December 2008
The Center for Fuel Cell Research has been founded at the University of Delaware with Prof. Ajay Prasad (above) as director. See story below.
around the industry
University of Delaware Launches Fuel Cell Center
The University of Delaware (UD) has established the Center for Fuel Cell Research to improve the understanding of fuel cells and address critical issues and barriers to commercialization. Undergraduate and graduate students will also participate in fuel cell research and demonstration projects at the center. Ajay Prasad, professor of mechanical engineering, founded the center and is serving as its director.
CFCR research focuses on a broad range of topics in fuel cell and hydrogen infrastructure science and technology. The overall goal of the work is to improve performance and durability with novel materials, architectures, and operating strategies.
"Delaware is a great place to start a fuel cell center," Prasad says. "We have a large number of people here at UD doing work related to this subject, and many of the major players in the fuel cell market are within a 50-mile radius of the university."
HydraStax Commercial Prototype Finished
Testing is in progress on Hydra Fuel Cell Corp.'s fuel cell stack that is the core of the commercial production HydraStax® 5000 fuel cell system.
"Our in-house testing, which is going very well, precedes third party testing which is the final step to completing certification with CSA-International," says Jim Twedt, president and CEO of Hydra.
"We are also finished with the other major parts of the fuel cell -- our gas control and cooling systems. We continue to make improvements in the balance of the plant that will complete the commercial system," says Twedt. "This fuel cell design is a radical departure from our previous PEM based fuel cell designs. Our lower operating temperatures and other newly integrated features should yield a significantly longer lifetime for the HydraStax system. The compact size makes this fuel cell stack one of the highest energy density generators in the world today."
Ballard Announces CFO Resignation
Ballard Power Systems of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, has announced that its chief financial officer, David S. Smith, has resigned from Ballard, effective January 30, to join Finning International Inc. An external search has been initiated for Ballard's new CFO. Over the interim period, Jay Murray, Ballard's corporate controller, has been appointed acting CFO.
In other news, Ballard is partnering with Dantherm Power A/S, a global manufacturer of hydrogen fuel cell systems to provide BC Hydro, through its subsidiary Powertech Labs Inc., with a 100kW supplemental power product for deployment in Bella Coola, British Columbia. Ballard is supplying 60 units of its Mark1020 ACS™ fuel cell product, each sized to deliver 2kW of gross power together with technical support services.
The 100kW supplemental power unit is a key part of BC Hydro's Hydrogen-Assisted Renewable Power initiative. The product will help reduce fuel consumption at the Ah-Sin-Heek diesel power generation facility, by increasing the use of existing renewable power at BC Hydro's Clayton Falls hydroelectric generation facility.
