Periodic Reporting for period 2 - StasHH (Standard-Sized Heavy-duty Hydrogen)
Période du rapport: 2022-07-01 au 2023-12-31
Many industrial actors in the heavy-duty (HD) transport sector are interested in deploying zero-emission solutions based on hydrogen fuel cells, but their deployment has been hindered for years by the lack of an industry standard defining how to integrate fuel cells in a vehicle. This has caused repeated "re-engineering of the wheel" as various companies integrated fuel cells from a specific vendor in a specific vehicle.
StasHH provides a standard for the size, connections and communication of a generic fuel-cell module (FCM) that both FCM manufacturers and their customers can use in their design. The standard is designed with focus on European trucks, which were identified as the most difficult application due to their limited available volume, but is applicable to all HD applications, both on land and water.
StasHH' consortium includes many large and influential FCM manufacturers, some based in Europe and some daughter companies of worldwide market leaders, and a wide cross-section of vehicle manufacturers encompassing trucks, buses, trains, construction vehicles, and ships.
While battery cars are gradually becoming more common in Europe, and most major manufacturers have ambitious electrification plans, the HD sector is more difficult to transition to zero-emission propulsion because of the inherent limitations of batteries in terms of weight, capacity and cost. Hydrogen fuel cells can provide zero-emission HD mobility with lower weight, higher capacity and far lower cost for the same stored energy: StasHH aims to kickstart the adoption of fuel cells in the HD sector.
StasHH' objectives are:
1. Reducing the total cost of ownership of fuel cells, which is key in the commercially driven HD sector;
2. Unify the HD markets providing one single standard for trucks, buses, ships, trains, etc.
3. Provide a stackable standard up to the MW scale, to cover even more markets;
4. Ensuring fair competition among fuel-cell suppliers, whose FCMs may be easily swapped for another company's;
5. Reduce the research, development and innovation costs of vehicle manufacturers, who will have clear guidelines on how to install fuel cells in their vehicles;
6. Enable FCM manufacturers to automate their production by reducing the number of models to a few standard sizes, unleashing economies of scale;
7. Improve the supply chain, as defective FCMs may be easily replaced and sent to their factory for repairs, instead of dispatching technicians to every single site.
StasHH provides a standard for the size, connections and communication of a generic fuel-cell module (FCM) that both FCM manufacturers and their customers can use in their design. The standard is designed with focus on European trucks, which were identified as the most difficult application due to their limited available volume, but is applicable to all HD applications, both on land and water.
StasHH' consortium includes many large and influential FCM manufacturers, some based in Europe and some daughter companies of worldwide market leaders, and a wide cross-section of vehicle manufacturers encompassing trucks, buses, trains, construction vehicles, and ships.
While battery cars are gradually becoming more common in Europe, and most major manufacturers have ambitious electrification plans, the HD sector is more difficult to transition to zero-emission propulsion because of the inherent limitations of batteries in terms of weight, capacity and cost. Hydrogen fuel cells can provide zero-emission HD mobility with lower weight, higher capacity and far lower cost for the same stored energy: StasHH aims to kickstart the adoption of fuel cells in the HD sector.
StasHH' objectives are:
1. Reducing the total cost of ownership of fuel cells, which is key in the commercially driven HD sector;
2. Unify the HD markets providing one single standard for trucks, buses, ships, trains, etc.
3. Provide a stackable standard up to the MW scale, to cover even more markets;
4. Ensuring fair competition among fuel-cell suppliers, whose FCMs may be easily swapped for another company's;
5. Reduce the research, development and innovation costs of vehicle manufacturers, who will have clear guidelines on how to install fuel cells in their vehicles;
6. Enable FCM manufacturers to automate their production by reducing the number of models to a few standard sizes, unleashing economies of scale;
7. Improve the supply chain, as defective FCMs may be easily replaced and sent to their factory for repairs, instead of dispatching technicians to every single site.
The project has already produced three public standard documents defining respectively the sizes, interfaces and communications of the StasHH modules.
The standards were agreed after many rounds of discussion involving the entire consortium, especially the manufacturers of the fuel-cell modules and of the applications that would use them, such as vehicles, ships, and trains. The standard are publicly available on the project's website.
Another significant public result is the extensive review of regulations, codes and standards (RCS) in multiple markets: at almost 600 pages, the document details the implications of existing RCS for StasHH' own standards.
OEMs provided their perspective with a public report on best practices for the integration of StasHH FCMs into their vehicles and vessels.
The project developed two mobile test rigs for StasHH FCMs that have since been deployed at FEV, TNO and CEA.
Most of the FCMs to be developed in the project have already been built, and some were already tested in the laboratory. In collaboration with project H2Haul, VDL has already installed StasHH units of multiple StasHH vendors into their prototype truck.
The project has received significant attention from the industry, and many vehicle manufacturers requested to be involved. The project set up an Advisory Board including companies such as Airbus, Bosch, cellcentric, Colruyt, Engie and Mahle, but given the overwhelming interest an exploitation group was set up to keep contact with all other companies interested in the standard.
The standards were agreed after many rounds of discussion involving the entire consortium, especially the manufacturers of the fuel-cell modules and of the applications that would use them, such as vehicles, ships, and trains. The standard are publicly available on the project's website.
Another significant public result is the extensive review of regulations, codes and standards (RCS) in multiple markets: at almost 600 pages, the document details the implications of existing RCS for StasHH' own standards.
OEMs provided their perspective with a public report on best practices for the integration of StasHH FCMs into their vehicles and vessels.
The project developed two mobile test rigs for StasHH FCMs that have since been deployed at FEV, TNO and CEA.
Most of the FCMs to be developed in the project have already been built, and some were already tested in the laboratory. In collaboration with project H2Haul, VDL has already installed StasHH units of multiple StasHH vendors into their prototype truck.
The project has received significant attention from the industry, and many vehicle manufacturers requested to be involved. The project set up an Advisory Board including companies such as Airbus, Bosch, cellcentric, Colruyt, Engie and Mahle, but given the overwhelming interest an exploitation group was set up to keep contact with all other companies interested in the standard.
The rest of the project will focus on the construction of the few remaining prototypes, the conclusion of test activities and the analysis of the produced data. At least one FCM is foreseen to be tested on-field in a genset prototype.
Based on the experiences in the project, the standard will be refined and submitted to international standard bodies. FCM suppliers will produce and publish their final designs for fully StasHH-compatible modules.
The final part of the project will see an increased focus on dissemination toward the industry, which will be critical to ensure the impact of the standard.
Based on the experiences in the project, the standard will be refined and submitted to international standard bodies. FCM suppliers will produce and publish their final designs for fully StasHH-compatible modules.
The final part of the project will see an increased focus on dissemination toward the industry, which will be critical to ensure the impact of the standard.