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All articles of topic Technology

“H2Easy,” a patented powder based on sodium borohydride, is designed to safely store, transport, and release hydrogen on-site.
Technology

H2Flexx brings hydrogen to market as a powder

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The Dutch company H2Flexx emerged from the merger of H2Fuel and HydroFlex. It offers H2Easy, a hydrogen carrier in powder form. The material is intended to enable storage and transport without high pressure or cryogenic technology.

The image montage shows where and how the compact Raman LiDAR system could be deployed. In the magnifying glass, you can see a section of a 200 mm wafer manufactured at Fraunhofer IMS with variants of the silicon photomultiplier (BSI-SiPMs).
Technology

Project RADIANT: New LiDAR System Detects Hydrogen from a Distance

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A Fraunhofer consortium is developing a Raman LiDAR system for detecting hydrogen leaks from a distance. The technology aims to identify gases even in daylight and make the monitoring of H2 infrastructures safer and more flexible.

Hannover Messe 2026

Dilico Engineering demonstrates cell monitoring live in action

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Dilico Engineering is presenting the Cell Voltage Pickup (CVP) at Hannover Messe 2026. The modular system combines cell contacting and data acquisition for fuel cell stacks, electrolyzers, and battery systems, and will be demonstrated in live operation.

Hannover Messe 2026

SolydEra presents new PMX platform for SOFC systems

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SolydEra is presenting its latest PMX platform for solid oxide fuel cells at Hannover Messe. The integrated system combines stack, hot gas peripherals, and controls. It features a modular design and is designed for power outputs ranging from several tens to several hundreds of kilowatts.

Hannover Messe 2026

Fraunhofer ISE presents new pilot facility for MEA production

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Fraunhofer ISE is showcasing its new production research for membrane electrode assemblies (MEA) for fuel cells and electrolyzers at Hannover Messe. The focus is on a new pilot facility as well as analyses of power-to-X and hydrogen supply chains.

ELCHPEM test stand: The test stand is intended to be used to test the novel reactor for the electrochemical compression of hydrogen.
Electrochemical compression

Whisper compressors for residential areas

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Mechanical compressors are maintenance-heavy and noisy – a real problem in residential areas. The ELCHPEM 2.0 project is developing an electrochemical alternative based on hydraulic cell compression that aims to eliminate both drawbacks while reaching pressures of up to 300 bar.

Digitalization

The younger twin

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Siemens has created a digital twin for a Turn2X electrolysis plant in Spain, after the plant was already in operation. This improves the ability to control the plant remotely. A second plant being built next door is set to be digital from the start, ­offering additional benefits.

Test bench setup for the electrolysis cells 
Stack testing

Precise measurements at high current

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Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy is a well-established method for rigorously testing electrolysis stacks in the lab. But when it comes to fully scaled industrial stacks, delivering several thousand amps while maintaining precise AC signal modulation is a major challenge.

Value chain including production and consumers.
Offshore H2 production

The floating ­hydrogen factory

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Why bring electricity ashore when you can use it at sea? A floating offshore hydrogen generator converts wind energy into green ­hydrogen on the spot. Tankers then handle transport and storage – following a standard in the oil industry.

Conducting heat: Ceramic heat exchangers are not only highly temperature-resistant but also have high thermal conduc­tivities of up to 180 W/mK. In hydrogen applications, this combination makes them predestined for thermal management.
Materials

Ceramic technology from Japan for the German hydrogen industry

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Japan, a leading hydrogen nation, frequently uses fuel cells in heating systems and vehicles. Germany, by contrast, focuses primarily on large industrial processes involving hydrogen, such as in the steel, chemical, or basic materials industry. Ceramics specialist Kyocera is convinced that its materials, proven in Japan, offer advantages in Germany as well, despite the differences.

Joining equipment

The critical juncture

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Solid oxide cells could make electrolysers and fuel cells more efficient, more robust and easier to integrate thermally. But for the technology to truly play a role in climate protection, production would need to increase by factor 1,000 until 2035. A key bottleneck: the joining process. ­Multi-stack joining systems from Horiba are designed to help overcome it.

Hannover Messe 2026

Fraunhofer LBF presents methods for lifetime analysis of hydrogen systems

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At Hannover Messe, the Fraunhofer LBF is presenting methods for evaluating materials, components, and complete hydrogen systems under mechanical, thermal, electrical, and electrochemical loads over their entire life cycle.

Materials testing

Pure hydrogen at 1,650 degrees: British testing institute commissions test facility

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The Materials Processing Institute (MPI) in the United Kingdom has commissioned a test facility that enables materials testing in a pure hydrogen atmosphere at temperatures of up to 1,650 °C. The facility is intended to help close knowledge gaps about the behaviour of materials under hydrogen conditions.

