July 2008
Scott Slyfield fuels a forklift using the Hyhauler Plus which converts water to hydrogen. See story below.
around the industry
Device Turns Water into Hydrogen Fuel
The new Hyhauler Plus at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia converts water into hydrogen using an onboard electrolyzer. The relatively lightweight ‚ about 9,500lb ‚ trailer-mounted system can produce 2kg of hydrogen per day and store up to 40kg in 20 carbon fiber-wrapped, fiberglass-coated tanks.
The Quantum Technologies-produced trailer was delivered to Robins on May 14 and will serve as the primary hydrogen source until the base's permanent, fixed station is completed in December.
The Hyhauler Plus was developed under Army specifications for deployment to forward locations. The unit clearly satisfies the Air Force's alternative energy objectives, says Mike Mead, head of APTO.
NanoDynamics Names Ruberto President
NanoDynamics Energy Inc. of Buffalo, New York, has named John Ruberto as president. He will be responsible for the commercialization of the company's Revolution™ micro-tubular solid oxide fuel cells.
Ruberto most recently served at Applied Nanotech as Sr.V.P. of programs, expanding the company's intellectual property portfolio, backlog and revenue generation. Prior to that he was president of power at Eagle Picher.
"Ruberto joins our team at an exciting point in the company's history, as we move into applying our solid oxide fuel cell technology's unique capabilities against viable market applications," says Keith Blakely, CEO of NanoDynamics. "His extensive experience overseeing strategic growth in both commercial and military markets will be a great resource for our organization."
MTI Micro Expands Operations Into China
MTI MicroFuel Cells Inc., the developer of Mobion® off-the-grid portable power solutions, will expand its operations into China with the opening of a new representative office in Shanghai. The new office will facilitate MTI's efforts to develop relationships with manufacturers and low-cost component suppliers in China.
"Expanding our operations in China is an important step in achieving manufacturing readiness," says Peng Lim, chairman and CEO of MTI.
The opening of the office follows the company's appointment of new business representatives in Korea and Japan. The China office will also work to develop new partnerships and help strengthen ongoing OEM relationships. MTI hopes to sign a contract with a low-cost manufacturing partner by the end of this year.
Verizon Earns Award for Fuel Cell Facility
Verizon has earned the U.S. government's Energy Star Award for operating the nation's largest fuel cell site of its kind ‚ a call-switching center in Garden City, New York. In operation since 2005, the facility uses seven fuel cells from UTC Power of South Windsor, Connecticut. Each generates 200kW per hour, enough to supply 400 single-family households.
The existing commercial power grid, fuel cells, and existing Verizon backup power work together to meet the facility's operational needs. Natural gas is piped in from local gas company Keyspan to obtain the hydrogen atoms. The natural gas is not burned. Instead, the hydrogen atoms are detached from the gas as it is fed into each fuel cell, and then combined with oxygen atoms from the air to generate direct current electrical power.
When all seven fuel cells are activated, this system provides 80% of the facility's power load. Heat and water are then removed from each cell, and the direct current is converted to alternating current electricity for use in the building. Waste heat created by the fuel cells generates 75% of the energy to heat the facility and one-third for cooling.
DMFCC Receives Order for Formic Acid Cartridges
VIASPACE Inc.'s Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Corp. (DMFCC) subsidiary has received an order from Lynntech Inc. of College Station, Texas to design and produce formic acid fuel cell cartridges.
This work is under a U.S. Army development contract in which the Army plans to use Lynntech's fuel cell combined with technology developed at Vanderbilt University to create a fuel cell system that has a minimum of moving parts and support structure to produce the complete power supply.
"Our design team will design the fuel cell cartridge, pouch, and valve for a formic acid fuel cell, which will involve selection and testing of new materials suited to formic acid," says Dr. Carl Kukkonen, CEO of VIASPACE and DMFCC. "Formic acid is one of the liquids covered by our extensive license on fuel cell patents from Caltech, and it is also one of the types of fuel cells recently approved by the Department of Transportation for crew and passengers to carry on board commercial aircraft."
DuPont and SFC Develop Portable Power System
The M-25 portable fuel cell, which combines DuPont's direct methanol technology with SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG's commercially proven fuel cell systems, products, and integration expertise, has been deployed for its first limited use in the field for the U.S. Army.
The M-25 is up to 80% lighter than conventional power sources, yet is capable of powering a wide range of soldier equipment, such as communication and navigation equipment. In addition, it delivers quiet and continuous energy, and offers independent stand alone function such as remote area battery charging and power.
"The M-25 could revolutionize wearable portable power sources in the field by extending soldier-mission times to 72 hours and beyond," says Col. Richard Hansen, project manager, Soldier Warrier, U.S. Army.
