Returnee team entrepreneurship and fuel cell independent technology industrialization
——Take Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng as an example
Wen | Yiwei Zhiyuan
One
background
Promoting China's economic and social development in accordance with the new development concept is the general requirement and general trend of China's development at present and for some time to come. To promote a higher level of opening up in the new era, we must fully implement the new development concept, persist in attaching equal importance to bringing in and going out, and develop a higher-level open economy. The report of the Nineteenth National Congress made an overall plan for China's opening up to the outside world in the new era, proposing to "build a modern economic system and promote the formation of a new pattern of comprehensive opening up." At present, China is in the period of transforming the mode of development, optimizing the economic structure, and transforming the driving force of growth, and building a modern economic system is an urgent requirement for crossing the threshold and a strategic goal for China's development. To promote a higher level of opening up in the new era, we must focus on innovating methods, optimizing the layout, improving quality, deepening supply-side structural reform, accelerating the cultivation of new advantages in international economic cooperation and competition, and promoting China's industry to move towards the middle and high end of the global value chain.
Vigorously developing the hydrogen energy industry is an important way to build a clean, low-carbon, safe and efficient energy system, and it is also a specific practice to promote China's carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. From the perspective of the construction of industrial technology system, China's hydrogen energy technology, especially fuel cell technology, has emerged a pattern of parallel development of independent research and development and foreign introduction. Among them, the independent technology research and development of fuel cells is represented by scientific research institutes and leading enterprises supported by the national science and technology plan, and the introduction of technology is reflected in the direct introduction of foreign fuel cell technology or related research and development teams. It should be pointed out that in the process of independent innovation of fuel cell technology in China, the entrepreneurship of the returnee team has also played a role as the main force. This paper focuses on Beijing Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng"), a typical enterprise of returnees in the field of hydrogen energy in China, reviews its entrepreneurial history and characteristics, and analyzes its experience in the industrialization of fuel cell independent technology. Finally, this paper combines the entrepreneurial characteristics of returnees in the field of hydrogen energy in China, and puts forward countermeasures and suggestions on how to support their entrepreneurial activities and achieve industrialization.
Two
Overseas team entrepreneurship and technology research and development internationalization
1. Overseas technical team returned to China to start a business
Different from the fuel cell autonomous technology innovation of China's scientific research institutes or original enterprises, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng is a typical representative of overseas fuel cell technology teams returning to China to start a business and promote industrialization. The founding team of Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has experience in fuel cell research and development and automotive automation in Europe and the United States, and has rich experience in fuel cell stack design and development, fuel cell system integration and control research and development, and fully automated production line design. Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng is a typical enterprise with independent intellectual property rights in the field of hydrogen fuel cells in China, and currently has more than 100 related technology patents and confidential technologies. At the same time, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng is also a member of the National Fuel Cell Standard committee, and has participated in the research and formulation of more than 20 national fuel cell-related standards by the end of 2020.
2. Internationalization of fuel cell technology research and development
Thanks to the international background and advantages of the core entrepreneurial team, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has formed a pattern of international and domestic dual R&D centers, and realized the internationalization of fuel cell technology research and development. Among them, the domestic R&D center of Hydrogen Puchuang is located in Beijing, with more than 60 professional R&D personnel, accounting for more than 50% of the total number of employees. These personnel are mainly engaged in the design and development of mass-produced products of fuel cell stacks and the research and development of key materials such as bipolar plates and membrane electrodes. Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng Foreign R&D Center is located in New York State, USA, has established a R & D team of about 10 people, the core R & D personnel have a wealth of experience in the design of vehicle high-power stacks, mainly engaged in hydrogen energy, fuel cells and metal plate stacks and other directions of forward-looking technology research and development.
Three
Experience in the industrialization of fuel cell technology
1. Master the core technology
After more than ten years of development and accumulation, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has mastered the core technology and production process of fuel cell stacks. On the one hand, Hydrogen Puchuang has made breakthroughs in the development of key materials such as bipolar plates, membrane electrodes and catalysts, mastered the composite plate synthesis technology, metal plate coating technology, membrane electrode assembly technology, and possessed the ability of composite plate material development, metal plate material development and membrane electrode design. In 2019, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng successfully developed carbon composite panel molding materials and obtained IATF-16949 certification. On the other hand, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has also made breakthroughs in bipolar plate flow field design, sealing material molding, membrane electrode production process, etc., mastered the bipolar plate, single battery packaging and fuel cell stacking process, and realized the automation of all stack production processes.
