The purpose of the project was to develop a hydraulic system for a special purpose test rig to control the operation of a hydrogen pressure booster for use in automotive hydrogen fuel cell research.
Advances in hydrogen fuel cell technology have led to the requirement for ever grater hydrogen pressures to be generated, this requires the use of special purpose multi-stage pressure boosters. In order to effectively charge the fuel cell, the hydrogen pressure must be precisely controlled, leading to the requirement for pressure booster control.
A variable hydraulic flow rate test rig was developed whereby the booster outlet pressure was feed back to the control system to provide constant pressure at the outlet of the pressure booster.
The outcome of the project is that by having precise control, of the hydrogen pressure booster the client is able to better assess the efficiency of the fuel cell charge rate, which helps them to further advance hydrogen fuel cell technology.
