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 Major withdrawn are: low mass O2 flow delivery, low efficiency, high weight, high size, low air quality feed and noise pollution.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.