Intellectual Property based on HTc' Technology
HTceramix currently has a patent in the phase of international extension in the US, Canada, China, Japan, Russia, South Africa and South Korea which has already been granted in the EU. This patent covers HTc' SOFConnexTM and manufacturing technology. HTc also has an exclusive license on a patent pending for an anode which can directly withstand dry methane as a fuel and a patent pending covering HTc' HoTboxTM technology.
In addition to the SOFConnexTM, HTc' technology consists of the HoTboxTM, solid oxide fuel cell stacks (3 different designs) and cells as well as an oxygen membrane fuel reformer.
Technologies based on wet chemical processing, thin-film design, and lower operating temperatures provide a long-term cost competitive advantage.
SOFConnex™ based fuel cell stack
HTceramix' main technology is its proprietary SOFConnex™ based fuel cell stack. The SOFConnex™ is a ceramic gas diffusion and current collection layer with plastic properties that compensates for cell imperfections. This SOFConnex™ interconnection is placed on either side of the solid oxide fuel cell i.e., the cell is sandwiched between two SOFConnex™ which are in turn sandwiched between two metallic interconnects.
Fully integrated gas distribution layers in the SOFConnex™ stack design drastically reduce material use as well as the number of elements in the stack thus reducing complexity of stack assembly. The SOFConnex™ enables a compact structure, low cost materials and manufacturing, and an integrated fuel manifolding, current collection, and gas sealing.
Key advantages of the SOFConnex™ are flexibility in stack and cell design enabling rapid design and fabrication cycles as well as flexibility in component integration. The latter quality enables HTc to incorporate different cells and interconnects into a customized SOFConnexTM based stack.
The technological developments of HTceramix are currently supported by the Swiss Federal Department of Economy, the Swiss Federal Office of Energy, and the Foundation for Technological Innovation (FIT).
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