Transportation Energy Conversion

Giner is packaging hydrogen in a paste to power fuel cells, eliminating the need for high-pressure hydrogen storage tanks. The power paste—a mix of magnesium and hydrogen stored in a cartridge—would trigger the release of hydrogen gas when water is added. The paste is not flammable or explosive. The team will also update the system’s fuel cell to operate at lower humidity, making the approach more versatile and lower volume, improving the overall energy density of the design.

Precision Combustion is developing a unique hybrid fuel-cell battery system. The approach features an electrochemical wafer that uses liquid hydrogen as fuel to generate energy coupled with a high-power lithium-ion battery to enable peak-power operation. The progressive energy storage system hybridizes a highly efficient advanced electrochemical device and a small rechargeable battery and pairs them with a high-energy-density carbon-free fuel. The process intensified architecture has the potential to deliver significantly more power density than other systems in development.

Propel Aero is developing a “Redox Engine” with the potential to deliver a large reduction in greenhouse gas emissions for different modes of transportation. The Redox Engine would provide considerable power performance and deliver the energy density required to meet the demands of electric aircraft. The cost of electricity for the technology would be comparable to jet fuel. Given the low cost and high specific energy, the Redox Engine can address electrification of shipping and trains as well.

Aurora Flight Sciences is developing an aluminum air energy storage and power generation system to provide a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution for powering heavy-duty transportation. The technology’s novelty lies in its ability to facilitate aluminum combustion, resulting in the production of hydrogen that powers a solid-oxide fuel cell. The heat and electricity generated by this process are subsequently utilized for propulsion.

More information on this project is coming soon!

More information on this project is coming soon!

GE Research is developing a real-time, in-flight prediction system for aircraft-induced cirrus formed from contrails for commercial aircraft operators, who typically have little to no information on which flights cause long-lived cirrus clouds. In partnership with Southwest Airlines, GE’s system would combine detailed engine operational data, a hybrid physics and machine learning model, on-airplane data, and real-time satellite observations to predict aviation-induced cirrus that last more than 5 hours.