The future of zero-​emission mobility

BWT strongly believes in hydrogen mobility. For more than two decades now, BWT with it´s subsidiary Fumatech BWT, has been investing in the field of fuel cell membrane tech­nology and started a close coop­er­a­tion with the Tech­nical Univer­sity of Delft (Nether­lands) in order to support the devel­op­ment of hydrogen mobility.

Forze is a team of 50 students, who are studying in different fields at Delft Univer­sity of Tech­nology. The team specialised in hydrogen elec­tric racing and is indeed the first hydrogen-​electric racing team in the world.

The team was founded back in 2007 and initially started with designing and building go-​karts using a hydrogen elec­tric drive­train. With these vehi­cles they partic­i­pated in the Formula Zero compe­ti­tion, hence the name ForZe.

In 2012 they built the first full-​size hydrogen race car in the D:Dream hall, a building on the TU Delft Campus - which stands for Dream Real­iza­tion of Extremly Advanced Machines. Competing in the Supercar Chal­lenge 2017 and 2018, the Forze VII was the first hydrogen elec­tric race car to ever partic­i­pate in an offi­cial race against petrol powered cars.

So far, the team has built eight hydrogen race cars. During the 24 Hours Race at the Nürbur­gring in 2018, the team revealed their latest inno­va­tion: The Forze VIII.

Taking a look under­neath the chassis, let's find out what hydrogen cars actu­ally are and what makes them so special. Comparing a conven­tional car to a hydrogen car, the differ­ence basi­cally is:

• Conven­tional car: The energy stored in fuel is converted to mechan­ical energy using the prin­ciple of combus­tion
• Hydrogen car: The energy stored in hydrogen is converted to elec­tric energy using a fuel cell

This means a hydrogen car is also a kind of elec­tric car, making elec­tricity from hydrogen and oxygen (which is simply taken from the air while driving) in a fuel cell. Inside the fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen are sepa­rated by a proton-​conductive membrane. The hydrogen splits up into two protons and two elec­trons, the protons can diffuse through the membrane. The elec­trons are not able to pass through, they take the long way, creating elec­trical energy. The protons and elec­trons meet each other again at the oxygen side of the membrane, where the protons, elec­trons and oxygen combine into H2O, pure water. The only emis­sion that is produced is water.

Membrane Tech­nology

Membrane tech­nology has an impor­tant role within the BWT Group. Membranes are manu­fac­tured by BWT for ‘natural’ use in water treat­ment. They are an indis­pens­able compo­nent in the creation of clean water for all aspects of our lives and are also required to generate and store energy, for example in pioneering fuel cell tech­nology.

With FUMATECH BWT - a subsidiary of the BWT Group and the leading producer of ion exchanger membranes - the company has gained exten­sive knowl­edge from over 25 years’ expe­ri­ence in membrane manu­fac­turing and membrane process tech­nology. From the synthesis of the raw and auxil­iary mate­rials to the processing of these mate­rials into membranes, right up to their tech­nical appli­ca­tion. FUMATECH BWT has earned a partic­u­larly high inter­na­tional repu­ta­tion as a supplier of inno­v­a­tive membranes – the heart of the PEM fuel cell.

Fuel cells for the cars of tomorrow

The poten­tial of fuel cell tech­nology and hydrogen is gaining more and more interest in the modern world. Also in the racing world further steps are taken to underpin the future impor­tance of this highly promising tech­nology: In 2024, the 24 Hours of Le Mans will see for the first time on the starting grid a cate­gory dedi­cated to racing proto­types powered by hydrogen along­side cars with combus­tion engines. That would be a "world first" and is the most solid example of this endurance aspired future.