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ZeroAvia has shipped its first flight-intent SuperStack Flex modular fuel cell system to a customer in the defense sector.
The SuperStack Flex is a Low-Temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (LTPEM) fuel cell power generation system that has been fully qualified against the customer’s airworthiness requirements. The system is modular, allowing it to be configured to meet specific power needs while maintaining a high power-to-weight ratio and flexible configuration. The lightweight, aerospace-optimized balance-of-plant aims to enhance the range of Unmanned Air Vehicles (UAVs), with potential applications also in aerospace, maritime, and ground use cases.
The system can provide propulsive power or enhanced onboard electrical capacity, opening up new capabilities in primary propulsion, auxiliary power systems, and mission systems, including Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) applications. The SuperStack Flex is also cited as an ideal system for the new FAA Mosaic Light Sport Category, providing sufficient power for a standard four-seater general aviation aircraft in this sector.
In testing, the SuperStack Flex demonstrated over 1.2kW/kg specific power. It recently completed over 100 hours of testing, consuming over 250 kg of hydrogen and delivering continuous power at greater than 150 kW over long intervals, with peak power exceeding 175 kW. In the final stages of testing, the system provided power back to ZeroAvia’s Propulsion Center of Excellence in Everett, generating enough power to offset the entire building’s consumption.
Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies are increasingly relevant to armed forces due to unique advantages in energy density, lower detectability thanks to reduced thermal and noise signatures, operational flexibility, and lower maintenance costs.
ZeroAvia used Selective Laser Sintering (SLS) powder-bed additive manufacturing processes to perform high-velocity cycles of design, build, and test. This process combined typical parts and their functions into new monolithic structures. The key parts in the SuperStack Flex’s balance of plant, Anode, Cathode, and Coolant Manifolds, thermal management, humidification, and air compression systems, have been reduced from over 200 parts to less than 100, resulting in approximately ~50% weight and volume reductions.
Val Miftakhov, Founder & CEO of ZeroAvia, said, “Fuel cell systems are evolving to enable electric flight of unmanned aerial vehicles and a host of other vehicles. With lower noise and heat signatures, lower maintenance costs, increased endurance and the ability to generate fuel locally, there are enormous capability benefits.”
He added, “We can generate an amazing amount of electrical power at a really low weight, opening up all kinds of possibilities for new vehicles in both the civil and defense arenas.”
