Auxiliary components in fuel cell vehicles for a clean automotive future (INN-BALANCE)

Fuel cell technology is ripe for widespread application in the automotive sector. Mass production of fuel cells could reduce production costs and increase the overall efficiency and service life of automotive fuel cell systems.

The INN-BALANCE project focused on the peripheral components of the fuel cell, the so-called "Balance of Plant". New functions and concepts have been developed for this, e.g. for the supply of hydrogen and oxygen in the fuel cell as well as for thermal management and function monitoring of the entire fuel cell system.

The aim was to significantly reduce the industrial manufacturing costs for fuel cell systems. Initially, the interfaces between the components and the fuel cell stack were specified as well as the design of the fuel cell housing and the anode, cathode and cooling module were defined. From 2020 -2021, the functionality and compatibility of the components have been tested at the system level in a fuel cell test bench. In summer 2021, the newly developed components were installed in a vehicle platform to evaluate the performance of the overall system. The long-term tests will also make it possible to identify minor defects in the design of the individual components and at the system architecture level. After all, the fuel cell components should be in no way inferior to vehicle parts in conventional cars in terms of durability and service life.

Further information:

• Funding: European Commission, Horizon 2020
• Funding budget for all partners: 5 Mio. EUR
• Participating countries: Germany, Austria, Sweden, Switzerland, Spain
• Duration: 01/2019-10/2021