2. Dual product innovation
Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng is one of the few fuel cell stack enterprises in China that adheres to the two technical routes of carbon composite plate and metal plate, and the dual product innovation of carbon composite plate stack and metal plate stack is jointly promoted. In terms of composite panel stacks, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has developed T series, F series and V series products, which can meet different technical integration routes such as low voltage working conditions and high voltage working conditions. Among them, the fourth generation of Noogen F series stack modules of Hydrogen Puchuang energy covers 35-80kW, and the core materials and components of the stack have achieved 100% localization. The stack has the characteristics of low cost, high performance and long life, and is more suitable for medium and heavy fuel cell trucks. In the 2021 National Fuel Cell Stack Evaluation Activity of China Automobile Center, hydrogen pu Chuangneng ST70F stack achieved a good result of ranking first in the comprehensive ranking. At present, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has launched the fifth generation of V series carbon composite panel fuel cell stacks, with a rated power of 140kW and a volume power density of 3.8KW/L.
Figure 1 Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng T/F system composite plate stack
In terms of sheet metal stacks, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has completed the research and development of three generations of metal plate stacks since 2018. The third generation of metal plate stack developed by Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng adopts the latest technology in the hydrogen energy industry such as single stack technology combined with membrane electrode and bipolar plate, the plate adopts hydraulic molding technology and original flow field nesting design, the thickness of the plate is 75um, the thickness of the single stack containing membrane electrode is 0.83mm, the rated power of the whole stack is 120-200kW, and the volume power density is as high as 5.7KW/L, which is suitable for a full range of models. It is not difficult to find that Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng fuel cell stack products are at the leading level in the industry in terms of key technical indicators such as single reactor power and power density.
3. Lead the industry to reduce costs
In order to meet the needs of large-scale promotion, the cost reduction of fuel cell stack products is more critical. Through the localization of key materials and the automation of production processes, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has achieved the goal of stack product life, reliability, consistency improvement and significant cost reduction. Since 2012, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has begun to reduce costs by optimizing product design, reducing costs by optimizing production processes in 2015, and reducing costs by means of production automation in 2017. Since the beginning of 2019, Hydrogen Puchuang has achieved lean production and significant reduction in product costs with the support of professional talents and professional institutions. These measures have achieved remarkable results, by 2020, the cost of hydrogen pu chuangneng fuel cell stack has reached the level of 1500 yuan / kW, leading the trend of cost reduction in China's hydrogen energy industry. In the future, Hydrogen Energy Chuangneng will seize the opportunity of large-scale demonstration and promotion of fuel cell vehicles, and further achieve cost reduction through the mass production of fuel cell stacks and the recycling of recycled materials and components.
In terms of production capacity building, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng adheres to the independent research and development of production equipment and the independent design of production lines, and has established China's first semi-automated fuel cell stack production line since 2013 and China's first automated stack production line in 2016. By 2020, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has built an intelligent fully automatic production line, fully guaranteeing large-scale high-quality stack production. At present, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has built three production lines in Yangzhou, Jiangsu, Dezhou, Shandong and Xinxiang, Henan, with a single-shift capacity of fuel cell stacks up to 100MW and a double-shift capacity of 200MW.
Figure 2 Hydrogen Puchuang energy Yangzhou base production line
4. Diversified application of products
In cooperation with industry partners such as fuel cell system companies and vehicle companies, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has developed a variety of models including fuel cell forklifts, medium-sized logistics vehicles, buses, sanitation vehicles, heavy trucks and passenger cars in combination with practical application scenarios. At present, the terminal application of fuel cell stack products equipped with Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng covers the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, Central China, North China and other regions in China, with a cumulative mileage of more than 5 million kilometers.
