A game-changing U.S. Department of Energy-funded hub is set to advance large-scale fuel cells, accelerate the shift to clean energy and revolutionise how goods move across land and sea.
With hydrogen emerging as a key strategy to decarbonise transportation and combat climate change, Argonne National Laboratory is building an R&D test facility to develop and independently test large-scale fuel cells for heavy-duty and off-road applications.
The Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office (HFTO) of DOE’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy is funding the effort with approximately $4m.
The goal is to improve the performance, durability, reliability and efficiency of heavy-duty fuel cell systems while lowering the cost.
How do large-scale fuel cells work?
A fuel cell uses the chemical energy of hydrogen or other fuels to cleanly and efficiently produce electricity.
When hydrogen is used, the only products are electricity, water and heat.
The Argonne facility will test large-scale fuel cell systems for heavy transport applications, including trucks, railroad locomotives, marine vessels, aircraft, and vehicles used in the agriculture, construction, and mining industries.
When the facility comes online in autumn 2025, the industry will have access to a dedicated location and support staff to test and validate polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell systems ranging from 150 to 600 kilowatts.
Accelerating change in the heavy transport industry
Argonne’s facility will emulate powertrains for all on- and off-road heavy-duty vehicles by operating in a hardware-in-the-loop environment leveraging the laboratory’s internationally recognised Autonomie software for application duty cycle commands.
“Providing the opportunity for independent, rigorous testing of first-of-a-kind, large-scale fuel cell systems will accelerate technology development and help identify challenges requiring further R&D,” said HFTO Director Sunita Satyapal.
Ted Krause, laboratory relationship manager for Argonne’s hydrogen and fuel cell programmes, added: “The testing infrastructure will help advance fuel cell performance and pave the way toward integrating the technology into all of these transportation applications.”
The project builds upon the laboratory’s extensive fuel cell research experience, including the operation of the Argonne Fuel Cell Test Facility from 1996 to 2012.
Argonne also coordinates a multitude of other transportation activities across the DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Office and other offices.