Mini-plant for converting blast furnace gases into methanol.
Technology

Fraunhofer ISE Increases Methanol Yield from Steel Mill Gases by 39 Percent Using Digital Twin

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Fraunhofer ISE has increased methanol production from steel mill off-gases by 39 percent using a digital twin in the Carbon2Chem project. The simulation platform is intended to also be used in the future for the production of aviation fuels.

Hydrogen Power Plants

Fraunhofer IWM develops testing method for material fatigue under hydrogen influence

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The Fraunhofer Institute for Mechanics of Materials (IWM) in Freiburg has developed a method that enables the economic determination of the thermomechanical fatigue of materials under the influence of hydrogen in the laboratory. The procedure uses so-called hollow specimens—test bodies with internal flow—and is intended to facilitate component design for gas turbines and large engines.

Steel production

Hiperbaric supplies compressors for Voestalpine's H2Future hydrogen pilot plant

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The steel corporation Voestalpine has installed two high-pressure compressors from the Spanish manufacturer Hiperbaric at its hydrogen pilot plant H2Future in Linz, Austria. The devices compress green hydrogen up to 500 bar – among other uses for the hydrogen-based steel production process Hyfor.

Hannover Messe 2026

Celeroton TurboCell presents CTi-110x and new CTE-400x for fuel cells

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Celeroton TurboCell is presenting two turbo compressors for fuel cells at Hannover Messe: the CTi-110x, based on the second CTi-1x generation with integrated inverter, as well as the new CTE-400x with CC-4000 for 100 to 200 kilowatts.

Asahi Kasei and Nippon Steel close the titanium loop in chlor-alkali electrolysis
Raw materials

Titanium recycling for electrolysis cells: Asahi Kasei launches initiative with Nippon Steel

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Asahi Kasei, together with Nippon Steel and Nippon Steel Trading, has launched an initiative to recycle titanium from production waste generated by chlor-alkali electrolysis cells. The high-purity metal is to be returned to the material cycle.

Technology

Metallic Bipolar Plate from Dana Aims to Reduce Electrolysis Costs

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Dana has introduced a metallic bipolar plate for electrolysers. The component, developed at the Neu-Ulm site, is made of titanium or steel, is only 0.1 millimetres thin, and aims to reduce system costs through higher power density.

Research

EU Project Desiree aims to make solid oxide electrolysis more efficient and durable

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A European consortium led by the Spanish research center Cener aims to further develop solid oxide electrolysis. In the Desiree project, a 40 kW prototype is to be created by 2029, achieving an efficiency of over 85 percent and providing hydrogen without additional electrical compression.

H2 Ecosystem

Research project DigHy: mining vehicles to operate with locally produced hydrogen

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The Chair of Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components (PEM) at RWTH Aachen University leads the federally funded research project DigHy. The aim is a digitized hydrogen infrastructure for mining, which will supply heavy vehicles emission-free with hydrogen produced by electrolysis from treated mine water.

Graebener is responsible for manufacturing the bipolar plates for the air-cooled fuel cell stacks.
Aviation

Fuel cells for aircraft up to two tonnes

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In the research project BeHyPSy, the Centre for Fuel Cell Technology (ZBT) and partners are developing an air-cooled fuel cell system for unmanned aerial vehicles and light aircraft. Graebener manufactures bipolar plates from titanium foil for this purpose.

The compressorless gas turbine of the KIT team burns almost a minute longer than NASA's.
Compressorless Gas Turbine

KIT Surpasses Previous NASA Runtime Record

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Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have set a runtime record of 303 seconds with a compressorless hydrogen gas turbine. Previously, they succeeded for the first time in generating electricity with such a turbine.

Tour of the new electrolysis plant
Electrolysers in Germany

Financing remains the key hurdle

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By 2030, electrolysers with a capacity of up to 6.6 gigawatts could be built in Germany – provided financing is secured. Many ­projects are competing for limited funds in tenders, while larger plants could be better supported through long-term power ­purchase agreements.

Schematic representation of the electrodeposition of the novel catalyst material onto the stainless steel nonwoven. CE = counter electrode; WE = working electrode 
Hydrogen production

Innovative electrodes for more efficient electrolysis

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A catalyst based on nickel and sulphur with a nanostructured surface can significantly improve the efficiency of electrodes for AEM electro­lysers. This is the finding of a recently published study by ZBT, fem Forschungsinstitut and Ruhr-Universität Bochum in Germany.