PowerDisc Development Corporation, a fuel cell company based in Vancouver, BC, has announced that its eFlow fuel cell design has solved an issue within the fuel cell industry: unequal current distribution.
“The fuel cell industry has spent a significant amount of time and money solving issues that stem from non-uniform current, including accelerated aging, and lower power output,” said Dr. Sean MacKinnon, PowerDisc’s Chief Scientist, formerly with Canada’s National Research Council, Ballard Power Systems and GM’s Fuel Cell Division. “This will have a profound impact on how next generation membrane electrode assemblies, plates and auxiliary components will be developed.”
Dr. MacKinnon will describe eFlow technology at HFC 2013 in Vancouver during the Porous Media and Bipolar Plate session next week. The conference is hosted by the Canadian Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Association.
Uniform current distribution could have an important commercial impact in the fuel cell industry by improving the business through more peak power, extended longevity, reduced fuel cell size, less balance of plant and lower maintenance costs, according to PowerDisc. Potentially, the levelized cost of energy could reveal new areas where fuel cells can compete with incumbent technologies.
Earlier this year, a report from Lux Research found that adoption of fuel cells is extremely limited due primarily to its capital cost.
