Department of Systems and Control

Jožef Stefan Institute

Development of an Innovative Auxiliary Power UNIT for military purposes based on high-temperature PEM fuel cell and reforming technology for military logistic fuels – IAPUNIT II

Principal investigator:

Asst. Prof. Dr. Gregor Dolanc

Duration:

1.10.2024 - 30.09.2027

Funding:

Evropska Defence Agency (EDA)

Abstract:

Building up on the results of the IAPUNIT I, this new project aims to produce a demonstrator of an 8-kW innovative auxiliary power unit for military purposes based on high-temperature PEM (Proton-Exchange Membrane) fuel cell.

A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical energy of a fuel and an oxidizing agent (usually oxygen) into electricity, without any internal combustion process. Moreover, unlike most batteries, which store a certain amount of energy, fuel cells can produce electricity continuously for as long as fuel and oxygen are supplied.

As a matter of fact, the electric load for the operation of the on-board systems of armoured vehicles keeps increasing. However, providing the required energy from the main powertrain engine during stand still of the vehicle still presents some limitations, for instance, on efficiency, noise and infrared signature. Auxiliary power units, based on a dedicated internal combustion engine integrated aboard, can partially mitigate these issues, keeping using the same fuel for propulsion. Nevertheless, the acoustic and thermal issues remain unsolved.

IAPUNIT II aims at overcoming these limitations through the development of an auxiliary power unit based on a fuel cell, maintaining the advantage of using the same fuel as the drivetrain engine, avoiding space requirements for an additional tank as well as optimising logistics capacity for fuelling.

The project, prepared in the CapTech Ground Systems at EDA’s Research and Innovation Directorate and funded by Germany (lead nation), France, The Netherlands and Slovenia, contributes to the implementation of the NATO single fuel policy.

IAPUNIT II will be driven by a consortium composed of eleven industrial and research entities including the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Institute for Chemical Technology (project leader), AVL Schrick, the Technische Universität München, the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique et aux Energies Alternatives, Enercat Alsys-Group, KNDS, Demcon, Procede Process Technology, the Jozef Stefan Institute, the National Institute of Chemistry, and the University of Ljubljana.

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