Centre for Fuel Cell Technology (CFCT)

The major objective of the Centre is to develop Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cells (PEMFC), one of the low temperature fuel cells, in its entireness and demonstrate its application in Decentralised power generation systems and transportation applications. The work includes several aspects of materials development, stack design & engineering, balance of system development, system design and engineering and carrying out field trials. In addition to the PEMFC development, the Centre is also engaged in other types of fuel cells and also developing hydrogen generation & storage materials and technologies. It is also an endeavour of the Centre to use the materials developed for fuel cells in other electrochemical and energy storage devices like batteries and supercapacitors. One of the mandates of the Centre is to include industries in its development as also eventual commercialization. Knowledge dissemination and manpower generation are other objectives of the Centre.

The Centre has been at the forefront of PEMFC development in the country. During the last 11 years, the Centre has developed process know-how for the various components used in the fuel cell stacks, built fuel cell stacks of capacity up to 10 kW, demonstrated fuel cell based power packs with the required Balance of systems in Decentralised power generation and demonstrated fuel cells in electric vehicle for use as range extenders. As part of the hydrogen technology development, the Centre has developed technology for hydrogen generation. The R&D activities address the issues of performance improvement and cost reduction.