With the move towards the decarbonisation of transport, the demand for fuel cells is growing exponentially as they can offer carbon-free power. In order to meet this demand, the production of fuel cell components such as Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEAs) needs to be scaled-up urgently. MEAs are essential components of fuel cells. Their construction is complex and forms a bottleneck in the production process. In this project, Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells and ATM will design a high-volume production line capable of attaching Gas Diffusion Layers (GDLs) to Catalyst Coated Membranes (CCMs) to form MEAs. The design of the line will allow it to produce a range of products, with this flexibility to supply multiple customers from the line further increasing efficiency. This line will be fully automated and include multiple quality control stations to ensure that only the highest quality product is released from the line, and the processes will be scalable, with the ultimate aim being for several of these lines to be installed to allow for the ever-increasing demand.
The objective is for Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells to develop a high-speed continuous manufacturing process for sealed Catalyst Coated Membranes, the major component of fully integrated Membrane Electrode Assemblies (MEAs), which are the energy generators in a Fuel Cell. The process will operate at 20 linear metres per minute, more than x10 current capability and consistent with the production requirements of the other Fuel Cell components. Manufacturing costs will be substantially reduced costs compared to the current material-limited and non-integrated processes. A major challenge will be to place the costly sub-components only in the areas where they are functionally active, and to develop seal materials with adhesion and release properties consistent with the target process speed. Process to attach the Gas Diffusion Layer, another MEA component and quality control development are also involved. MEAs will be qualified by Intelligent Energy in their new platform aimed at powering mobile phone masts.
Catalyst coated membranes (CCMs) are the core component of the proton exchange membrane fuel cell and determine the system performance and durability. Although lifetimes of over 5,000 hours under automotive conditions can be routinely achieved, any membrane defects in just one of the CCMs in a stack, can lead to premature failure of the whole stack. For fuel cell vehicles to achieve significant market penetration it will be necessary for any defective MEAs to be identified and removed before being assembled into stacks. This project aims to evalute the application of specific techniques to detect membrane defects inside manufactured CCMs. The feasibility of developing such techniques for application as an in-line measurement technique during continuous CCM manufacture will also be assessed.
The demand for membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) from a future automotive market is such that a step change in manufacturing towards continuous processes will be required. A bottleneck in such a process results from the time- and energy-consuming heat and pressure processes used in decal transfer of the catalyst layer to the proton exchange membrane to form the catalyst coated membrane (CCM). This project will investigate the feasibility of using ultrasonic energy as an alternative heat source in an innovative, faster and more efficient decal transfer process. The application of such a process to a continuous reel-to-reel CCM manufacturing line will be assessed.
The demand for membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) from a future automotive market is such that continuous manufacturing processes will be required. In such a process it would be advantageous to be able to produce fully integrated MEAs by attaching the gas diffusion layers (GDL) to the edge sealed catalyst coated membrane (CCM). This is currently completed off-line using slow manual-based methods. This project will identify and test methodologies for rapid, accurate placement and attachment of the GDLs to the CCMs. Following initial trials to identify the appropriate sealing materials and processes that can effect sealing in fractions of a second, a full manufacturing design study will be prepared that would be capable of accurately placing the GDL onto the CCM with similarly fast cycle times.
The London Hydrogen Network Expansion (LHNE) project will create the UK’s first end-to-end, integrated, green hydrogen production, distribution and retailing system, centred around a fully publically accessible, state-of-the-art 700 bar renewable H2 refuelling station network across London, servicing Europe’s largest urban fleet of H2 vehicles. This project represents an essential next step for the UK to make the transition from limited scope individual demonstration projects to genuine commercial rollout of H2 vehicles and infrastructure. London is the natural region to lead this transition, with its position as a global city with a large urban population and its existing H2 vehicle deployments. The timing of LHNE is an ideal fit with the early results from the UKH2Mobility study, which are likely to suggest London as an early deployment region for attracting OEM vehicles for their next stage of pre- and commercial rollout in the 2014-2020 timeframe.