Ceci Becomes Power Air CEO
The board of directors at Power Air Corp. of Livermore, California, has named Donald Ceci,VP of sales and marketing, as the company's new president and CEO. Ceci will replace H. Dean Haley, Power Air's chairman, COO and acting CEO.
"Ceci has intimate knowledge of our technology, competitors, markets, target products, personnel and operations. I'm delighted to be turning the helm over to him and expect that he will have marked impact on the ongoing success of our company," says Haley.
Prior to joining Power Air, Ceci spent over 20 years overseeing and directing sales and marketing activities for IBM, Philips, Comdisco, Ricoh and Ballard Power Systems Inc. As director of sales at Ballard, he built the sales and service organizations required to support the commercialization of transportation and power generation fuel cell powered systems that were being developed by the company.
CMR Fuel Cells Signs MoU with Asian ODM
CMR Fuel Cells Plc of Cambridge, U.K. has signed a memorandum of understanding with Asian Original Design Manufacturer to co-develop a fuel cell charger system for notebook computers. Per the agreement, the companies will work together in the design and development of a stand-alone, hybrid direct methanol fuel cell charger intended for consumer use.
CMR is a long-term member of Intel's Extended Battery Life Working Group which focuses on realizing an eight hour working day away from mains electricity.
Sharp Achieves Higher Power Density for DMFCs
Sharp Corp. has achieved a 0.3W/cc power density for direct methanol fuel cells for mobile equipment. The use of this technology can make it possible to develop fuel cells that have almost the same volume but a longer continuous-use lifespan than Li-ion batteries, which are the main type currently in use.
Giving special attention to the power generation part's stack structure, Sharp has developed the three-dimensional highly integrated stack structure through the use of thin cells made by microfabrication. This structure can be created by the alternate lamination of reed-shaped thin cells arranged in parallel at fixed intervals and reed-shaped (porous) spacers, with the cells and spacers running perpendicular to each other like a grid. With this structure, uniform and continuous spaces are secured, making it possible to increase the cell surface area per unit volume and smoothly circulate the air that is one of the sources for power generation.
HydraStax Receives Order for 500 Fuel Cells
American Security Resources Corp. subsidiary Hydra Fuel Cell Corp. has received an order for 500 HydraStax fuel cells from Personalized Power Systems, a Boca Raton, Louisiana-based residential generator dealer.
Jim Twedt, president and CEO of Hydra says the company now has a backlog of over $11,000,000, and this highlights the viability of fuel cells as an alternative power source. "This order is further evidence of the significance fuel cells will have in freeing America from hydrocarbon dependence in electric generation," he commented.
Quantum Awarded Powertrains Contract
Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide Inc. of Irvine, California, has been awarded a contract by EDAG Engineering + Design AG to develop advanced hybrid vehicle powertrains for the Future Steel Vehicle program sponsored by World Auto Steel, the automotive group of the International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI).
Quantum will design, analyze, and develop hybrid vehicle powertrain architectures, i.e., advanced plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and hydrogen fuel cell hybrid vehicles. Quantum will work with Advanced Lithium Power Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to develop the advanced Li-ion battery system and controls for each of the vehicle architectures.
Sony Debuts Palm-Sized Fuel Cell
At the Small Fuel Cells 2008 conference in Atlanta, Georgia in May, Sony debuted its palm-sized fuel cell with a tiny frame measuring just 50 x 30mm.
Sony's fuel cell uses methanol as its main source of fuel, and uses a regulator or a pump in controlling fuel supply, making it an active fuel cell system. In spite of the apparent dependence on methanol though, the device has a hybrid design and is equipped with an auxiliary Li-ion battery, DMFC array, and a control circuit, aside from the previously mentioned fuel regulator. It exhibits a hybrid mechanism ‚ the primary source of fuel is supplemented with the power coming from the li-ion battery.
Sony's fuel cell prototype can cope with mobile devices' rising peak powers with its maximum instant output of 3W. Sony didn't give more details about the device, although the fuel cell can reportedly power 14 hours of 1-seg TV viewing using just 10ml of methanol.
Panasonic EV to Double Fuel Cell Output
The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that Panasonic EV Energy Co. plans to double production of fuel cells for hybrid cars to 1 million units annually by 2011.
The company, formed jointly by Toyota Motor Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. to develop and produce hybrid car batteries, will ramp up output at its plant in Kosai, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It also is considering building a new factory in the Tohoku region.
The firm plans to build another factory in Kosai to begin mass production of Li-ion batteries in 2010, in line with the expected market entry of plug-in hybrid cars.
Proton Motor Receives Innovation Award
Proton Motor of Puchheim, Germany, recently received the Bavarian Innovation Award for its triple-hybrid drive. During an event in the hall of the Bavarian State Chancellery, Proton Motor's CEO Felix Heidelberg received the award from Prime Minister Beckstein. The award is one of the most highly remunerated in Germany.
