission and to make vehicles independent of energy-related CO2. FCEV are powered by the energy released in the catalyzed reaction of two unlimited molecules, hydrogen and oxygen. While the catalytic fuel cell is mostly optimized, still the oxygen supply delivered by the compressor to the fuel cell remains a challenge. Major withdrawn are: low mass O2 flow delivery, low efficiency, high weight, high size, low air quality feed and noise pollution.
Celeroton AG has developed high-speed turbo compressors that are up to 20 times smaller and lighter than conventional compressors, thanks to their 300 times faster rotational speed. The compressors have a 10-20% increased operating efficiency, and don’t use detrimental oil while keeping noise and vibration levels to a minimum.
With Phase 1 project, we aimed to assess the technical and commercial feasibility of Turbo-FuelCell compressors to reach the market in 2021.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

We have performed a detailed market analysis by type of transportation segments, verifying the commercial potential for our compressor; a FTO analysis and set our IP strategy. On the technical side, we have set the parameters to decrease the manufacturing costs by 30%, and to reach 100% testing maturity of our compressors, following a complete execution plan for the Phase 2 project (execution planning, risk analysis and budget). On the economic side, we have developed a detailed business plan including revenues analysis and a commercialization plan for 5-years after project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

At short term, our turbo compressor will contribute to the deployment of FCEV, which in turn will have a very positive impact on the environment. During Phase 2 we will decrease the manufacturing cost of the compressor by 10% for a production of 1,000 units, that combined with a production increase of more than 18k units, it will reach a reduction of the manufacturing cost of 30%. Thanks to the project, there will be more than 40k Celeroton units in the FCEV market by 2025.

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