QUICK COUPLINGS FOR FUEL CELL VEHICLES
The HENN coupling system offers far-reaching advantages over conventional screw clamp connections. The quick couplings enable a fast, process-safe connection without tools. This leads to an increase in the production rate as well as quality assurance. Due to their robustness, low assembly forces and high quality, they are increasingly replacing conventional clamp connections in the automotive industry.
With the growing importance and spread of the fuel cell technology in vehicles, process reliability for connecting media-carrying lines as well as simple and quick assembly and disassembly are also becoming increasingly relevant. With the use of coupling systems, the connection also becomes a media-carrying component and thus an active part of the system. This means that the same requirements apply to them with regard to degradation and the service life of the fuel cell.
The HyLife sub-project has the goal of investigating quick couplings more closely with regard to their suitability for use and their effect on the performance and service life of fuel cells. The findings will be used to develop necessary adaptations. Couplings for the air, hydrogen and cooling paths in the fuel cell were investigated. The years of experience and comprehensive advantages of the coupling systems should thus also be made usable for fuel cell vehicles.
Impact and effects
The practical tests of the couplings as individual as well as integrated in sub-systems (including leakage and media resistance tests, installation in existing systems) have shown that known and established connecting elements from combustion engines can also be used in fuel cell technology and meet the requirements for this application.
This means that the high quantities of the existing market can be used to offer consistent quality at low cost for the fuel cell market as well. In series production, the use of quick couplings also offers scaling opportunities due to shorter assembly times. Not only in series production, but also in test bench assemblies, flexibly detachable connections enable changes and short-term adaptations to meet a wide range of requirements. In this area in particular, this offers a significant simplification and improvement of the work for test bench construction and extensions or adaptation of the test benches to different prototypes in different test series.
Project partner
- AIT, AUT
- AVL, AUT
- BEST Research, AUT
- BOSCH, AUT
- HENN, AUT
- HyCentA, AUT
- Profactor, AUT
- Postbus, AUT
- TU Graz (CEET, IWT, ITNA), AUT
- VERBUND, AUT