Rolls-Royce builds new fuel cell demonstrator to ensure electricity supplies

Another new technology – the hydrogen fuel cell – is currently making in-roads at the Friedrichshafen plant of Rolls-Royce’s Power Systems division where a 250 kW demonstrator is in the process of being set up to test future zero-carbon energy systems and present these to customers. “We firmly believe that fuel cell technology is set to make a huge contribution to a successful energy turnaround. That’s why Rolls-Royce sees it as its mission to assume a pioneering role in fuel cell applications,” said Andreas Schell, CEO of Rolls-Royce Power Systems. “Fuel cells will form an elementary part of our product portfolio for sustainable solutions.”

Why fuel cells? Fuel cells have very high efficiency levels when generating electricity from hydrogen and oxygen. When run on pure hydrogen, they give off zero emissions – only water vapor – as well as being low-noise, low-maintenance, and vibration-free. “The greatest benefit is when they are run on regeneratively produced hydrogen because this enables polluting and climate-damaging gas emissions to be fully eliminated. This gives fuel cells a huge potential to become a major technology for decarbonizing propulsion and electrical power supply systems,” added Dr. Peter Riegger, Vice President Rolls-Royce PowerLab.

Much has already happened at the Friedrichshafen plant in recent months, with the complex hydrogen infrastructure now installed and the container all set up, complete with its four low-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell modules. Indeed, this took quite a lot of work by engineers across a variety of sites. Designed at the company’s plants in Ruhstorf, Bavaria, and Friedrichshafen, safety dictates that the container has two separate compartments for fuel cells and batteries, plus a host of power electronics. The control system has now been fully refined, cooling and air conditioning are on the roof, and a rack system enables simple maintenance, allowing individual system modules to be replaced as required.

The energy systems, using fuel cell modules from the automotive sector, have been put through their paces on a test stand, and the Rolls-Royce engineers are more than happy with the results: “Power flexing characteristics and performance are excellent, and as expected there are no vibrations or no loud noises,” explained Dr. Peter Riegger. The next step is to connect all four demo modules together in the container and hook up the batteries and power circuit. Commissioning is slated for the second half of 2021.

The demonstrator will be used for test purposes and to show interested parties which applications the system is suitable for. These include standby power, prime power, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) and ‘black start’ capability, allowing the system to be started from scratch without a mains connection. The system consists of fuel cell modules, batteries, fire protection, air conditioning and safety systems, cooling, gas supply and automation.

Please see our white paper for detailed information on fuel cell technology.

Press photos are available for download at https://www.mtu-solutions.com/eu/en/news-and-media/media-center.html

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Power supply with fuel cells: Rolls-Royce is currently setting up a demonstrator at the Friedrichshafen plant to test sustainable and climate-friendly power supply based on fuel cells. Fuel cell systems will be an essential part of Rolls-Royce’s sustainable MTU solutions portfolio.

About Rolls-Royce Holdings plc

1. Rolls-Royce pioneers the power that matters to connect, power and protect society. We have pledged to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emissions in our operations by 2030 [excluding product testing] and joined the UN Race to Zero campaign in 2020, affirming our ambition to play a fundamental role in enabling the sectors in which we operate achieve net zero carbon by 2050.
2. Rolls-Royce Power Systems is headquartered in Friedrichshafen in southern Germany and employs around 9,000 people. The product portfolio includes mtu-brand high-speed engines and propulsion systems for ships, power generation, heavy land, rail and defence vehicles and for the oil and gas industry as well as diesel and gas systems and battery containers for mission critical, standby and continuous power, combined generation of heat and power, and microgrids.
3. Rolls-Royce has customers in more than 150 countries, comprising more than 400 airlines and leasing customers, 160 armed forces and navies, and more than 5,000 power and nuclear customers.
4. Annual underlying revenue was £11.76 billion in 2020 and we invested £1.25 billion on research and development. We also support a global network of 28 University Technology Centres, which position Rolls-Royce engineers at the forefront of scientific research.