{"id":22914,"date":"2026-04-16T10:44:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T08:44:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/?p=22914"},"modified":"2026-04-16T10:44:51","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T08:44:51","slug":"spectronik-hydrogen-fuel-cells-to-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/industries\/refrigeration-ventilation\/spectronik-hydrogen-fuel-cells-to-go_22914\/","title":{"rendered":"Fuel cell to go"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The morning sun is still low over the green as the elec\u00adtric golf cart rolls silently away from the club\u00adhouse. It shut\u00adtles back and forth between tees and fair\u00adways on the sprawling course. However, its range is limited: By noon at the latest, the battery is empty and the cart has to be plugged into the charging station for several hours. This is a typical problem for small elec\u00adtric vehi\u00adcles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The reason is simply the low energy density of the battery: Although it is small and light, it stores only a small amount of energy. In addi\u00adtion, the battery cannot be charged as quickly as desired because it would other\u00adwise over\u00adheat. A larger battery does not solve the problem either: It only makes the vehicle heavier and thus more energy-hungry. Small, mobile appli\u00adca\u00adtions there\u00adfore need a different energy source that enables greater range, can be recharged more quickly and remains emis\u00adsion-free.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spec\u00adtronik is a young company from Singa\u00adpore. Its mission: to make hydrogen fuel cells acces\u00adsible to everyone. (Photo | Spec\u00adtronik)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The democ\u00adra\u00adti\u00adza\u00adtion of fuel cells<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This is exactly where Spec\u00adtronik comes in. The Singa\u00adpore-based company special\u00adizes in compact hydrogen fuel cells. The company\u2019s stated goal is to further develop and democ\u00adra\u00adtize a tech\u00adnology that, due to its complex design, has so far been reserved for large appli\u00adca\u00adtions such as trucks and buses.

With its Protium series, the company has managed to greatly compress the tech\u00adnology. The result: a lot of energy in a small space with low weight. In addi\u00adtion, the cells can be refu\u00adeled in a few minutes and are completely emis\u00adsion-free during oper\u00ada\u00adtion. Finally, when hydrogen reacts with oxygen, the only waste product besides energy is water. Spec\u00adtronik is thus opening up the tech\u00adnology to completely new appli\u00adca\u00adtions for which hydrogen fuel cells were previ\u00adously too large or too heavy. However, compact\u00adness also brings new tech\u00adnical chal\u00adlenges.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cool and fresh for full power<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Fuel cells generate elec\u00adtricity electrochemically\u2014but not without losses. Around half of the energy released is waste heat. In addi\u00adtion, mois\u00adture also enters the system with the reac\u00adtion product. Without targeted thermal and air manage\u00adment, the cell is at risk of over\u00adheating or \u201cdrowning.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201eWe are making fuel cells more acces\u00adsible and bringing them to all mobile appli\u00adca\u00adtions.\u201c<\/p>\nSpec\u00adtronik<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

The cell always needs suffi\u00adcient oxygen to perform well\u2014especially when the vehicle is accel\u00ader\u00adating. Previous solu\u00adtions consisted of complex liquid cooling systems and compres\u00adsors. While this is certainly a good solu\u00adtion for trucks and buses, it is far too bulky and inef\u00adfi\u00adcient for smaller mobile appli\u00adca\u00adtions. Spec\u00adtronik has there\u00adfore devel\u00adoped an inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive system that regu\u00adlates temper\u00ada\u00adture and humidity even in confined spaces and supplies the fuel cell with fresh air.

To achieve these goals, two to six AxiForce 80 fans from ebm-papst are used. They reli\u00adably direct the warm, humid air outside and keep the fuel cell within the optimum temper\u00ada\u00adture range. Two temper\u00ada\u00adture sensors monitor the condi\u00adtion of the cell and transmit the measured values to a control unit (MCU), which compares the actual temper\u00ada\u00adture with the target temper\u00ada\u00adture and regu\u00adlates the speed of the fans via a PID controller\u2014precisely and respon\u00adsively with pulse width modu\u00adla\u00adtion (PWM).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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AxiForce 80 compact fan<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div><\/span><\/a>

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AxiForce 80 compact fan<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div><\/span><\/a>

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RVE 45 radial blower<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div><\/span><\/a>

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RVE 45 radial blower<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div><\/span><\/a>

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Connec\u00adtion<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t <\/div><\/span><\/a><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The Protium series has a modular design. A cell can be combined with addi\u00adtional units as needed. This means that increased perfor\u00admance or range are no problem. (Photo | Spec\u00adtronik)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The control unit distrib\u00adutes the cooling capacity specif\u00adi\u00adcally to several fans. This means that no single fan has to run contin\u00adu\u00adously at maximum power. This protects the compo\u00adnents, increases service life and saves energy. An addi\u00adtional advan\u00adtage: Thanks to their DC motors, the fans operate partic\u00adu\u00adlarly effi\u00adciently in the partial load range.

In addi\u00adtion to the right temper\u00ada\u00adtures, oxygen supply is crucial. This is ensured by one or two RVE 45 radial fans from ebm-papst. They liter\u00adally allow the fuel cell to \u201cbreathe\u201d by supplying fresh air from outside and dynam\u00adi\u00adcally adjusting the air flow according to power require\u00adments. This ensures that the cell always has enough oxygen for the reac\u00adtion to produce suffi\u00adcient energy, even during peak perfor\u00admance periods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More power? More cells!<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Spec\u00adtronik fuel cells are compact, powerful and effi\u00adcient. But what if the power of one cell is not enough to drive the entire vehicle? Spec\u00adtronik has also thought of this scenario and designed its Protium series to be modular. This means that a cell not only works on its own, but can also be combined with other units as needed. More power or range are there\u00adfore no problem. Cooling and oxygen supply are part of the modular concept and are perma\u00adnently inte\u00adgrated into each unit.

Spec\u00adtronik is thus initi\u00adating a revo\u00adlu\u00adtion in fuel cells. Mobile appli\u00adca\u00adtions are gaining endurance\u2014without heavy or complex battery systems. Drones can fly entire missions with ease instead of just short rounds. House\u00adhold robots can work all day without having to be constantly recharged. And golf carts remain in contin\u00aduous use instead of spending hours plugged into the power outlet. Where conven\u00adtional batteries fail, hydrogen provides more power and range\u2014efficiently, compactly and flex\u00adibly scal\u00adable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The morning sun is still low over the green as the elec\u00adtric golf cart rolls silently away from the club\u00adhouse. It shut\u00adtles back and forth between tees and fair\u00adways on the sprawling course. However, its range is limited: By noon at the latest, the battery is empty and the cart has to be plugged into [\u2026]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,16,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-22914","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blowers","category-fans","category-refrigeration-ventilation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22914","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22914"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22914\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":22931,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22914\/revisions\/22931"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22914"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22914"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mag.ebmpapst.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22914"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}