Simplifications in Regenerative Fuel Cell Systems Enabled by Inclusion of a Static Water Vapour Feed High Pressure PEM Electrolyser Subsystem

Clara Venture Labs AS (CVL), formerly Prototech AS, is developing a Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) based Regenerative Fuel Cell System (RFCS) for satellites. Inclusion of a static water vapour feed (SWVF) high pressure PEM electrolyser subsystem will lead to a significant simplification of the overall RFCS, designed for operation in microgravity, reducing the number of components and increasing the system overall attractiveness - holding the potential to shorten the time to adoption of RFCS on satellites, as well as opening new product markets for the electrolyser in satellite water propulsion systems. CVL has designed a high pressure SWVF PEM electrolyser which is undergoing testing and evaluation. The paper presents CVL's development of a SWVF high pressure PEM electrolyser, aiming to significantly simplify the RFC system and increase its attractiveness for various applications, and also presents comparative mass estimations of SWVF- and liquid feed electrolyser subsystems operating in the range of 50 W - 5 kW.