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SGL, Hyundai expand cooperation in fuel cell components for NEXO
NEWS / IN BRIEF specialised industries. Another area of growing importance in Asia is the new energy (i.e. electric) vehicle sector. Green Century engineers have been trained and qualified by SFC Energy to provide fuel cell installation and servicing in the Chinese market. ‘With Green Century as our partner we expect to further grow our customer base in Asia,’ says Dr Peter Podesser, CEO of SFC Energy. ‘We see a strong interest here for our hybrid fuel cell power solutions in many areas where reliable off-grid power is of utmost importance, for example in security & surveillance, telecommunication, early warning and emergency resources, and many more.’ SFC Energy is a leading provider of hybrid solutions for stationary and portable power generation, and has now sold more than 40 000 direct methanol fuel cells [see the SFC feature in FCB, January 2013, and page 6 in this issue]. SFC Energy: www.sfc.com/en or www.efoy-pro.com Beijing Green Century Technologies: http://en.greencentury.cn
SGL, Hyundai expand cooperation in fuel cell components for NEXO
G
erman-based SGL Group and South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Group have extended their long-standing collaboration, signing a supply contract under which SGL will deliver Sigracet® gas diffusion layers for the PEM fuel cell stacks that Hyundai will use in its new NEXO fuel cell electric vehicle. Hyundai unveiled its next-generation NEXO FCEV in January at the CES 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas [FCB, January 2018, p2], and demonstrated a small fleet of autonomous driving NEXO vehicles on a selfdriven journey from Seoul to Pyeongchang, the venue for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics [February 2018, p2]. The company began sales to its first customers in Korea in late March [April 2018, p2]. Last year, SGL increased production capacity at its Meitingen site in southern Germany, with the commissioning of an additional sintering furnace. SGL is also playing a key role in fuel cell research & development, including participation in the EU-funded INSPIRE consortium to validate automotive fuel cell stacks [see the News Feature in July 2016]. SGL Group: www.sglgroup.com Hyundai NEXO: www.hyundai.com/worldwide/en/eco/nexo
May 2018
RESEARCH
Aalborg team use grid to achieve 30% higher fuel cell efficiency
R
esearchers at Aalborg University in Denmark have demonstrated that a small plastic grid, which costs less than a dollar to produce, can increase the efficiency of an air-cooled fuel cell stack by more than 30%. AAU researchers have shown that the TurbuGrid, approximately 16 × 16 cm (6 × 6 inches), can increase efficiency by at least 33.5%, and this may be even higher if the grid is added to brand-new stacks. The air drawn through a fuel cell stack normally flows in a laminar, non-turbulent manner. But the grid adds artificial turbulence to the air flowing into the channels in the stack, which has a major effect on heat transfer in the fuel cells. This has important implications for how high a power density can be achieved from the stack, since the fuel cell no longer gets too hot. Previously the focus has been on achieving greater efficiency by avoiding a pressure drop, rather than on more effective heat transfer. ‘If we are not good at controlling heat transfer, the stack will quickly get too hot, and we cannot extract as much power as there actually is potential for,’ explains Dr Torsten Berning, Associate Professor in the Department of Energy Technology at Aalborg University. ‘But by adding turbulence, we see significant results in terms of ensuring efficient heat transfer to the air – and thus also a marked increase in fuel cell efficiency.’ The very small elements inside a fuel cell make it difficult to calculate and measure the temperature accurately, so Berning and his colleagues used computer models in combination with physical experiments. The results from both the models and experiments were clear: a marked increase in efficiency and output power when the grid is added. The team say that adding the grid to a fuel cell stack will make it possible to extend the service life, because the cell temperature is more carefully controlled. Aalborg University and Torsten Berning have applied for a patent on the invention, and are seeking industrial partners for future collaboration. The overall project is supported by the Danish Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP).
Aalborg University, Department of Energy Technology: www.et.aau.dk
IN BRIEF Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen fuel cell powered train takes to the track in Hesse A Coradia iLint hydrogen train built by Alstom (http://tinyurl.com/alstom-coradia-ilint) recently transported some 150 passengers on a special rail service from Wiesbaden to Frankfurt-Hoechst in Germany, to give the special guests a firsthand impression of the technology behind the world’s first fuel cell powered regional train [FCB, September 2016, p1 and see the News Feature in March 2017]. Fuel cell powered trains provide a quiet and environmentally friendly alternative to diesel vehicles on rail lines without overhead power lines [see also the HI ERN item below]. The trains are to be deployed in the Taunus regional network in Hesse, north of Frankfurt, from 2022. Alstom is building a fleet of 14 Coradia iLint fuel cell powered trains for Lower Saxony in northern Germany, with options for 33 more. This regional train fleet – scheduled to enter service from December 2021 – will be fueled using a dedicated Linde hydrogen station [December 2017, p4]. The train’s development has been funded by the German National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP). Hyon consortium in Norwegian project to develop zero-emission coastal vessels Tröndelag county council in central Norway has signed contracts with five consortia, which have been commissioned to develop zeroemission vessels in a two-year project. One of the participating consortia includes Hyon (www. hyon.no), the joint venture between PowerCell Sweden and Norwegian companies Nel and Hexagon Composites [FCB, October 2017, p10]. HI ERN plans fuel cell trains with LOHC Scientists at the Helmholtz Institute ErlangenNürnberg for Renewable Energy Production (HI ERN, www.hi-ern.de/hi-ern/en) in Germany, a branch of the Forschungszentrum Jülich Research Centre (www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN), are working to equip trains with Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) technology [see also the Coradia iLint item above]. The technology – which is being commercialised by Erlangenbased Hydrogenious Technologies [see also page 13] – involves gaseous hydrogen binding to a harmless liquid carrier, which can be safely stored and transported. The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Energy and Technology has provided an initial E3 million (US$3.5 million) in funding for the project. The HI ERN team aims to run locomotives directly with LOHC, with the stored hydrogen catalytically released on demand. The scientists are also studying a Direct LOHC-fuel cell approach, already tested in their lab, which would no longer require a chemical conversion unit for the hydrogen release.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
