19/12/2018
Grant presentation ceremony (from left to right): Parlamentary State Secretary Steffen Bilger (BMVI), Dr. Thomas Goedecke (BAM), Dr. Georg Mair (BAM) and Dr. Klaus Bonhoff (NOW GmbH)

Grant presentation ceremony (from left to right): Parlamentary State Secretary Steffen Bilger (BMVI), Dr. Thomas Goedecke (BAM), Dr. Georg Mair (BAM) and Dr. Klaus Bonhoff (NOW GmbH)

Source: BMVI

Fuel cell vehicles are considered particularly environmentally friendly. A fuel cell car uses gaseous hydrogen to power the car. In contrast to a combustion motor, hydrogen cars produce no emissions, just water vapour. As of yet however, hydrogen storage systems remain very heavy and expensive to make.


The DELFIN project funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrasturcture (BMVI) aims to develop a lighter and safer hydrogen tank from carbon fibres and a plastic liner. In addition to BAM, Ford, BMW and Mercedes-Benz Fuel Cell GmbH are involved, as well as the suppliers NPROXX, Elkamet Kunststofftechnik, Teijin Carbon Europe, the engineering service provider ISATEC and the Institute of Plastics Processing (IKV) at the RWTH Aachen University.


Steffen Bilger, BMVI Parliamentary State Secretary, presented the grant of approximately 6.7 million euro to the project partners on 13 December 2018 in Berlin. The project is funded in conjunction with the National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP).


BAM research within this project focuses on the impact loading of hydrogen storage systems. This involves testing the burst strength of the vehicle tanks following a crash. The loads on the tanks can be replicated with and without gas on a new, specially developed testing station. This shows whether the storage systems can be operated safely and whether the resilience of the new design has not deteriorated - or has even improved - as a result of the intended material savings.

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