Paper power distributor - project wins 25th Otto von Guericke Award 2021

The research project "Titan-PapSt" has been awarded the Otto von Guericke Prize 2021 for the IGF project of the year 2021 for the development of a new type of membrane electrode unit for fuel cell and electrolysis technology.

Sintered titanium power distributor
© Papiertechnische Stiftung (PTS). Sintered titanium power distributor.
07.12.2021
Source:  Company news

The three institutes involved, the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research in Dresden (IFAM), the Centre for Fuel Cell Technology GmbH in Duisburg (ZBT) and the Papiertechnische Stiftung (PTS), have also contributed to bringing together three specialist areas and developing an innovative paper-based material with their outstanding interdisciplinary approach.

The AiF (German Federation of Industrial Research Associations "Otto von Guericke" e.V.) has awarded this prize for the 25th time on 01.12.2021, which honours scientists for outstanding innovative achievements in the field of pre-competitive industrial collaborative research (IGF). This renowned prize has been awarded since 1997 and comes with prize money of 10,000 €.

In total, the knowledge location Dresden was represented by three institutes in two nominated projects: the Fraunhofer Institute for Manufacturing Technology and Applied Materials Research (IFAM), the Paper Technology Foundation (PTS) from Heidenau near Dresden and the Technical University of Dresden in the IGF project "MyringoSeal", all of which shape the location in the association "Dresden concept".

Power distributor in electrolysis cells made of special paper
The production of "green hydrogen" on a large scale requires cost-effective electrolysis systems in which the power distributor currently accounts for the largest share of costs. For this reason, it was necessary to look for alternative materials and technological concepts.

In collaboration with Dr Ralf Hauser (IFAM, Dresden) Sebastian Stypka (formerly ZBT, Duisburg) and Wladimir Philippi (both ZBT, Duisburg), PTS project leaders Franziska Bauer and Dr Stefan Knohl (formerly PTS) have developed an innovative paper-based material. "This makes it possible to produce functional current distributors on highly productive paper machines in the future," says Bauer, adding "compared to the previous titanium components, the new 'paper' saves a fifth of the costs." The idea stems from an exchange of knowledge between the institutes in 2015, as a result of which the unique potential of the production technology of paper production was also envisaged for further applications in the field of Power2X.

In the project, the focus was on the so-called PEM electrolysis cells, in which the power distributor accounts for the dominant share of costs. In order to reduce the investment costs of PEM electrolysis cells, the idea of developing metallic sinterable papers based on titanium for use as power distributors in PEM electrolysis was successfully pursued. The disadvantages of conventional current distributors are the very high manufacturing costs (fabrics), the high anisotropy and insufficient surface area (nonwovens), a high material thickness combined with high manufacturing costs (sintered bodies) and generally tolerances that are sometimes too large.

Within the framework of this research project, various paper-derived titanium flow distributors could be manufactured. The titanium flow distributors were then examined with regard to their performance during electrolysis. As a result of the research project, it was shown that an optimal microstructure in terms of porosity and pore size is crucial for the functioning of the electrolyser. Finally, flow distributors were developed that are comparable with a reference.

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