15
SGL, Hyundai expand cooperation in fuel cell components for NEXO
G
erman-based SGL Group and South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Group have extended their long-standing collaboration, signing a supply contract under which SGL will deliver Sigracet® gas diffusion layers for the PEM fuel cell stacks that Hyundai will use in its new NEXO fuel cell electric vehicle. Hyundai unveiled its next-generation NEXO FCEV in January at the CES 2018 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas [FCB, January 2018, p2], and demonstrated a small fleet of autonomous driving NEXO vehicles on a selfdriven journey from Seoul to Pyeongchang, the venue for the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics [February 2018, p2]. The company began sales to its first customers in Korea in late March [April 2018, p2]. Last year, SGL increased production capacity at its Meitingen site in southern Germany, with the commissioning of an additional sintering furnace. SGL is also playing a key role in fuel cell research & development, including participation in the EU-funded INSPIRE consortium to validate automotive fuel cell stacks [see the News Feature in July 2016]. SGL Group: www.sglgroup.com Hyundai NEXO: www.hyundai.com/worldwide/en/eco/nexo
May 2018
RESEARCH
Aalborg team use grid to achieve 30% higher fuel cell efficiency
R
esearchers at Aalborg University in Denmark have demonstrated that a small plastic grid, which costs less than a dollar to produce, can increase the efficiency of an air-cooled fuel cell stack by more than 30%. AAU researchers have shown that the TurbuGrid, approximately 16 × 16 cm (6 × 6 inches), can increase efficiency by at least 33.5%, and this may be even higher if the grid is added to brand-new stacks. The air drawn through a fuel cell stack normally flows in a laminar, non-turbulent manner. But the grid adds artificial turbulence to the air flowing into the channels in the stack, which has a major effect on heat transfer in the fuel cells. This has important implications for how high a power density can be achieved from the stack, since the fuel cell no longer gets too hot. Previously the focus has been on achieving greater efficiency by avoiding a pressure drop, rather than on more effective heat transfer. ‘If we are not good at controlling heat transfer, the stack will quickly get too hot, and we cannot extract as much power as there actually is potential for,’ explains Dr Torsten Berning, Associate Professor in the Department of Energy Technology at Aalborg University. ‘But by adding turbulence, we see significant results in terms of ensuring efficient heat transfer to the air – and thus also a marked increase in fuel cell efficiency.’ The very small elements inside a fuel cell make it difficult to calculate and measure the temperature accurately, so Berning and his colleagues used computer models in combination with physical experiments. The results from both the models and experiments were clear: a marked increase in efficiency and output power when the grid is added. The team say that adding the grid to a fuel cell stack will make it possible to extend the service life, because the cell temperature is more carefully controlled. Aalborg University and Torsten Berning have applied for a patent on the invention, and are seeking industrial partners for future collaboration. The overall project is supported by the Danish Energy Technology Development and Demonstration Program (EUDP).
Aalborg University, Department of Energy Technology: www.et.aau.dk
IN BRIEF Alstom’s Coradia iLint hydrogen fuel cell powered train takes to the track in Hesse A Coradia iLint hydrogen train built by Alstom (http://tinyurl.com/alstom-coradia-ilint) recently transported some 150 passengers on a special rail service from Wiesbaden to Frankfurt-Hoechst in Germany, to give the special guests a firsthand impression of the technology behind the world’s first fuel cell powered regional train [FCB, September 2016, p1 and see the News Feature in March 2017]. Fuel cell powered trains provide a quiet and environmentally friendly alternative to diesel vehicles on rail lines without overhead power lines [see also the HI ERN item below]. The trains are to be deployed in the Taunus regional network in Hesse, north of Frankfurt, from 2022. Alstom is building a fleet of 14 Coradia iLint fuel cell powered trains for Lower Saxony in northern Germany, with options for 33 more. This regional train fleet – scheduled to enter service from December 2021 – will be fueled using a dedicated Linde hydrogen station [December 2017, p4]. The train’s development has been funded by the German National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP). Hyon consortium in Norwegian project to develop zero-emission coastal vessels Tröndelag county council in central Norway has signed contracts with five consortia, which have been commissioned to develop zeroemission vessels in a two-year project. One of the participating consortia includes Hyon (www. hyon.no), the joint venture between PowerCell Sweden and Norwegian companies Nel and Hexagon Composites [FCB, October 2017, p10]. HI ERN plans fuel cell trains with LOHC Scientists at the Helmholtz Institute ErlangenNürnberg for Renewable Energy Production (HI ERN, www.hi-ern.de/hi-ern/en) in Germany, a branch of the Forschungszentrum Jülich Research Centre (www.fz-juelich.de/portal/EN), are working to equip trains with Liquid Organic Hydrogen Carrier (LOHC) technology [see also the Coradia iLint item above]. The technology – which is being commercialised by Erlangenbased Hydrogenious Technologies [see also page 13] – involves gaseous hydrogen binding to a harmless liquid carrier, which can be safely stored and transported. The Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Energy and Technology has provided an initial E3 million (US$3.5 million) in funding for the project. The HI ERN team aims to run locomotives directly with LOHC, with the stored hydrogen catalytically released on demand. The scientists are also studying a Direct LOHC-fuel cell approach, already tested in their lab, which would no longer require a chemical conversion unit for the hydrogen release.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
15