ZeroAvia announced yesterday its SuperStack Flex fuel cell architecture has achieved greater than 1 kilowatt per kilogram (1.0kW/kg) net power at full system level. The configuration includes a thermal management system and “has been successfully demonstrated in a 150kW net power configuration for a major customer.” ZeroAvia credits its use of additive manufacturing (aka 3D printing) for its test results. The technology is designed to expand unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) and vertical takeoff and land (VTOL) aircraft capabilities “as well as opening new applications in aerospace and other sectors,” according to ZeroAvia.
The selective laser sintering (SLS) powder-bed additive manufacturing processes enable ZeroAvia to achieve high velocity cycles of design, build and text that can rapidly combine typical parts into new structures. The company said that the resulting fewer parts enable lighter, more compact, more reliable, and less expensive systems.
Val Miftakhov, ZeroAvia founder and CEO said, “We are creating step-change aerospace fuel cell systems at a fraction of the usual development time and cost. SuperStack Flex can be customized to an aircraft OEM’s precise custom needs, power requirements and aircraft layout, so we can get them flying on fuel cells quickly, and thus improve the flight duration, lifecycle and the total cost of ownership of their aircraft.”
