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FC & Associates, Inc. (FC&A) is developing a novel flow battery technology that combines the fast electrochemical reaction of a battery with the fuel flexibility of a fuel cell to meet the next-generation energy needs of portable devices. FC&A's technology, called a “Flow Cell,” is based on electron-ferrying “redox” compounds. The promise of fuel cell technology to provide portable products with a significant increase in runtime and greater convenience of use with replaceable fuel cartridges has not yet been fulfilled. Ideally, we envision a power system for our applications that would be as small as existing batteries, but would use fuels having higher energy densities than existing technologies. With the development of the next-generation “Flow Cell”, long runtime can be achieved with a readily available liquid fuel—eliminating the need for extra batteries. Alternatively, if an outlet is available, this Flow Cell can be recharged.
FC&A plans to enter the market with a two-phase commercialization strategy. Initially we will focus on smaller portable US military type battery applications, followed by unique military applications where we can clearly offer a competitive advantage over existing technologies, such as in the development of larger kW-sized energy storage systems, where Li-ion batteries are not suitable due to safety concerns. While Military applications represent an ideal platform upon which to enter the market and refine system design and performance for the more cost-sensitive civilian and consumer markets, this technology has the potential to expand the runtime and power needs for a broad spectrum of applications and could enable other power-hungry technologies to evolve with additional features that would otherwise not have been possible with existing fuel cells or batteries.
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