Research team at Frankfurt UAS develops prototype for private households: Funding approval from the state of Hesse for 2nd project phase
Hydrogen as the energy source of the future is not freely available, but has to be produced at great expense. The research project “Smart refuelling device for hydrogen” is pursuing the idea of simplifying its production so that it can also be used in private homes or small businesses. It should be possible to produce green hydrogen from pure water using electrolysis in a small system that is powered by renewable energy, such as solar power from the home’s own photovoltaic system. In this way, the CO2-neutral energy could be stored to counteract the daily and seasonal fluctuations in the supply of electricity from wind and photovoltaic systems.
H2compress – compressor station for green hydrogen
The project, led by Prof Dr Enno Wagner, Professor of Mechatronic Design and Technical Mechanics at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (Frankfurt UAS), was launched in 2020 and is now receiving renewed support from the Hessian state government t in the amount of almost half a million euros from the LOEWE funding programme. “We are delighted that our project has once again received funding. It also shows that practical and applicable technologies for a more environmentally friendly future can be developed through cooperation between teaching, research, industry and state funding,” says Enno Wagner, who set up the Fuel Cell Technology Laboratory at the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Frankfurt UAS, which researches electrolysis and fuel cell technology and applies it in various projects.
Cooperation with industrial partners
During the first phase of the project, the focus was on basic research into alkaline membranes and electrodes in a scientifically orientated branch of development – as part of a dissertation. At the same time, the team built an initial functional model of the smart tank device on a laboratory scale in the more application-orientated development branch. As part of the two-year second project phase, the research team of three doctoral students, students and research assistants will now build an innovative compressor station for green hydrogen (consisting of an electrolyser and compressor) as a prototype in the laboratory together with industrial partners on the basis of the work results to date.
Goal: dispensing with expensive precious metals
“To this end, we are developing a special hydrogen generator (electrolyser) together with our Kassel-based project partner Gaskatel GmbH, which is made from low-cost materials,” explains Wagner. “Although the currently favoured PEM electrolysis and fuel cells have high current densities, the expensive precious metals platinum and iridium have to be used in the electrodes and only mediocre efficiency levels can be achieved,” says the scientist. The aim is therefore to develop and investigate membranes for alkaline electrolytes that work with significantly cheaper nickel electrodes, which are manufactured by the project partner, Gaskatel GmbH (Kassel). Parallel to the development of the electrolyser, the project partner Sera Hydrogen GmbH from Immenhausen (Kassel district) is constructing a compact compressor that can generate the usual filling station pressure of 700 bar. This means that the self-generated hydrogen can be filled and stored in high-pressure tanks.
Although the favoured PEM electrolysis and fuel cells have high current densities, the expensive precious metals platinum and iridium have to be used in the electrodes and only mediocre efficiency levels can be achieved,” says the scientist. The aim is therefore to develop and investigate membranes for alkaline electrolytes that work with significantly cheaper nickel electrodes, which are manufactured by the project partner, Gaskatel GmbH (Kassel).
On photo of Frankfurt UAS :Prof Dr Enno Wagner in front of the test apparatus in the laboratory. The centrepiece of the project development is the electrolyser, in which the hydrogen is produced using electricity.
Press release https://shorturl.at/iwENY
