Supply fuel and air
The fuel system delivers what the cells need; its design depends on the fuel for which the generator is configured.
Research and engineering programme / SOFC
From a ceramic cell to a power system.
Research at the Ceramic Fuel Cell Laboratory of the I. M. Frantsevych Institute for Problems in Materials Science of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine provides the scientific foundation of our SOFC platform. Professor O. D. Vasylyev established this direction at the Institute and continues to lead it scientifically; Yehor Brodnikovskyi heads the laboratory.
Fuel cells in plain language ↗TECHNICAL PLATE / 01SOFC
One development chain. Five levels of validation.
01Materialscomposition / quality
02Cellrepeatability
03Stackdurability
04Moduleoperating modes
05Power plantscale
RESEARCH → VALIDATION → SCALEUKRAINE / EU
Research foundationFrantsevych Institute laboratory
SOFC materials, cells and stacks: Professor Vasylyev leads the research direction, and Yehor Brodnikovskyi heads the laboratory.
First technical milestone1500 W
Target: a working natural-gas prototype and durability testing.
Generation reference65%
Supported by the team’s laboratory research. The first generators may have lower actual efficiency.
Fuel cells in plain language
Fuel becomes electricity and useful heat.
Our focus is SOFC, a ceramic type of fuel cell. Fuel and air enter the generator. As with other generators, the fuel system is designed for the selected fuel. In a cell, oxygen passes through heated ceramic as charged particles; electrons flow through an external circuit to provide current. The resulting heat can also be put to use.
Generate current
There is no piston in the cell. Electrons move around the external circuit and produce direct current.
Use the energy
The connection method depends on the site and system design. Heat can serve hot water or heating when the project includes heat recovery.
Answers without formulas
Is this a battery?
No. The cell continuously needs fuel and air. Generation stops when the fuel supply stops.
Can a generator use different fuels?
Yes, but an individual system is designed for a particular fuel or an agreed set of fuels. The first 1500 W prototype is planned for natural gas; other variants require their own configuration and testing.
Will it work in a grid outage?
Only if the whole system is designed for island operation: controls, bridging storage, protection and reliable fuel supply.
Scope of the programme
Scientific depth should carry through every module.
In SOFC, system quality begins long before a generator is assembled. Our programme connects materials science, stack design, fuel processing and controls.
CELL ARCHITECTURE / SOFC
Nanotechnology at work inside the cell.
In SOFC, nanotechnology has a practical meaning: work on powder composition, dopants, particles and surfaces affects material properties. As in microelectronics, precise layer architecture matters: porous electrodes, a thin dense electrolyte and functional intermediate layers.
Electron microscopy is one of the key ways to examine material micro- and nanostructure, pores and layer interfaces. Electrochemical measurements show how this architecture performs under load.
Team research on anode structure ↗
Ceramic powders
Composition, purity, production process and batch control.
Fuel cells
Repeatable performance and process documentation.
Stacks
Sealing, thermal conditions, replaceability and lifetime.
Power module
Fuel system, controls, electronics and heat recovery. The first natural-gas module includes a reformer.
The components and industrial system parameters described here remain subject to development and staged validation.
Development sequence
Each step should produce a verifiable result.
Scale-up is planned around intermediate technical milestones. Its pace depends on funding, equipment and test results.
Components and test infrastructure
Prepare materials, cells, stack design and quality-control protocols.
1500 W industrial generator prototype
Stable operation, an external reformer integrated into the module, replaceable stacks and extended durability testing.
5, 10 and 25 kW base assemblies
Combine them into 50 and 100 kW configurations, validate integration at a partner site and prepare for manufacturing.
Industrial systems
Standardised assemblies for systems up to megawatt scale, with cogeneration where appropriate, certification and service.
Science × industry
Let us find a shared technical challenge.
We welcome conversations with researchers, suppliers of materials and components, industrial partners and investors.