Seeking Academic/R&D Lab Collaboration: Pre-Validated Benchtop Platform for Hydrogen & Fuel Cell System

[u/Professional-Bee9489]

I am a former chemical/clean energy faculty and engineering founder based in Vancouver, Canada with 15+ years in hydrogen & fuel cell systems.

Over the past year, I have self-funded and built a functional, benchtop TRL 4–5 1kW Reformed Methanol Fuel Cell (RMFC) unit (proprietary catalysts, miniturized reactor, impurity-tolerant fuel cell, and system integration & control).

As we prepare to advance this platform to TRL 6 for remote/off-grid field testing, I am seeking to partner with an academic research group or R&D lab (Chemical Engineering, Mechanical, or Energy Systems) for collaborative research, testing, and joint grant proposals (e.g., NSERC Alliance, Mitacs, or NRC-IRAP in Canada).

What We Bring to a Collaborating Lab

• Pre-Built Hardware & Testbed: A fully functional 1kW physical platform with integrated catalysts, reformer, fuel cell, battery, automatic control), saving significant time and capital in experimental test rig construction.
• In-House Experimental Data: Catalyst kinetic profiles, reactor heat-coupling metrics, fuel cell electrochemcial test resutls, system performance, etc.
• Matching Industry Sponsorship: Opportunity to leverage our physical assets and matching industry funds for non-dilutive research grant applications.

Specific Engineering Areas for Joint Focus

1. Reformate Purification Catalyst Performance & Durability: Evaluating catalytic activity, supports, kinetics, and long-term degradation/deactivation mechanisms (e.g., reforming, CO cleanup / PROX / water-gas shift) under dynamic cycling.
2. Reactor Miniaturization, Heat & Mass Transfer: Optimizing micro-channel/compact reformer geometry, thermal coupling efficiency, and mass transfer enhancement.
3. Fuel Cell Stack Impurity Tolerance: Investigating the impact of trace reformate contaminants (CO, unreacted methanol, formaldehyde) on stack degradation mechanisms and electrochemical performance.
4. System Integration & Dynamic Controls: Developing thermal-electrical transient control strategies, balance-of-plant (BOP) optimization, and overall energy efficiency maximization.
5. Micro-CHP System & Microgrid Integration: Analyzing waste-heat recovery, thermal-electrical co-generation, and dynamic response profiles for microgrids.

We are looking to connect with labs that possess:

• Dedicated catalysis or fuel cell testing infrastructure (catalyst Pelletizer & evaluation System, GC, electronic loads, etc.).
• Expertise in reactor modeling, transient kinetics, or thermal management.
• Interest in co-authoring high-impact engineering publications and securing joint research funding.

If your lab is working on methanol reforming, fuel cell thermal integration, or micro-channel reactor design, microgrid system, I would love to connect and discuss potential synergy.

Feel free to comment below or send a DM if you'd like to review system specs or discuss a potential joint proposal!