- Email: [email protected]
Advanced technology R&D awards from NIST
NEWS is well below the target of 700°C within the Department of Energy’s ten-year Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) program. The dramatic reduction in operating temperatures resulting from NanoDynamics’ breakthrough processing technology should allow the manufacture of more durable SOFCs from less expensive materials and produce power in a significantly shorter time from startup, according to Dr Caine Finnerty, technology director for the company’s fuel cell programs. NanoDynamics is now applying the advanced processing technology to its own compact portable fuel cell system, which it expects to introduce commercially early next year. The company also plans to demonstrate the applicability of the new technology to SOFC systems currently being developed and manufactured by other companies, since it believes this processing technology can be easily and cheaply integrated into existing SOFC manufacturing processes. Contact: NanoDynamics Inc, Buffalo, NY, USA. Tel: +1 716 853 4900, www.nanodynamics.biz
High-performance lithium nitride for hydrogen storage Material scientists at Hiroshima University in Japan have developed a new material that can store three times more hydrogen than existing alloys, according to a Kyodo News report. Professor Hironobu Fujii and Dr Takayuki Ichikawa of the Natural Science Center for Basic Research & Development have succeeded in absorbing and desorbing a large amount of hydrogen (up to 6 wt%), corresponding to almost three times higher capacity than conventional hydrogen storage alloys at temperatures lower than 200°C. The greater capacity means that hydrogen can be stored more efficiently, and lighter tanks can be used for fuel cell vehicles. It can also store hydrogen at lower temperatures, offering greater safety. The work builds on earlier research at the National University of Singapore, showing that the nitrogen-lithium compound holds great promise for hydrogen storage. The Hiroshima group ground two types of lithium powder into tiny particles inside a pressurized container holding hydrogen along with a metal catalyst. