Fit-4-AMandA: Fit for Automatic Manufacturing and Assembly
Completed Research Project

Fit-4-AMandA: Future European Fuel Cell Technology: Fit for Automatic Manufacturing and Assembly

Fit-4-AMandA focusses on the industrialisation of stack production and delivering affordable fuel cell systems in larger quantities to saturate the emerging market/demand. Heart of the project is to build a worldwide new and unique machine which allows serially produce the centrepiece of fuel cell system: the stack. This will revolutionize the way how stacks are produced in future.

Motivation:

• Most manufacturers of fuel cell stacks are still assembling stacks manually
• Automation of the stacking process is necessary to achieve higher yields
• Non-destructive quality assurance (NDT-QA) test methods need to be accelerated accordingly

Objectives:

• Establish the technological roadmap to scale up from less than hundred stacks/year to 50,000 stacks/year in 2020 and beyond
• Redesign (adaptation) of current MEA and stack to optimise for manufacturability
• Development of an alternative concept to graphitic BPP based on a metallic BPP technology
• Development of fast inline NDT-QA test methods for automated production of MEAs and stack assembly
• Design and development of an automated processing unit/system for the manufacturing of key/critical stack components, i.e. MEAs
• Development, manufacturing and testing of technology and machine system for the automatic assembly of PEMFC stacks
• Validation of the developed designs, hardware, tools and software for the automated production of MEAs and automated stack assembly and the fast inline NDT-QA test methods
• Integration and field testing using prototype stacks manufactured by the automated processes into a light commercial vehicle provided by UPS

H2020 RIA project:

• Submitted within the call H2020-JTI-FCH-2016-1
• Duration: 45 months
• Start date: 1 March 2017
• EC Funding: €2,999,185

Project partners:

• Proton Motor GmbH
• IRD Fuel Cells A/S
• Aumann AG
• Fraunhofer-Institut für Werkzeugmaschinen und Umformtechnik IWU
• Technische Universität Chemnitz - Professur Alternative Fahrzeugantriebe
• UPS Europe
• Uniresearch B.V.

Contact:

Dr. Martin Biák

This project has received funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen 2 Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 735606. This Joint Undertaking receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and Hydrogen Europe and N.ERGHY.

fit-4-amanda.eu

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