Alliance and setting standards for all parties competing for fuel cell cars

The "12th Five-Year Plan" ("Summary") of "Development of Electric Vehicle Science and Technology" recently announced pointed out that "the development of fuel cell systems for demonstration and product verification" and "development of next-generation fuel cell systems for technological breakthroughs."

In recent years, breakthroughs have been made in fuel cell and fuel cell vehicle technologies. Major international automobile groups have continued to invest in R&D of fuel cell vehicles. The cost of vehicle batteries for fuel cell vehicles has dropped significantly, and the performance index has approached the level of commercialization. In this regard, some experts said that as an important part of new energy vehicles, fuel cell vehicles are ushering in an important period of development.

Advantages and constraints are obvious. Experts say that compared with traditional vehicles, fuel cell vehicles have zero or nearly zero emissions, reduce water pollution from oil leakage, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve fuel economy, and increase Engine combustion efficiency, smooth operation, no noise and many other advantages.

It is understood that the use of fuel cell vehicles and the principle of electrolysis is completely the opposite, through the hydrogen generated by the chemical reaction of hydrogen and air to drive the engine to run, so as to drive the car. Unlike electric vehicles, which use stored electricity to drive the car, the fuel cell car runs while generating electricity. It discharges only water during driving, and does not produce harmful gases that pollute the air. At the same time, the energy density of hydrogen is 10 times that of a vehicle-mounted lithium-ion battery, and hydrogen can travel longer distances when it is charged. The energy conversion efficiency of a fuel cell is 2-3 times higher than that of an internal combustion engine. In addition, electric vehicles need to be charged for a long time, and fuel cell vehicles can be refueled in a short time.

In recent years, governments and automobile manufacturers have been optimistic about hydrogen energy. The U.S. Department of Energy’s report states that the clean utilization of fuel cells (hydrogen fuel cell vehicles, power generation equipment, etc.) is becoming a new growth point in the hydrogen market. The U.S. Academy of Engineering recently predicted that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will enter the developed market in bulk in 2015 and will replace the existing fuel vehicles and hybrid vehicles within 15-20 years, which will dominate the global automotive market. The data shows that as of the end of 2010, the total number of hydrogen refueling stations in the world has reached 212; in 2011, there were 127 hydrogen refueling stations, and the construction of hydrogen refueling stations is gradually developing in the direction of networking.

Although the advantages of fuel cell vehicles are obvious, there are also factors such as the production and storage of hydrogen and the high cost of fuel cells. According to Yang Yusheng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, hydrogen production from electrolyzed water consumes 1 cubic watt of hydrogen at 4 kWh. However, 1 cubic metre of hydrogen produces only 1.2 kWh of electricity in fuel cells, which is not worth the candle. In addition, because the density of hydrogen is very small, only 1/8 of natural gas, and the storage volume is large, it cannot be stored directly. At the same time, as the raw material of the current mainstream fuel cell catalyst - platinum, according to incomplete statistics, the total reserves of global platinum group elements in mineral resources is about 31,000 tons, of which platinum total reserves of about 14,000 tons, far from meeting the fuel cell car The demand for large-scale industrialization also caused the current high price of fuel cells.

Recently, Finnish researchers have developed a new method that can reduce the manufacturing cost of fuel cells. Researchers used atomic layer deposition (ALD) to obtain nanoparticle catalysts, which made the fuel cell anode catalyst cover thinner than before, and the catalyst requirement was reduced by 60%, which can significantly reduce costs and improve quality. The results show that the precious metal nanoparticle catalyst prepared by this method has a lower catalyst load compared to current commercial fuel cell catalysts, but it can provide similar activity. The fuel cell manufactured by this method may start within 5-10 years. Commercial production.

Foreign governments and enterprises joined hands to seize the commanding heights Prior to this, it was reported that 11 major global automobile manufacturers such as Toyota, Daimler, GM, and Nissan will soon conclude coalitions to unify the specifications of liquid hydrogen supply systems for next-generation new energy fuel cell vehicles. It is understood that 11 automobile companies have basically agreed to standardize the connector that will inject hydrogen gas into the car body from the storage tank. In 2012, it will also complete the qualification of the International Organization for Standardization. Correspondingly, in the field of electric vehicles, there is a slight delay in the unification of the international standards for connecting chargers and body cord plugs. In the field of fuel cell vehicles, all manufacturers will agree on the issue of unification of specifications, which will greatly promote the adoption of fuel cell vehicles.

In recent years, Germany, the United States, Japan, and other countries are implementing plans for the future of hydrogen industrialization, focusing on the development of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and highway refueling stations. Under the support of governments of various countries and the promotion of the automotive industry, the two major bottlenecks in the industrialization of hydrogen energy, gas stations and fuel cell vehicles, are gradually being broken. At the same time, major global automakers such as BMW, GM, and Toyota have already made technical reserves in advance.

