MTC and AMRC’s factory design and development

The hydrogen economy is experiencing a dynamic transformation, requiring a rapid expansion of manufacturing capacity as products mature and future demand soars. This is most acutely found in the manufacturing of fuel cells and electrolysers.

Due to the similarities in the technology of these products, there exists an opportunity for manufacturers to offer both products from a single manufacturing capability.

MTC and AMRC Cymru were asked to design a factory system that exploits the commonalities between fuel cells and electrolysers and incorporates the required level of reconfigurability to meet varying annual demand for both fuel cells and electrolysers.

They were also asked to utilise digital manufacturing solutions to optimise the effectiveness of these reconfigurable factory systems.

Solutions

• Assessment of commonality amongst fuel cell and electrolyser assembly technologies to characterise the opportunities for reconfigurable factory systems
• Design and simulation of automated cell stacking process using robotics solution to incorporate required flexibility
• Modelling and virtual evaluation of a complete bi-product manufacturing factory system across scale-up scenarios, benchmarked against systems dedicated individually to fuel cells or electrolysers
• Production system design optimisation to increase annual throughput and overall equipment effectiveness
• Assessment of potential improvement from adopting an operational digital twin to adapt production plans and maintenance schedules

Outcome

• Commonality assessment report, identifying common components, processes, and operations between electrolysers and fuel cells production systems
• Three conceptual designs for automated cell stacking robot systems
• Visualisation of reconfigurable and dedicated bi-product factory
• Production capacity comparison:
  • reconfigurable versus dedicated factory
  • three cell stacking robot systems
• Optimised production system design
• Quantified benefits and impact from operational digital twin for adaptive scheduling and planning.
• This was completed using the Siemens Tecnomatix Plant Simulation as part of their MTC membership

Benefits

• Cost savings through utilising common resources and components for fuel cell and electrolyser production.
• Robust robot system design for assembly process automation.
• Risk reduction for implemented reconfigurable factory systems for flexible production of both fuel cell and electrolyser products.
• Future cost avoidance through virtual analyses and design optimisation.
• Business case justification and quantification for adopting digital manufacturing solutions.

Cameron Blackwell, Hydrogen Technical Lead, MTC, said:

This strategic collaboration between the MTC and the AMRC showcases how the High Value Manufacturing Catapult supports UK manufacturing businesses to maximise the benefit arising from the opportunity of the hydrogen economy.