SOFC Pairs with Advanced Battery in Hybrid

An engineering team at Imperial College London has conceived, built, and tested a hybrid engine with a “Big Battery, Small Cell” design that flip-flops the two traditional roles. Dubbed the ABSOLUTE Hybrid (Advanced Battery Solid Oxide Linked Unit To maximize Efficiency), the prototype engine paired a 300W solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) stack from Versa Power Systems Inc. with a sodium nickel-chloride battery providing 45 amp hours of electricity. The relatively low-weight, high-performance Zebra battery by Beta Research and Development Ltd. has been used in experimental electric vehicles for a decade.

Researchers used a software program to mimic conditions experienced by a commercial vehicle over a 12- to 16-hour day. The software also replicated a delivery truck’s stop-and-go driving pattern in city and suburban settings, averaging speeds from 12 to 40 miles per hour.

During shipment from Littleton, Colorado-based Versa Power to London the stack experienced shocks as high as 14.4G (over 14 times the force of gravity) without harming its ability to generate electricity. Investigators have concluded that the stack’s performance makes full-scale prototypes viable in commercial uses.