According to statistics, Germany has invested more than 1 billion euros in the development of fuel cell vehicles. According to the plan, Germany will build 1,000 hydrogen refueling stations in 2015 and begin mass commercialization of fuel cell powered vehicles. By 2020, 1 million electric vehicles and 500,000 fuel cell vehicles will be put into use. In order to occupy the favorable position of the market as soon as possible, the three fuel cell prototypes developed by Mercedes-Benz Germany completed the first round of orbit around the earth across four continents and 14 countries. In addition, Mercedes-Benz has 36 hydrogen fuel cell buses in Germany and has collected 2 million kilometers of operational data. At present, the consumption of hydrogen-fueled buses has reduced fuel consumption by 50% over the earlier period, and performance and mileage have increased significantly. This year, Daimler will cooperate with Linde Group, the world's largest industrial gas supplier, and add 20 hydrogen stations to the center of the city. Daimler also conducted technical cooperation with Renault-Nissan and plans to launch fuel cell vehicles in the Japanese market around 2015.

Japan has already announced that 13 domestic oil and gas companies will jointly develop hydrogen energy infrastructure by 2015. Among them, including plans to build 1,000 hydrogen stations and 2 million fuel cell vehicles by 2025. At present, the pressure of hydrogen storage tanks for Toyota's hydrogen fuel cell vehicles has been increased from 35 MPa to 70 MPa. The capacity of hydrogen storage tanks has increased from 148 liter to 156 liter. The amount of stored hydrogen is more than double the original, so that renewal can be guaranteed. Driving mileage increased by 1 time. At the same time, 13 companies, including Toyota and Japan's largest refiner, JX Nippon Mining and Japan Energy, will start construction of hydrogen stations in 2013. As Japan's relevant authorities relaxed the relevant safety specifications for hydrogen tanks, in 2015, the 13 companies increased the number of hydrogen stations to 100.

In this field, the United States has not been far behind and it has built a hydrogen station highway in its eastern region. The filling point is all hydrogen from solar electrolyzed water, and the related research and development are being stepped up. With the efforts of U.S. General Motors, the hydrogen fuel cell engine has been reduced in volume by 50%, equivalent to a four-cylinder internal combustion engine, and reduced in weight by 100 kilograms. It is understood that higher-performance fourth- and fifth-generation fuel cell vehicles have also been successfully developed.

Experts said that because there is no market, China’s fuel cell companies are dominated by SMEs, many companies rely on national projects to maintain, and only one company that can obtain venture investment, most private enterprises are still struggling to wait for market, financing difficulties, and strength Weak and multiple whirlpools. At the same time, the domestic hydrogen energy companies are under great pressure to survive. The auxiliary industries such as hydrogen production, testing, and integration still have a certain scale. However, due to the failure of the industrial chain, the hydrogen production, hydrogen storage and transportation systems are not perfect, especially the key fuel cell technologies. There has been no breakthrough, and the scale of production in the entire industry will take some time.

Up to now, China's fuel cell vehicles have been demonstrated through major events such as the Beijing Olympics and the Shanghai World Expo. However, at the same time, there are still gaps between China's key technologies in fuel cells and the international advanced level. For example, there is information that China's fuel cell bus as a demonstration bus operation has not exceeded 3,000 hours of operating life, while UTC's UTC fuel cell fuel cell engine for urban life has been more than 5000 hours under road test conditions.

It is understood that the China Fuel Cell Vehicle Technology Innovation Strategic Alliance established to accelerate the development of China's fuel cell vehicles aims to closely integrate the national "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" and the technical requirements for the development of the fuel cell vehicle industry through cooperation and autonomy. With technological innovation, it strives to overcome the key core and bottleneck technologies of fuel cell vehicles as soon as possible, solve the problems in China's fuel cell vehicle engineering and industrialization, and accelerate the industrialization of fuel cell vehicles in China.

The domestic industry, universities, and research institutes joined hands to catch up with the beginning of 2012. Initiated by Tongji University, a number of domestic universities, research institutes, and key enterprises with advantages in new energy vehicles, ground transportation, and information industries jointly initiated the establishment of a Chinese fuel cell vehicle technology. The Innovation Strategic Alliance and the Advanced Ground Transportation Innovation Alliance were unveiled and signed at the same time at Tongji University.

It is understood that, unlike foreign countries, China's fuel cell industry is currently focusing on R&D rather than industrialization, and more than 60 institutions in China are engaged in research on fuel cells. At the same time, China's fuel cell market focuses on the field of transportation tools. Correspondingly, the largest area for China's fuel cell investment is the proton exchange membrane (PEM), which is suitable for the automotive fuel cell market. At the same time, a significant proportion of the other two major bottlenecks in fuel cells, fuel storage and fuel infrastructure, are also invested.