AVL and Greenlight Innovation Demonstrate Experience in Fuel Cell Development

AVL (hall 27, booth D62) and Greenlight Innovation Corp. (hall 27, booth D64) will show their combined expertise in fuel cell development at the Hannover Messe from April 24–28, 2017. In a presentation entitled “A Deep Look into the State-of the-Art HyCentA System Testbed”, insights into Europe’s most modern test infrastructure for fuel cell systems will be given. The lecture will be held at the Public Forum Hydrogen + Fuel Cells + Batteries in hall 27, booth C66 on Wednesday, April 26, 16:00 CEST.

AVL and the Canadian Greenlight Innovation Corp., global leader in the supply of testing and manufacturing equipment for hydrogen fuel cells, electrolyzers, batteries and energy storage systems, have merged their know-how to develop a state-of-the-art development platform for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

The proven and reliable AVL toolchain for combustion engines has been tailor-made for fuel cell technology. With the new development platform, energy management concepts can be combined directly in real-time at the testbed as a hardware-in-the-loop model with real powertrain components, and subsystem testbeds can be integrated with a virtual vehicle and thoroughly tested. The interplay between all individual system components significantly speeds up fuel cell development. The new platform is a state-of-the-art solution for developers of both heavy-duty and light-duty fuel cell engines as well as for OEMs. Moreover, the innovative solution supports the automotive industry in developing the next-generation powertrain.

Europe’s most modern testbed for fuel cell systems

The Q&A sessions will focus on Europe’s most modern testbed for fuel cell systems, which was put into operation by AVL and HyCentA (Hydrogen Center Austria, TU Graz) in late October 2016. The testbed in Graz, which is owned and operated by HyCentA and was designed and installed by AVL in close cooperation with HyCentA and Greenlight Innovations, allows experiments involving fuel cell systems that are carried out under real load conditions and in dynamic operation. Energy management concepts can be tested in fuel cells virtually and “hardware-in-the-loop” models combined with real-time battery, e-motor or powertrain data on the testbed. Further application areas focus on optimized heat removal, exploring cooling system designs and fuel cell system lifetime under normal operating conditions.