SAFCell36 S. Chester Ave, Pasadena, California, United States

It all started in 1999 with Solid Acid Fuel Cell technology pioneered in the Haile Lab of the Material Science Department at the California Institute of Technology.  In November 2009 Dr. Calum Chisholm, together with a team of experienced scientists, engineers and business executives, founded SAFCell to bring the technology to the market.

We’re a focused group of business, engineering, and scientific professionals commercializing a transformative energy technology. We develop solid acid fuel cell and hydrogen stacks for portable, stationary and mobile applications, all running on commercially available liquid fuels.

Our proprietary Solid Acid Fuel Cell technology is fuel flexible, low-cost, and rugged:

• Fuel-flexible: Unlike low-temperature fuel cells, our products are not dependent on pure hydrogen as a fuel source.  SAFCell products operate on common industrial fuels such as: natural gas, propane, methanol, and diesel.  

• Low-cost: The technology operates at a mid-temperature that avoids exotic and expensive materials used in high-temperature fuel cells.  We utilize low-cost metals and flexible polymer seals.  

• Rugged: Our technology reduces system complexity and increases durability, which is perfect for rugged applications.

When applied to hydrogen generation, the above described solid acid traits result in hydrogen generators that convert industrial fuels into pure, compressed hydrogen inside the solid acid stack. This both increases the overall production efficiency for hydrogen generation from a fuel and at the same time decreases system costs and complexity.  SAFCell products therefore have a lower cost of ownership compared to other hydrogen or power generation sources.