The objective is to establish the technical and economic feasibility of recovery and re-use of high value materials from fuel cell electrode assemblies. These comprise perfluorosulphonic acid ion-conducting membrane (a highly specialised fluoropolymer), platinum-containing anode and cathode catalyst layers and carbon-fibre based gas diffusion layers. With the projected growth in demand for the carbon fibre and fluoropolymer materials, in both fuel cell and existing markets, if current resource inefficiencies are not addressed, this will increasingly lead to environmental issues and risk of supply disruption. Currently there are no established processes for recovering these high value materials from electrode products and the project therefore seeks innovative technical solutions to accomplish this, thereby improving efficiency in use of key resources, establishing the potential for a new UK-based global recycling business and increasing the competitiveness of the industrial end-user products
The objective is to demonstrate commercial readiness of a novel prototype gas diffusion layer (GDL) of a fuel cell membrane electrode assembly which is capable of being produced at a 50% lower cost than current materials. The non-woven carbon fibre substrate design comprises novel nanomaterial additives that provide suitable ex-situ properties without the requirement for conventional high energy usage high temperature heat treatment processes. Although the main thrust is a GDL designed for stationary and portable power fuel cell markets, a higher performance variant will also be explored for longer term automotive markets. The new technology will be demonstrated under application-relevant fuel cell conditions and will be coupled with a full cost analysis to show that it meets the cost reduction target. Additional benefits include establishing a UK manufacturing capability and increased UK competitiveness in lower CO2 emission energy-generation technology.
The project aim is to develop new materials and components for hydrogen fuelled PEMFC MEAs and stacks that demonstrate much lower performance degradation rates, of less than 10µV/hr, in both automotive and stationary applications under real-life operating conditions, whilst maintaining high performance. The focus is on materials developments and solutions to several operational modes known to impact MEA and bipolar plate stability, including load cycling, start-stop cycling, fuel starvation and cold starts. The impact of these on the constituent MEA layers, seals and gaskets and metallic bipolar plate corrosion will be studied via development, establishment and operation of a series of accelerated test protocols. New in-situ cell and stack diagnostics and ex-situ characterisation methods will be developed to support the accelerated testing. Final MEAs incorporating new catalyst materials, GDL and catalyst layer structures will be assembled into several short stacks for evaluation under relevant automotive and stationary drive cycles, to demonstrate the improved stability in durability tests up to 5,000 hours.
This project has delivered the world's first fully functioning and field- tested 1kW stand alone PEM fuel cell powered system for the pumps in an environmental monitoring outflow plant at Solvay Interox’s Warrington site, using ACAL Energy's novel low cost platinum free cathode technology, FlowCath®. The project has built a deep understanding of the design & engineering requirements of the integrated 1kW system, as well undertaking detailed research into the unique fluid flows and stack designs for ACAL Energy's novel approach, including researching MEAs and materials to ensure durability and performance. Integral to the project has been the work to meet the challenging safety requirements of the installation on the chemical plant as well implementation from the outset of remote management capability of the system. The project has been led by ACAL Energy, who built and researched the stack configurations as well leading the field trial; Southampton University, developed simulation tools & fluid modelling; Johnson Matthey Fuel Cells, world leading catalyst and MEA specialists, provided the MEA for project; Solvay Interox hosted the field system and UPS Systems plc installed & configure the integrated system. The grant enabled the consortium of high-calibre, experienced groups with funding that balanced the high risk as well accelerated the deployment of this UK invented technology.
The project aim is to develop, evaluate and prove the functionality of innovative MEA design concepts and to identify and assess assembly process options for these novel MEA designs that would be compatible with a process route for lower cost, higher volume MEA manufacturing with the capability of an output of several millions of MEAs per annum. Process measurement techniques will be developed and evaluated to provide for improved process control. Current processes for MEA production are not geared to cost-effective automated manufacture and rely heavily on scaled up and semi-automated versions of original batch processes. In addition, the MEA design does not efficiently utilise valuable materials. The overall project focus will be to develop and validate an innovative MEA design incorporating a new approach to seal material and application that utilises the seal material more effectively and also minimises unnecessary use of non-functional ion exchange membrane; and to assess the process options for producing this MEA by a fully-automated handling and assembly process for the key MEA components (catalyst coated GDLs or membranes, seals, gaskets, thin films).
The public description for this project has been requested but has not yet been received.
Development of glass repair material (either in powder, paste or solid format) that can be fused in place using a laser system, which can be pigmented to match the substrate colours and give a similar gloss appearance to the fired substrate i.e. sanitaryware or tableware glaze and vitreous enamel frit.
Development of a laser fusing system giving energy efficient fusing of the glass repair material and ensuring effective bonding of the repair to the existing substrate incorporating laser optics and pre heating to eliminate thermal stresses.
Combining the above processes into an integrated unit that can be operated readily in the production environment.