The technology group Rheinmetall has acquired funding from the federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) totaling around €7.7 million for the development of innovative products and solutions in the areas of hydrogen and electrification. The three projects launched together with various partners from industry and science are intended to increase the competitiveness of the future technology hydrogen and promote sustainable mobility. Depending on the project, the program company NOW GmbH or PTJ Projektträger Jülich act as coordinators.
The H2.MODUS funding project is being funded by the Rheinisches Revier and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) as part of the Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles (LIS) funding guideline with a total of €5.7 million. Funding for this measure is also provided as part of the German Recovery and Resilience Plan (DARP) via the European Recovery and Resilience Facilities (ARF) in the NextGenerationEU program. The project duration is four years. At the Neuss site, Rheinmetall is working together with project partners FEV, a renowned development service provider for sustainable mobility solutions, and the Chair of Thermodynamics of Mobile Energy Conversion Systems (tme) at RWTH Aachen University on simplifying the construction of fuel cell systems in order to reduce manufacturing costs and, at the same time, increase the Achieve competitiveness compared to other technologies. For this purpose, the functions of several individual components are bundled and brought together in modular units and subsystems.
As part of the program “Research, development and innovation measures as part of the National Innovation Program Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology Phase II”, the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport (BMDV) is supporting Rheinmetall at its Berlin location with around €1 million. New solutions are being developed to further reduce CO2 emissions in the mobility sector, to improve fuel cell systems in terms of service life and to reduce costs.
As part of the M-KaV joint project, a functionally integrated multi-way valve is being developed for the cathode path of fuel cell systems. It combines the functionality of multiple valves in one product. The multi-way cathode valve thus reduces the number of valves that previously had to be installed in the fuel cell. As part of the project, the project partner FuelzellenTechnik GmbH (ZBT) from Duisburg is dealing with the simulation of the valve, endurance tests of the valve in the real system and studies of material resistance, which is essential when dealing with the corrosion-promoting, highly volatile hydrogen. At the beginning of 2024, the start of the project was celebrated at an official launch event in Berlin.
Rheinmetall is also participating in the HZwoBoost funding project. For this purpose, the company location in Hartha (Saxony) will receive around one million euros from the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Protection (BMWK) from the seventh energy research framework program. The kick-off event took place on February 7, 2024 in Hartha. The project runs until the end of 2026. The aim of the project is to develop new production processes for the industrialization of a hydrogen recirculation blower (HRB) for low and high voltage. The HRB enables the controlled recirculation of hydrogen in the fuel cell, thereby ensuring both higher efficiency and an extended service life of the fuel cell. The Chemnitz University of Technology (TU) and the industrial technology company Sitec are project partners. Sitec is taking over the development of a new laser welding process. This process allows Rheinmetall to reduce the manufacturing costs of the HRB. The team at the Hartha location is responsible for the new production processes for manufacturing the HRB. Rheinmetall is also working on integrating the new process into the production process. Chemnitz University of Technology has the task of redesigning the end-of-line test in order to shorten production time.
These funding projects are important building blocks for further expanding Rheinmetall’s market position and contributing to a sustainable hydrogen economy. As part of its hydrogen strategy, Rheinmetall develops innovative solutions and products for industry that enable the efficient and reliable use of fuel cell systems, electrolyzers and tank systems. The group is one of the leading providers of products for fuel cell systems.
SOURCE: Rheinmetall
