Fuel cell converter supplies 7,5 kW

Celeroton has introduced the CC‑550‑7500 fuel cell converter which has a 300-VDC input. It comes with a CAN interface supporting optionally J1939.

“Our CC‑550‑7500 fuel cell converter offers even more power. Through continuing development of the technology, the drive power is increased from 5 kW to 7,5 kW while keeping the price stable,” stated the provider. The product operates with compressors and is suitable for fuel cell stacks of up to 75 kW. Besides the increased power rating, the device – like all fuel cell converters by Celeroton – has an auxiliary low-voltage input to power the digital electronics and to allow starting of an oil-less compressor (up to 300 000 rotation per minute) from a voltage of 10 VDC to 36 VDC. This allows the start-up of the compressor and therefore the fuel cell from a 12‑VDC or 24‑VDC battery. Up to 300 W can be provided to the compressor from this low voltage input. The water-cooled, fuel cell converter comes with an integrated CAN interface. J1939 software is optionally available.

If the fuel cell produces sufficient power, the converter switches to the high-power input (range of 100 VDC to 550 VDC) to operate the compressor directly from the fuel cell. With this concept, the power required for the compressor – it is the largest parasitic load in the Balance of Plant (BoP) – bypasses the DC/DC converter, thus allowing a smaller DC/DC converter to be used, which results in cost-optimized system design. The converter has the same dimension as its predecessor (300 mm x 190 mm x 80 mm).

10th anniversary

Ten years ago, Christof Zwyssig and Martin Bartholet founded Celetoron as a spin-off of ETH Zurich’s Power Electronic Systems Laboratory. With profound knowledge of high-speed motor design, electronics design, and sensorless speed control, Celeroton acquired their first engineering and consulting projects. Soon after they hired their first employees. Instead of using venture capital, the founders focused from the beginning on sustainably growing the company by generating own revenues.

The Swiss company has always focused on high-speed applications and introduced its first, own converter (CC-75-500) two years after founding. Due to the growth and to decouple from the important but close research environment, Celeroton moved into the Technopark Zurich, which provided the needed incubator environment and key contact points for innovative start-ups.

Joint research and development activities with ETH Zurich and ETH Lausanne (EPFL) are ongoing. The outcome of the collaborations is the development of magnetic and gas bearings, both contact free bearing technologies, which overcome the lifetime issues of ball bearings. While magnetic bearing motors are used in areas such as reaction wheels for spacecraft applications and optical applications, the gas bearing is the solution for oil-less, long-life turbo machinery. Continuous company growth, with now over 20 employees, led to the decision to insource key manufacturing processes. This demanded more flexibility in the useable floor-space and the decision was taken to move Celeroton to larger premises in Volketswil, on the outskirts of Zurich, in 2015.

In 2016, the gas bearing technology matured from a science research activity to a product ready for market and was finally introduced as the enhanced CT-17-700.GB and CT-17-1000.GB compressors. These products have proven their reliability in endurance testing with over 25 000 operating hours and more than 250 000 start-stop cycles, as well as in field tests of several mobile and stationary applications and found their way into industrial applications.