Bosal brings thermal integration expertise to DESIREE

Solid Oxide Electrolysers (SOEL) stand out for their potential to produce renewable hydrogen with high energy efficiency. But achieving high efficiency at stack level is only part of the challenge. How heat is managed, recovered and integrated across the complete system also plays an important role in determining its overall performance.

This is one of the areas addressed by DESIREE, which is developing and validating an advanced 40 kW multi-stack SOEL prototype. The project combines innovations at cell, stack and system level, bringing together advanced materials and stack technologies with novel Balance of Plant (BoP) components, thermal integration, hydrogen compression and dynamic system control.

Project partner Bosal contributes to this effort by bringing industrial manufacturing capabilities, advanced heat exchanger knowledge and system integration expertise to the development of the DESIREE system.

Industrial expertise for high-temperature energy systems

Bosal is an international manufacturer operating in the energy and mobility sectors. With 15 industrial/distribution centres, 6 R&D centres and approximately 2,000 employees worldwide, the company develops and manufactures emission control systems, energy conversion systems and structural components for automotive and energy applications.

Within its activities in the energy sector, Bosal has developed expertise relevant to high-temperature energy technologies. Its subsidiary Bosal Energy, which participates in DESIREE as an affiliated entity, has around 30 years of experience in the development, testing and production of high-performance high-temperature heat exchangers, including solutions for solid oxide fuel cell and electrolyser technologies.

Making better use of heat

Bosal leads DESIREE’s efforts to develop advanced Balance of Plant components and improve heat integration within the system. This work focuses on defining and developing the components surrounding the SOEL stacks that are needed to efficiently manage heat and gas flows within the 40 kW multi-stack prototype.

Together with CENER, Bosal contributes to the design of the integrated hot Balance of Plant, helping define how the different components and innovations developed within the project can operate together while optimising the thermal efficiency of the process.

A particularly important part of this work concerns the thermal coupling between the SOEL system and the Metal Hydride Compressor (MHC) developed within DESIREE. The project is investigating how available heat from the SOEL system can be recovered and used to support hydrogen compression. Bosal contributes to this work by developing recommendations for the heat exchange concept connecting both technologies.

Bosal also contributes to the conceptual design of the project’s modular hot box and the potential integration of heat exchangers within it.

Advanced heat exchangers for the DESIREE prototype

One of Bosal’s main technical responsibilities within DESIREE is the development of optimised heat exchangers for the pilot SOEL system.

The work addresses both the design and durability of these components. Bosal will investigate materials and protective coatings for heat exchanger plates with the aim of reducing corrosion and chromium evaporation, which can affect the lifetime of the heat exchanger and potentially contribute to reducing stack degradation.

Based on these developments, Bosal will design compact and modular heat exchangers adapted to the requirements of the DESIREE system. Bosal Energy will contribute its manufacturing expertise to prototype the advanced heat exchangers and other hot BoP sub-module components for their subsequent integration into the pilot system.

Circularity is also considered in this development process. Bosal will assess the circularity and recyclability of the heat exchangers and explore opportunities for material reuse and repurposing at the end of their service life.

Beyond these technical developments, Bosal leads the environmental impact and sustainability assessment of the DESIREE solutions. This assessment will consider aspects such as resource and energy consumption, critical raw materials and waste management.

The people bringing this expertise to DESIREE

Bosal’s participation in DESIREE brings together expertise in engineering, technology development, industrial manufacturing, market attractiveness and strategic innovation:

Jorith Massa – Innovation Engineer
Bart Vanelderen – Innovation Engineer
Ted Straten – Vice President Technology, Strategy and New Business

Reflecting on the role of thermal integration in the project, Jorith Massa said: “While many European projects have focused on advancing fuel cell and electrolyser stacks, DESIREE highlights the equally important role of thermal management. By focusing on innovative thermal management hardware, particularly heat exchangers, the project aims to enhance the reliability and performance of these components, ultimately improving the efficiency and robustness of the entire system”.

From project developments to future applications

The work carried out within DESIREE is also intended to provide knowledge about the future industrial potential of the technologies being developed. As one of the project’s industrial partners, Bosal aims to incorporate the high-temperature heat exchanger developments resulting from DESIREE into its future product range and will assess this possibility.

Within DESIREE, Bosal works alongside Spain’s National Renewable Energy Centre (CENER), the Aragon Institute of Nanoscience and Materials (INMA), Politecnico di Torino, Genvia, the Fraunhofer Institute for Silicate Research ISC, EIFHYTEC, Commissariat à l’Énergie Atomique et aux Énergies Alternatives (CEA), VTT and Zabala Innovation.

By combining complementary expertise across the different components and technological levels of the SOEL system, DESIREE partners are working together to advance high-temperature electrolysis for renewable hydrogen production.