Coventry University research centre secures £4m in new hydrogen testing contracts
Coventry University’s Centre for Advanced Low-Carbon Propulsion Systems (C-ALPS) has secured £4 million in new hydrogen testing contracts.
The £50 million centre, which has been created through a joint investment between Coventry University and global engineering consultancy FEV, is working to develop new e-mobility and zero-emission drive system solutions working alongside engine and vehicle manufacturers, electrification start-ups, and UK and European research consortia.
Over the past two years, the two organisations have invested £3 million into creating a hydrogen research, development and testing facility, capable of evaluating prototypes and pre-production hydrogen propulsion systems for use in trucks, coaches, off-highway machinery, ships, and trains and aircraft.
Test beds at the centre have also been upgraded to enable testing of outputs up to 650kW and has recently agreed a partnership with hydrogen refuelling business Element 2 to maintain the necessary supply of low carbon Fuel Cell grade (ISO 14687) hydrogen.
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Simon Shepherd, Director of C-ALPS, commented: “The latest contracts take the total value of joint projects active and completed at C-ALPS to more than £20 million. This, along with the level of interest we are seeing from collaborators, is a sure sign that we have created the environment and expertise required to support UK companies in meeting future propulsion technology demands.
“Our approach has been for the university to make the initial investment in cutting-edge facilities to support high-impact research, with FEV offering additional financial and technical support and the long-term business case for the investments through the provision of commercial services for customers working on products closer to manufacture.”
Along with developing research and engineering, C-ALPS also provides a real-world training environment for the next generation of engineers and researchers, with the recent contract wins offering more employment opportunities.
To date, engineers have been taken on as FEV employees - three of whom have come through the university’s undergraduate courses - with 10 PhD students working on joint projects sponsored and co-supervised with FEV in the UK and Germany.
Jörn Behrenroth, Managing Director of FEV UK, emphasised the importance and advantages of the centre: “At C-ALPS, we offer organisations, from both research and industry, the opportunity to put sustainable hydrogen propulsion systems through their paces throughout the entire development cycle, from component up to system performance development.
“Access to a continuous supply of hydrogen from Element 2 is a key advantage for the centre right now, providing reliable and long-term testing for both fuel cell and combustion-based hydrogen propulsion systems.”
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