Press release: The NIMPHEA consortium will develop a key enabling technology for the deployment of fuel cells in aviation

This new EU-funded project will focus on the development of a new generation Membrane Electrode Assembly – the central component of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells – compatible with aviation applications.

Air traffic is constantly increasing, and aviation is responsible for a significant proportion of greenhouse gas emissions. The European Union has set the objective of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050, and the Advisory Council for Aeronautic Research in Europe (ACARE) is targeting a 75% reduction in aviation emission in the next 30 years.

Hydrogen-based fuel cell systems are one of the most promising solutions to deliver energy to aircrafts without emitting CO₂ and NO_x. Fuel cells enable the conversion from chemical energy contained in a fuel such as hydrogen into electricity. Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) have been widely developed for on ground transport applications over the last 20 years. The Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) is the core component of this technology.

Today, fuel cell systems developed in the automotive industry are operated at a typical temperature below 100°C. This operating temperature generates constraints that make their integration in the aircraft environment extremely difficult due to thermal management issues. The development of a new-generation MEA, working at temperatures above 120°C, is one of keys to unlock fuel cell applications for aviation industry. In this context, the NIMPHEA project will develop and validate a new-generation, high-temperature MEA that meets the requirements of fuel cells for aviation.

Demonstration of the developed technology under laboratory test conditions will prove the feasibility of the concept and pave the way towards further maturation within the Clean Aviation programme for integration into a specific architecture for demonstrations.

The NIMPHEA consortium brings together leading fuel cell system developers (Safran Power Units and Safran Tech) and an experienced MEA industrial actor (Advent) to lead the architecture definition, requirements and design activities. Recognised academic and research institutions (Université de Strasbourg, Fraunhofer ICT, Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives – CEA , Centre national de la recherche scientifique – CNRS) will support the above-mentioned industrial partners with the characterisation, development, manufacturing, modelling and testing of the individual components of the MEA and of the upscaled MEAs.  Finally, the life-cycle costing, environmental life-cycle assessment and the eco-efficiency benchmarking will be conducted by IMDEA Energy, a Spanish research institute expert in the energy field. 

“The decarbonation of aviation is a major challenge for all players in the aeronautics sector,” explains Yan Duranteau, project coordinator and R&T Project Manager at Safran Power Units. “The NIMPHEA project will allow to get closer to the target by concentrating the effort on high-temperature technology of MEAs. If the results are achieved, new fuel cells will emerge, strengthening their credibility for use in aeronautics.”