The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has successfully tested a 100 W class Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell based Power System (FCPS) in its orbital platform, POEM3 which was launched onboard PSLV-C58 on January 1, 2024.
The ISRO said that the objective of the experiment was to assess Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel cell operation in space and to collect data to facilitate the design of systems for future missions.
“During the short duration test onboard POEM, 180 W power was generated from Hydrogen and Oxygen gases stored onboard in high pressure vessels. It provided a wealth of data on performance of various static and dynamic systems that formed part of the power system and the physics at play,” ISRO said.
The space agency added that hydrogen fuel cells produce electricity directly from Hydrogen and Oxygen gases, along with pure water and heat. It is an electric generator which works on electrochemical principles, as in batteries, as against the combustion reactions employed in conventional generators.
“The ability to produce electricity directly from fuels without any intermediate step renders them very efficient. With water as the only byproduct, they are totally emission free. These features make them ideal candidates for space missions involving humans where electric power, water and heat are essential since a single system can meet multiple requirements in the mission,” ISRO said,
Fuel Cells also possess significant societal application potential. They are also considered to be the most appropriate solution to replace the engines of various types of vehicles in use today and to power standby power systems.
Fuel Cells can provide range and fuel recharge time equaling that of today’s conventional engine, which gives them a distinct advantage over batteries, and are expected to facilitate emission free transportation. Fuel cell is an ideal power source for the Space Station as it provides both power and pure water.
ISRO launched the PSLV-C58 X-ray Polarimeter Satellite (XPoSat) mission on January 1, 2024.
During the mission, the POEM-3 experiment was also executed to meet the objective of 10 other payloads developed .by start-ups, education institutions and ISRO centres among them is the FCPS.
The FCPS payload is significant as it has potential applications in India’s space station which is proposed to come up by 2035.
“There are some important payloads like FCPS which we will be demonstrating in the POEM phase when PS4 is used as a platform. The FCPS will have potential applications in our future like space station,” said Dr. S. Unnikrishnan Nair of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) on January 1 after the successful launch.
ISRO also said that it has qualified 10 Ah Silicon–Graphite anode based high energy density Li-ion cells as a low weight and low cost alternative to present cells being used.
The flight demonstration of the cells as a battery was successfully completed by powering a resistive load on-board the POEM-3 platform of PSLV-C58. The on-orbit voltage, current and temperature values of the battery were acquired through telemetry and found to match well with the predictions.