Among more than 100 nominations, Proton Motor's triple-hybrid technology was chosen as one of the best of 11 proposals. This technology offers a 30% to 60% energy savings for stop-and-go operated vehicles such as fork lift trucks or city buses. The control of optimum energy flow between fuel cell, battery and super capacitor is achieved by an intelligent power management. The braking energy accumulated while stopping is saved in the storage systems battery and super capacitor and can be used on demand.
SymPowerco's Fuel Cell Hybrid Prototype
SymPowerco Corp. of Las Vegas, Nevada, has released development details of its prototype fuel cell and hybrid power systems. The systems are located in the laboratories of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada.
The 5W fuel cell stack consists of a series of five flowing electrolyte direct methanol fuel cells that provide power to a hybrid power system. The fuel cell stack maintains the charge on the power system's batteries while the batteries supply power to a variable load. The fuel cell subsystems include the methanol and electrolyte recirculation and control systems and a secondary fuel cell that removes methanol from the recirculating electrolyte.
Also included in the fuel cell system is an advanced System Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system designed exclusively for SymPowerco's fuel cell program. The SCADA system has sufficient capability for all anticipated phases of the program and will serve as the basis of the company's commercial SCADA designs.
European Council Adopts JTI Regulation
The Industry Grouping of the Joint Technology Initiative on Fuel Cells and Hydrogen, New Energy World IG, has adopted the Council Regulation creating the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative (FCH JTI). The regulation was adopted on May 30 by the European Unions Competitiveness Council.
Between 2008 and 2017, the FCH JTI will have a budget of EU 1 billion with investment shared by its two founding members, the European Commission and NEW IG. The FCH JTI will run until 2017 and will drive the technology towards commercialization in the next decade.
Further details on the content of the JTI program and structure are expected at the official launch during the General Stakeholders Assembly in Autoworld in Brussels on October 14th and 15th.
EU to Research Fuel Cells, Hydrogen
In June, European governments agreed to spend EU 470 million ($731 million) developing fuel cells and hydrogen technology for cars, reports the Associated Press.
Car and energy companies such as Daimler AG and Royal Dutch Shell PLC are expected to match or exceed the EU funding for the six-year research project that should speed up research and make cleaner cars a commercial reality between 2010 and 2020.
The EU says hydrogen cars could cut the amount of oil used by road transport by 40% by 2040 and halve carbon emissions by 2050.
"The break-even point could be most likely reached between 2025 and 2035," it said. "European industry needs additional stimulation to invest in the technology."
Hydrogen-powered fuel cells are in limited use in place of fossil fuels, but they are neither efficient nor inexpensive enough for widespread use.
Heliocentris Granted Service Contract by Ballard
Fuel cell integrator Heliocentris Fuel Cells AG of Berlin, Germany, has a new agreement with strategic partner Ballard Power Systems (Canada), a world leader in clean energy fuel cell products. Under this new agreement Ballard has transferred the post-warranty technical customer service for its Nexaâ power modules to Heliocentris.
Ballard has granted Heliocentris worldwide rights to operate as the technical customer service provider for Ballard's Nexaâ power modules. Heliocentris will be the contact point for all previous and new customers, both industrial and academic, throughout the world.
"This arrangement is validation of our servicing capabilities based on more than 10 years experience in marketing fuel cell systems," said Dr. Henrik Colell, CEO of Heliocentris Fuel Cells AG.
Oorjapac Fuel-Cell Battery Charging System
FMC Technologies Automated Systems has successfully implemented an onboard methanol-based fuel-cell battery charging system on an automated guided vehicle The system, Oorja Protonics' OorjaPac, charges the battery while the vehicle is in operation and when it is parked.
OorjaPac provides greater AGV utilization and improved operational productivity through the elimination of downtime needed for charging or battery swapping. Operating results showed that only five gallons of methanol were needed to power the AGV for 24 hours. When refueling is required, it takes less than three minute.
FMC Technologies continues to work on other green solutions for its AGV customers, including a current project in which FMC is installing a 12-vehicle AGV system powered by hydrogen- based fuel cells.
Canon Applies for Camera Fuel-Cell Patent
PC Magazine reports that Canon has applied for a fuel cell patent for its DSLR camera, the technology of which could be used for other portable devices as well.
The patent applied for addresses some of the most problematic issues with fuel cells, including fluctuating current and uneven gas densities.
Canon will create not a one fuel cell system, but a system with multiple fuel cells. The fuel cells have different voltage outputs which can be matched depending upon the requirements of the device, hence creating the perfect voltage for a gadget.
