Innovations in AM forum Rapid.Tech 3D 2024

Electricity from hydrogen - The Open Fuel Cell Project

The UNIVERSITY OF DUISBURG-ESSEN will report on Electricity from hydrogen - The Open Fuel Cell project teaches students additive and subtractive manufacturing as part of a future energy technology they can build themselves

Generating energy from hydrogen is becoming increasingly popular and therefore more interesting to teach. The Open Fuell Cell project provides low-budget manufacturing and assembly instructions for fuel cells for schools, training companies, universities and hobbyists. Various materials and manufacturing techniques are used, allowing a wide range of knowledge to be imparted. Depending on the equipment of the teaching facilities, a passive PEM fuel cell (proton-exchange membrane) can be manufactured using a "3D printer", a CNC milling machine and a simple electroplating bath. The cell can be operated with a commercially available metal hydride hydrogen storage unit and allows the recording of characteristic curves that correspond to those of a "full-blown" PEM fuel cell. With the help of the additive manufacturing processes used, the TPU seals can be produced on a materialextrusion system (MEX system). Pressure plates are produced from resin using vat photopolymerization or also using the MEX process. The generation of electricity from hydrogen using the Open Fuel Cell has already been successfully demonstrated in a number of educational institutions. All construction instructions and required files are freely available on the project website at https://openfuelcell.org/.

Presentation language: GER


Speakers (1)

Livia C. Wiedau

Livia C. Wiedau

Head of 3D-FabLab