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Completed TRL 6 (started at 5, targeting 6)
Key Technical Challenges: Initiating a controlled breach through the membrane, igniting the reactant gases, and differentiating deflagration and detonation manifestations of the resulting combustion. \nApproach/Research Plan: Complete safety analysis; Complete design of test system and ballistic barrier; Integrate test system and ballistic shell; Procure/receive fuel cell re-build kits; Obtain Safety Permit; and, Complete final test. The design phase includes active participation of Safety personnel from GRC and White Sands Test Facility (WSTF) to minimize personnel and Facility risks while ensuring sufficient data generation\nDifferent/Complementary: This proposal dovetails with the internal active development activities by AES, Lunar CATALYST, RoverTECH, and GCD. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) funds H2/O2 PFC development for unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV) and the Air Force inquiries into both PFC and RFC technologies for high-altitude long-endurance (HALE) drones. \nNext Step: Following this work, there are two tests remaining to advance the technology beyond the TRL 5+ before a space flight test: functional test of the passive water removal technology on a relevant scale in a microgravity (\xb5g) environment to demonstrate successful product water management and a thermal-vacuum test of an integrated PFC system.
Goal: To advance the TRL of proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PFC) technology towards flight qualification for crewed vehicles by initiating investigation into the actual deflagration/detonation hazard of the new PEM-based NFT PFC technology. \nCapability Need/Knowledge Gap: The Air Force, NASA, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Navy are the only publically acknowledged governmental agencies both developing fuel cell power systems and operating in environments where the oxidizer must be pure oxygen gas to conserve mass and/or volume. In addition, NOAA utilizes un-crewed drones and military agencies tolerate crew risk levels notably different from NASA. Thus, no entity will entirely leverage fuel cell verification testing to NASA's safety standards for crewed vehicles. \nState-of-the-Art/Knowledge: The present state-of-art includes anecdotal evidence from inconsistent testing across multiple venues for multiple agencies using different hardware of varying technological generations. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released a report by the Energy Supply Device Aviation Rulemaking Committee (ESD ARC) on Dec 17, 2017 evaluating combustion hazards of terrestrial (hydrogen/air) fuel cell stacks.
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