General Electric (GE) Global Research

FLyCLEEN will leverage the robustness and efficiency of metal-supported solid oxide fuel cells that are integrated with the combustion chamber of a gas turbine engine-generator. The result would be a hybrid system operating on a carbon neutral synfuel with a performance that leverages the power density and energy efficiency advantages of each component. Multiple advancement methods will be pursued to increase the power density of the fuel cell. The system is configured to optimize the balance of plant and thermodynamic synergies for electrified commercial aviation. Any wasted heat from the reformer or fuel cell is re-captured as pre-heat to the genset system (equipment that converts heat capacity into mechanical energy and then into electrical energy). This yields an overall energy storage and power generation system with superior performance parameters such as 58.0 % cruise efficiency, 3.73 kWh/kg specific energy, and specific peak power of 1.4 kW/kg. The key deliverables for this Phase 1 project are a concept design of a 5-kWe prototype system, and the demonstration of a lab-scale system (≥500W) comprised of a pressurized MS-SOFC stack with 1kW/kg specific power installed on a synfuel combustor.

Electrified aviation propulsion systems have the potential to achieve ultra-high fuel-to-propulsive power conversion efficiencies compared with existing turbofan and turboprop systems.