Success in National Hydrogen Strategy Rheinmetall develops innovative electrode technology for hydrogen production

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Rheinmetall AG

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The technology group Rheinmetall has successfully completed a project to develop an innovative electrode technology for alkaline electrolysis, a key technology for the energy transition in the field of hydrogen production. Preparations for pilot production next year are already underway.

KS Gleitlager GmbH, a subsidiary of the group, has been conducting research over the past three years as the consortium leader in the German government-funded consortium project “Precious metal-free electrodes for the next generation of alkaline electrolysis” (E2ngel). This is a funding project within the framework of the National Hydrogen Strategy. The aim is to significantly increase the power density and efficiency of water electrolysis for the production of green hydrogen based on precious metal-free catalysts compared to today's systems.

Enhancing Efficiency and Performance

“By using our innovative electrode technology, electrolyzer systems will become more powerful and at the same time more efficient than they are today,” explains Dr. Karsten Lange, head of the E2ngel consortium project. This will reduce the production costs of green hydrogen through reduced investment in the overall system, accompanied by a doubling of power density and an improvement in efficiency of over 10 percent.

Rapid Development of Catalyst and Process

Due to the expertise of the Rheinmetall technology center, particularly in the areas of special alloy material development, metallic coating processes, and various forming, stamping, bending, cutting, and joining technologies, both catalyst and process development were completed in record time. Timely qualification and validation were carried out by the E2ngel consortium partners, the Deutsche Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (German Aerospace Center, DLR) and McPhy Energy Germany. Numerous development variants were tested by the DLR Institute of Technical Thermodynamics and, in the final project phase, tested by McPhy for their suitability for use in the electrolyzer system. With success: the original project targets for cell voltage and current density were even exceeded. This shows that the precious metal-free and therefore highly scalable electrode technology is even more efficient than the significantly more complex solutions based on expensive and critical precious metals. 

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Now the path to series production is being paved: Pilot production is scheduled to start next year at the St. Leon-Rot site. The production line is designed for electrode dimensions of up to two meters and thus for electrolyzer systems in multi-megawatt design. In addition, the volume scaling necessary for a successful energy transition was already taken into account when selecting the process and production technology.“We are thus making a significant contribution to a sustainable and affordable energy transition. At the same time, we are helping to reduce dependence on imported fossil fuels and thus strengthen the resilience of the German and European energy supply,” says Dr. Klaus Pucher, CEO of the responsible business unit.