Portal:HyTRAN
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The scope of the HyTRAN project is to advance the fuel cell technology towards solutions that are commercially viable. This is to be demonstrated in two fuel cell systems:
- Technical Platform 1 (TP1): Direct hydrogen 80 kW Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell for propulsion.
- Technical Platform 2 (TP2): A 5 kW PEM fuel cell system including a diesel based fuel processor for Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) applications.
Issues of oil dependency, greenhouse gas emissions and local air pollution are currently highly associated with the transport sector. Hydrogen and fuel cell technologies are widely seen as promising alternatives to internal combustion engines in road transport applications. In this respect, components and sub-systems are considered as major bottlenecks for fuel cell based vehicle systems. These project incentives are the background for HyTRAN being focused on the development of the necessary components and sub-systems. The specific aim is to make them meet the actual requirements derived from the two applications.
The expected outcome of the HyTRAN project is thus new components, sub-systems and systems. For the automotive manufacturers involved, another equally important outcome is the comprehensive knowledge and experience generated on these new and advanced fuel cell technology systems and an assessment of how they can best meet market requirements. For the suppliers’ viewpoint, a further key outcome is the trade-off assessment of components on a system level and with end-user requirements. The challenges for the technologies deal with factors such as cost, durability, weight, volume, efficiency that all need to be improved. A multitude of components are developed in HyTRAN such as:
- An 80 kW direct hydrogen stack with strong weight and volume reduction, increased efficiency, durability and start-up time, and with innovative MEAs.
- Balance-of-plant components customized for the application, for example air system and humidification devices.
- Micro-structured diesel steam reformer and gas purification units.
HyTRAN started in January 2004. The first three years have mainly been devoted to the development of innovative components to widen the technology. Considering the forth year increased have focus been put on the integration of these components into subsystems, including tests and implementation into vehicles. In total, 17 partners now participate in the project with their specific roles described in the following figure.
There are also transverse activities concerning dissemination and training, environmental, safety and marketing studies going on in two separate subprojects. Public seminars and technical courses are reported at project’s website: [1].
Case studies:
