The FluidCELL project

FluidCELL was a European research project investigating a small combined heat and power system fuelled by bioethanol. It brought together catalytic reforming, hydrogen-selective membranes and a PEM fuel cell. The research question was whether integrating hydrogen generation and separation could simplify the fuel processor and improve the performance of a decentralized installation. 1

The project acronym refers to Advanced m-CHP fuel CELL system based on a novel bio-ethanol Fluidized bed membrane reformer. Its grant agreement number was 621196. CORDIS records the project as closed. The historical research and the current independent publication on this domain are separate activities.

The problem the researchers addressed

A conventional reformer converts fuel into a hydrogen-containing gas mixture. A PEM fuel cell needs a suitable hydrogen stream, so carbon monoxide and other constituents must be managed before the gas reaches the stack. Separate reaction and cleanup stages add equipment and impose thermal-integration duties.

FluidCELL investigated a fluidized-bed catalytic membrane reformer. Catalyst particles carried out ethanol reforming while hydrogen-selective palladium-based membranes removed hydrogen from the reaction zone. The intention was to combine hydrogen production and purification within a smaller process arrangement. 1

The concept connected several distinct engineering tasks. A catalyst had to operate under the proposed conditions. Membranes had to provide enough transport and remain selective. The reactor needed stable temperature and flow. The final hydrogen stream then had to work with the fuel-cell stack and the rest of the plant.

Objectives

The work aimed at a proof of concept for an off-grid micro-CHP installation. The proposed process used low-temperature autothermal ethanol reforming, hydrogen-selective membranes and integration with a PEM fuel cell. Researchers also investigated supports and protective membrane arrangements intended to limit damage from contact with fluidized particles. 1

The final report states ambitions exceeding 40% net electrical efficiency and 90% overall efficiency with useful heat recovery, alongside a hydrogen-production target of approximately 3.5 Nm³/h. These were project targets. They must not be described as universally demonstrated output from the completed installation. The reference temperature and pressure for a normal-volume flow should be checked before comparing it with another reported gas flow. 2

Component objectives included catalyst activity and stability, membrane fabrication, separation behaviour, reactor modelling and the design of balance-of-plant equipment. System work included fuel-cell characterization, heat integration, controls and environmental assessment.

The membrane-reactor fundamentals guide explains why selective hydrogen withdrawal can affect a reacting mixture. The bioethanol reforming guide explains the feedstock chemistry and the energy accounting needed around that idea.

Dates and funding context

CORDIS records a start date of 1 April 2014 and an end date of 30 April 2018. It lists an EU contribution of €2,492,341 and total project cost of €4,193,548.92. Funding was under the FP7 Joint Technology Initiative framework for fuel cells and hydrogen. 1

The archived website's later final summary says that the project ended in July 2018. That wording differs from the administrative end date in CORDIS. This page uses CORDIS for the formal project dates and records the archived wording as a separate historical statement. 5

Early project pages also described a planned duration that preceded the final reporting. Those pages are useful for understanding the original proposal, but the final administrative record and report are better sources for a retrospective account.

Reported work and measured limitations

The final report describes catalyst formulation and stability tests, palladium-based membrane fabrication, laboratory reactor testing and a pilot-scale autothermal membrane reformer. It reports testing of that reformer at HyGear before transfer to ICI Caldaie for system integration. 2

The fuel-cell work included studies of contaminated reformate, membrane electrode assemblies, short-stack validation and construction of a 120-cell prototype stack. Component tests and full-system operation were separate stages of the work.

During integration, the report identifies membrane leakage, lower-than-expected hydrogen permeance and control and flow problems. It states that stable hydrogen output of adequate flow and purity could not be maintained long enough for the planned analysis. Testing was stopped after an indication of an ethanol release. This prevents treating the project objectives as a verified performance specification for a complete commercial system. 2

The 2017 paper Achievements of European projects on membrane reactor for hydrogen production compares FluidCELL with FERRET and BIONICO. Its system calculations provide design context, including the distinction between LHV and HHV efficiency. It predates the final integration account and should be interpreted alongside that later report. 3

The research is useful precisely when those distinctions are retained. Membrane selectivity in principle, transport in a laboratory mixture, reactor performance and reliable integrated power generation are different claims requiring different evidence.

Publications and dissemination

Public records include papers on the membrane-reformer concept, membrane-reactor system analysis and PEM fuel-cell operation with hydrogen from membrane processes. The restored publications page links to publisher and institutional records, identifying the scope of each resource.

FluidCELL also participated in membrane-reactor dissemination. The March 2017 European workshop in Villafranca di Verona addressed fundamentals, process design and industrial applications. The restored workshops page preserves that historical destination with a newly written account and links to surviving public documentation.

An institutional record at Eindhoven University of Technology describes the project's reformer concept and contemporary component research. It is a useful entry point for the paper and its bibliographic details. 4

Reading the project today

CORDIS identifies the project as closed. Its public report preserves both the work performed and the unresolved integration problems. These sources establish a research programme and its reported outcomes; they do not establish an ongoing consortium operating on this domain.

Modern explanations on FluidCell.eu are written by the current independent publication. They connect the project to hydrogen purification, PEM fuel cells and membrane-reactor engineering. They should not be read as statements by the former partners.

Original project branding and logos are not reused here. Historical documents are cited or linked to their institutional hosts; their prose is not reproduced as new editorial content.

Participating institutions

CORDIS lists Tecnalia as coordinator and eight further participants. These are historical project participants, not partners of this publication. The CORDIS register records their contributions and institutional details.

• Fundación Tecnalia Research & InnovationSpain · Coordinator
• Eindhoven University of TechnologyNetherlands
• Commissariat à l’énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives (CEA)France
• Politecnico di MilanoItaly
• University of SalernoItaly
• University of PortoPortugal
• I.C.I. Caldaie S.p.A.Italy
• HyGear B.V.Netherlands
• Quantis SàrlSwitzerland