Sonplas relies on more than 25 years of professional skills and competence in automotive fuel injection and offers comprehensive consulting and services to customers. The portfolio in fuel injection has been extended by hydrogen, and a separate test bench is available to customers locally. The special machinery designer and builder enables manufacturers of hydrogen-carrying components, which are in use in fuel cells and in H2 combustion engines, to test them for functionality and service life. In this way they can ensure that the component meets the demands when deployed subsequently in mass manufacture. On request by its customers, Sonplas also builds proprietary test benches and compatible containers for safe operation.
Hydrogen plays an important role in clean mobility. The reason for this is that in contrast to fossil fuels, in case of drives working with green hydrogen, no CO2 is released or emitted. The deployment of hydrogen is versatile, for example, in the hydrogen combustion engine or in the fuel cell, be it under stationary or mobile conditions.
In order to ensure mass production capability of a hydrogen drive, accurate functional tests are required on hydrogen-carrying components. “We can fall back on immense know-how in the injection of conventional fuels”, says Werner Riederer, Sales Engineer at Sonplas GmbH, with its registered office based in Straubing in Bavaria. “We envisage numerous synergies in the testing processes and in the equipment for hydrogen-carrying components. In this way, we were able to develop our H2 test bench in the shortest period of time.”
With the help of functional and life cycle tests the user can ensure that the component meets the demands and works in subsequent deployment under mass manufacture conditions. Apart from the functional tests such as flow rate determination and flow rate characteristics, even dynamic pressure measurements and leakage tests are offered. Life cycle tests up to 50 hours are also possible. The user has the option to test components for the fuel cell as well as for the combustion engine. “We provide support to our customers also in issues and matters pertaining to safety guards and protection against explosion”, explains Riederer.
The test chamber permits various and differently sized components to be tested. The tests are conducted in an inertised thermal chamber, which can also be temperature-controlled. If a customer needs services, which the test bench cannot cover at present, it can be expanded in a modular manner. The Sonplas experts offer extensive consulting for this purpose.
Apart from the option of carrying out tests in the hydrogen test bench, Sonplas also provides the option of procuring a complete test centre including the test bench, in order to equip yourself with your very own hydrogen test infrastructure. “Our test bench in a container is unique and one of its kind in the market”, says Riederer. “In general, the customer does not receive a holistic offer, but only individual subsystems, which he has to conceive and assemble on his own. ”With the holistic solution from Sonplas, users are on the safe side – and receive everything from a single source.”