Zaragoza, Mar 10 (EFE).- Researchers from the Institute of Carbochemistry (ICB) of Zaragoza have developed one of the largest facilities in the country to test the operation of fuel cells, since it allows testing with cells of up to 50 kW that can used to power large-scale infrastructures such as trains, homes, cars or ships.
The initiative is part of the technological commitment being made by the Higher Council for Scientific Research (CSIC), of which this Institute is a part, for the development of large-scale stationary (non-portable) storage of electrical energy.
The objective, as reported by the ICB at a press conference, is to achieve a greater integration of renewable energies, overcome their intermittency problems and accelerate the energy transition.
Antonio Lozano, the researcher in charge of the project, has highlighted that hydrogen cells are becoming more and more widespread since a lot of research has been done in recent years and now they are sold for specific applications such as hydrogen cars, which work with powers between 30 and 40 kW, and could also be used to provide electricity to homes.
However, these types of batteries cannot be tested on any bench because they have a high gas consumption and “an electronic load is needed that is capable of absorbing the power demanded, in this case, a maximum of 50 kW”, he explained. .
For this reason, given the lack of adequate test benches, the ICB researchers created one that covered these needs for their own use and so that other institutions and companies could use it.
The bench is programmable and can be automated to carry out long tests, which will clear up one of the great unknowns about these devices: their useful life.
Fuel cells are devices that generate electricity in a sustainable way and their operation consists of feeding the cell with hydrogen and oxygen or air, with which a chemical reaction is produced that generates the electricity that is going to be consumed, according to the researcher hired from the Jorge Almingol project.
In this reaction, hydrogen acts as an energy vector, that is, the substance in which energy is stored, and when it comes from renewable sources, the process is completely clean, “it does not produce CO2, the only thing that is generated is steam from water and heat, which can be used”, he added, and, furthermore, “practically all the components of these batteries are recyclable”.
The construction of the test bench has lasted a year and a half, but the group has spent several decades researching this type of fuel cell, and the next step is to extend its usefulness to tests with redox flow batteries and “possibly also for other types of batteries or electrochemical devices”.
This research has been carried out within the Interdisciplinary Thematic Platform of the CSIC (PTI+) Sustainable Energy Transition+ (PTI-TRANSENER+), a network that brings together research teams from various disciplines in collaboration with the industrial sector to develop knowledge that promotes the transition energetic.