ALEXANDRIA, Va., Dec. 2 -- United States Patent no. 12,486,036, issued on Dec. 2, was assigned to TENNESSEE TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY (Cookeville, Tenn.).
"Fuel cell turboelectric fan for an aircraft" was invented by Rory Roberts (Cookeville, Tenn.).
According to the abstract* released by the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office: "A propulsion system for an aircraft as disclosed herein may include a nacelle, a shaft positioned centrally within a cylindrical passageway of the nacelle, a fan coupled to one end of the shaft, a turbine coupled to an opposite end of the shaft, an electric motor coupled to the shaft, a compressor positioned within the cylindrical passageway, and a solid oxide fuel cell positioned with a hollow ring-shaped interior of ...