University of California, San Diego (UC San Diego)

The University of California, San Diego aims to develop a high-efficiency and low-carbon energy storage and power generation (ESPG) system operating on bio-LNG for electric aviation. The proposed system concept is a fuel cell, battery, and gas turbine hybrid system that incorporates a novel solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack technology. The proposed SOFC is composed of (1) a lightweight and compact stack architecture based on an array of cell modules in electrical and gas flow parallel and series connections and (2) exceptional high power density direct methane cells made by sputtering thin-film deposition process. Phase 1 will demonstrate a laboratory-scale (~4 kW) multi-module stack designed with the performance, reliability, and projected cost suitable for incorporation in aircraft ESPG systems. The proposed system has been estimated to have the specific power and specific energy properties aligning to the competitive capital costs required for aircraft ESPG applications.

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