Interest in the use of fuel cells is steadily increasing as a result of the shift toward e-mobility and the broader adoption of renewable energy sources. To examine this development, the Fraunhofer Institute for Laser Technology ILT is organizing the first Laser Colloquium Hydrogen LKH
2, which will take place in Aachen on March 18, 2020. The event will focus not only on laser cutting and welding of fuel cell components, but also on the execution and monitoring of the entire process chain.
Growing interest from industry, research and policy
“We’re getting an increasing number of inquiries about fuel cells, hydrogen infrastructure and similar topics,” says André Häusler, team leader for the micro joining of metallic materials at Fraunhofer ILT. “Policymakers are also paying more attention to this new technology, because when you take into account all the aspects of producing and recycling lithium-ion cells, you start to wonder how sustainable electric drives really are – especially considering the changes that must be made to the power grid.” Toyota and Hyundai recently began offering fuel cell vehicles as an integral part of their product range, highlighting the benefits these offer over electric vehicles in terms of both range and ease of energy storage. It also takes considerably less time to refuel a car with hydrogen than to charge an electric battery.
Highly efficient laser technology along the entire process chain
Laser technology has a key role to play in fuel cell manufacturing, with highly efficient laser methods now available at every stage of the process chain. The Aachen-based experts are therefore confident that the use of laser technology will continue to expand in this area thanks to its outstanding flexibility and high degree of automation.
Production of bipolar plates
The colloquium aims to examine the current state of the art with presentations on topical issues such as the production of bipolar plates. Depending on the specific design in each case, a fuel cell typically consists of around 200 of these catalyst-coated plates, which serve as electrodes. These require hydrogen-proof seals throughout, potentially leading to seam lengths of over 200 meters for each fuel cell.
The event will be tackling issues such as easily weldable designs that facilitate laser joining and the complex laser cutting of prefabricated bipolar plates. Users employ both metal and polymer-based bipolar plates, so the colloquium will also include a presentation on laser joining of polymer plates. The Aachen-based team also has its sights set on the end-to-end process, with presentations scheduled to take place on establishing and monitoring process chains in a production setting.
Best practice from industry and research
Fraunhofer ILT is keen to provide a balanced mix of theory, research and practice and has already signed up a number of industry representatives to speak at the colloquium. These include Gräbener Maschinentechnik from Netphen, a German pioneer in the production of bipolar plates, and plasmo Industrietechnik from Vienna, a company that specializes in a number of different fields, including quality assurance for automated laser welding processes.
The first Laser Colloquium Hydrogen LKH
2 will take place at Fraunhofer ILT in Aachen on March 18, 2020. The presentations will be held in German. The registration deadline for the colloquium is February 19, 2020. Early birds who sign up on or before January 16, 2020 will receive a discount. Register online at
www.ilt.fraunhofer.de/lkh2
Contact: André Häusler, Fraunhofer-Institut für Lasertechnik ILT
andre.haeusler@ilt.fraunhofer.de