Imagine if your car could run on lower-grade gasoline without breaking the engine; that is what this project does for power plants. Most hydrogen today is 'dirty' and needs expensive cleaning before it can be used in fuel cells. This team is building a system that can handle that industrial-grade hydrogen directly, cutting out the expensive purification step.
Hydrogen from geological storage and pipelines is often contaminated, requiring expensive and complex purification before it can be used in fuel cells. This creates a financial barrier to the large-scale adoption of hydrogen for power and heat.
A >100 kW PEM fuel cell system capable of running on industrial-quality hydrogen without prior purification for over 5000 hours.
If you are a grid operator dealing with peak demand spikes — this project developed a >100 kW PEM fuel cell system that provides a low-cost clean alternative for large scale power and heat production.
If you are a facility manager dealing with the need for reliable backup power — this project developed a system that operates on industrial quality H2 to provide medium and large-scale back-up power units.
If you are a utility company dealing with high costs of hydrogen purification for heat — this project developed a fuel cell that works without re-purification, reducing complexity and operational costs.
It eliminates the need for Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) re-purification of hydrogen, which the project notes adds cost and complexity to the process.
The project aims to demonstrate a PEM fuel cell system with a capacity of >100 kW and targets stationary fuel cells in the MW-range.
Based on available project data, specific IP or licensing terms are not provided; the project is currently in the signed execution phase.
The objective is to demonstrate the system operating on industrial quality hydrogen for more than 5000 hours.
It is designed to work directly with hydrogen from geological storages and pipelines, which often contain contaminants like N2, CO, CO2, and sulphurs.
The project is led by SINTEF AS and features a strong industrial lean with 6 industry partners (55% industry ratio), including 2 SMEs. The collaboration spans 10 countries, combining the expertise of 1 university and 3 research centers, suggesting a high potential for commercial translation and cross-border infrastructure deployment.
Contact SINTEF AS regarding the CLEANER project for industrial fuel cell specifications.
Contact us to identify partners for industrial-grade hydrogen deployment.
