Versatile Mass Flow Control for Hydrogen Fuel Cell and Electrolyzer Testing

• Greenlight Innovation builds hydrogen fuel cell and electrolyzer test stands used from single-cell chemistry validation, up to full stack-level verification.
• Their customers need highly accurate, trustworthy data, and the flexibility to test multiple gas types without filling the lab with dedicated equipment for each one.
• Alicat^® mass flow controllers and meters let Greenlight and their customers switch gas calibrations between hydrogen, oxygen, air, helium, and custom blends with the click of a button.
• Most fuel cell and electrolyzer applications flowing hydrogen do not present a significant risk or explosion. However, some hydrogen processes are large enough throughput that a hazardous location certified (ATEX, IEC, CSA) product would sometimes be needed.
• The result: fewer instruments per test stand, more efficient testing, and data Greenlight’s customers can rely on as they move new technologies toward commercialization.

Greenlight Innovation is a global supplier of testing equipment for the hydrogen fuel cell and electrolyzer industries, serving scientists and developers who are building the next generation of batteries and electrolyzers. With more than 30 years in the hydrogen energy space, Greenlight has built its reputation on giving customers the tools to prove their technology is ready for its next stage of development or deployment.

Hydrogen and electrolyzer technologies may reach commercialization if developers can trust the data validating them. Ranging from early-stage product development teams to end-of-line verification and validation groups, Greenlight’s customers need highly accurate and highly specific measurements. An approximate reading is not sufficient when that data must qualify a technology headed for the field.

Beyond accuracy, Greenlight’s test stands also needed to handle multiple gases within the same stable, dynamic control environment. Supporting hydrogen, oxygen, air, helium, and custom gas mixtures with separate dedicated equipment for each would add cost and take up valuable lab space, so Greenlight needed a way to cover that range of gases without multiplying the hardware on the bench.

Because hydrogen introduces flammability risk, Alicat also offers these mass flow controllers and meters with ATEX Zone 0, 1, or 2, and Class I Division 1 or 2 certification. That gives Greenlight a range of options to match each product’s flow rate and gas output risk, so hazardous-area testing does not require a separate certification strategy for every rig. And, they can ship around the world, without changing components in their process design.

The accuracy and stable, dynamic control Alicat provides also gives Greenlight’s customers confidence in the data itself, from small-scale new product development through larger end-of-line verification and validation. As Greenlight continues supporting the industry’s transition to clean hydrogen technologies. That combination of versatility and trustworthy data helps its customers move their own developments toward commercialization with confidence.

• Greenlight Innovation needed testing equipment that could deliver highly accurate data its customers could trust, across every stage from single-cell chemistry to full stack validation.
• Supporting hydrogen, oxygen, air, helium, and custom gas blends without dedicated equipment for each gas required flexible, accurate gas-swapping capability.
• Alicat MFCs and MFMs, with ATEX Zone 0-1-2 and Class I Division 1-2 certified options, gave Greenlight click-of-a-button gas swapping, retained accuracy, and hazardous-area readiness in a single instrument family.