Design and industrial deployment of innovative manufacturing processes for fuel cells and fuel cell components
Programme Category
Programme Name
Programme Description
The EuroHPC Joint Undertaking (hereinafter “EuroHPC JU”), will contribute to the ambition of value creation in the Union with the overall mission to develop, deploy, extend and maintain in the Union an integrated world class supercomputing and quantum computing infrastructure and to develop and support a highly competitive and innovative High Performance Computing (HPC) ecosystem, extreme scale, power-efficient and highly resilient HPC and data technologies.
Identifier Code
Call
Summary
The scope of this topic is to adapt and develop manufacturing processes on a prototype tool that can then serve several manufacturers. It aims at establishing a European supply chain of specialised SOC manufacturing equipment that can be adapted by several manufacturers, or even exported to overseas markets in scenario where European technology is licensed for local production in overseas territories. The supply of equipment is a market opportunity on its own, though the proximity with the domestic manufacturers supports their ability to stay ahead of competition.
Detailed Call Description
Proposals should address the following:
- Proof of concept, design and adaptation of approaches from automation industry, whose implementation for the production of cells, stack components or stacks, could significantly improve production process for selected critical manufacturing processes should be considered;
- The demonstration of two or more automated production steps, initially performed manually with considerable time effort, should be performed. The ones with the greater impact on costs and waste production should be considered preferably;
- Archetype for the mass production of FC, definition of a virtual production process with a high degree of automation (at least 75%) and implementation of mature methodologies known from automation industry for target production volume of at least 100 MW/year (from 20,000 to 100,000 units/year depending on nominal stack power) utilising the developed automated production step should be planned;
- Techno-economic assessment and demonstration of stack output of 100 MW/year (corresponding from 20,000 to 100,000 units/year depending on single stack power) resulting in target manufacturing costs <800 €/kWel should be provided;
- Digital concept for complete component tracking and continuous validation of virtual twins for component and/or stack manufacturing should be considered;
- Circularity assessment in technology / prototypes development should be provided;
- The IPR on the manufacturing tool and equipment is to be with the automation company, in order to enable other manufacturers to benefit from the experience and to strengthen the overall sectors competitiveness in Europe.
The focus of the project is to demonstrate, in an industrial environment, the possibility of automating the most expensive processes, today performed manually or with technologies not suitable for the achievement of the production objectives described in the topic. The project should close the gaps for design and supply of automated turn-key equipment for production of stacks and/or stack components.
Call Total Budget
Thematic Categories
- Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Eligibility for Participation
- Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
Eligibility For Participation Notes
Consortia should include industrial partners responsible for: automation, quality control and stack or stack component manufacturing. A leading role is expected to be taken by the automation/equipment manufacturer/s in the consortium. The industrial partners should be supported by research institutes, which focus on but not limited to: relevant manufacturing technologies, failure analysis in manufactured components, implementation of non-destructive testing (NDT) and novel quality control methods, artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms for quality management, post-operation analysis of stacks and components.
Consortia are encouraged to explore synergies and cooperation with Made in Europe partnership as well as to seek for additional national funding.