Fig. 3 Fuel cell forklift equipped with hydrogen stack
In terms of logistics vehicle applications, 30 8-ton hydrogen energy logistics vehicles equipped with hydrogen Pu Chuangneng fuel cell stacks were put into operation in May 2019 in Dezhou, Shandong Province. In terms of forklift applications, from August 2020, the 3.5-ton hydrogen forklift equipped with hydrogen pu stacks began to be delivered to Tianjin Lingang Group, and by the end of 2020, the first batch of 100 vehicles has been delivered and put into operation, and 37 hydrogen forklifts will be delivered to Yanshan Petrochemical in October 2021. In terms of heavy-duty truck applications, in September 2020, 49 tons of hydrogen energy heavy trucks equipped with hydrogen stacks passed the 337th batch of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology 'Announcement of Road Motor Vehicle Manufacturers and Products'. From June to August 2021, 20 hydrogen energy heavy trucks equipped with hydrogen stacks were delivered to Hebei Iron and Steel Group and Tianjin Rongcheng United Steel Group. It is understood that at the end of 2021, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng will deliver 30 49-ton hydrogen energy heavy trucks with partners for the Beijing Winter Olympics. In terms of special vehicle applications, 13 18-ton hydrogen sanitation vehicles equipped with hydrogen pu stacks have won the bid for the bidding project in Huangpu District, Guangzhou, and the first hydrogen energy anti-epidemic vehicle in China jointly developed by Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng and Dongfeng Liuqi has been released, with a fuel cell engine power of 100kW and an efficiency of up to 55%.
Four
Policy recommendations
The above analysis shows that Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has mastered the core technology of fuel cells and achieved continuous product innovation. Through the localization of key materials, production process automation and other means, Hydrogen Pu Chuangneng has led the cost reduction process of the hydrogen energy industry, and its products have achieved diversified applications in fuel cell forklifts, logistics vehicles, sanitation vehicles, heavy trucks, special vehicles and other terminals. It can be seen that Hydrogen Puchuang energy has become a model for the team of returnees in the field of hydrogen energy in China to start a business and promote the industrialization of fuel cell independent technology.
With the further expansion of China's opening up and the continuous development of the hydrogen energy industry, the number of returnee entrepreneurial teams in the field of hydrogen fuel cells is also continuing to increase. However, China's hydrogen fuel cell field lacks enough attention to the returnee entrepreneurial team and the returnee entrepreneurial enterprise. To this end, the national competent departments, local governments, industry platforms, leading enterprises and other entities need to work together to create the necessary conditions for the returnee team in the field of hydrogen energy to start a business, and help the industrialization of hydrogen fuel cell technology and the high-quality development of the industry in China.
First, the national level should give necessary support to the entrepreneurial team of hydrogen fuel cell returnees. First of all, the national key research and development plan, "specialized, special and new" enterprises and other national support measures need to be appropriately inclined to the returnee entrepreneurial team that masters the core technology and has the ability to promote industrialization; secondly, the national pilot demonstration projects such as fuel cell vehicle demonstration applications and "hydrogen into ten thousand homes" can list returnee entrepreneurial enterprises with core technology and product competitiveness as key objects; finally, in order to promote the further expansion of the field of hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicles, it is necessary for the top-level design of the national hydrogen energy industry to master the core technology. Returnee start-ups with strong product competitiveness and good industrialization progress are included.
Second, local governments should provide necessary support for high-quality returnee entrepreneurial teams in the field of hydrogen energy. On the one hand, some areas where returnees and entrepreneurial enterprises are concentrated can explore the establishment of an international hydrogen energy industry platform to provide the necessary guarantee for the flow and rooting of foreign resources such as technology, talents, entrepreneurial teams, and entrepreneurial enterprises in the field of hydrogen fuel cells. On the other hand, in the process of promoting the cultivation of hydrogen energy industry and the demonstration of fuel cell vehicles, local governments should pay attention to returnee entrepreneurial enterprises and leave enough room for corresponding development.
Third, further support returnee start-ups and tap development potential. The high-quality returnee entrepreneurial team is the core body of the entrepreneurial enterprise to promote the high-quality development of the hydrogen energy industry, and has the potential to become the main force. In order to give full play to the supporting and driving role of returnee start-ups in the hydrogen energy industry, it is necessary for local governments to study and formulate corresponding policies around their characteristics of technological innovation, R&D team building, industrialization capabilities, and product applications, and optimize the regional industrial environment. At the same time, in order to further tap the potential of returnees, it is necessary for government departments at all levels to guide existing leading enterprises in the field of hydrogen energy to carry out various forms of cooperation with high-quality returnee start-ups to promote complementary advantages and strong alliances.
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