A specialist in heat transfer and fluid management, Swedish group Alfa Laval has inaugurated a new production line dedicated to printed circuit heat exchangers in Isère (a department in the southeastern French AURA Region). These devices are used in hydrogen stations.

Founded in 1883, the company is active in a number of markets, including green hydrogen. In particular, it offers innovative welded heat exchangers for hydrogen refuelling stations. Until now, these exchangers have been produced at one of the company’s sites in South Korea. Production will now be in France in Le Fontanil near Grenoble. Alfa Laval will be able to produce 1,000 units a year of its product, called HyBloc. This system, designed for use in refuelling stations, acts as a hydrogen pre-cooler before being fed into the vehicle’s fuel tank.

According to the group, these printed circuit heat exchangers are more compact than tubular ones. In addition, chemically etched flow channels offer exceptionally high thermal performance, while state-of-the-art diffusion welding produces an extremely robust heat exchange core.

This €10 million investment by Alfa Laval, in partnership with the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, is part of the ImaGHYne project to develop a large hydrogen valley. The inauguration was attended by Håkan Åkesson, the Swedish ambassador in France, and the company’s CEO, Tom Erixon.

Read the press release.

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Article written by Laurent Meillaud and translated by Mariem Ben Tili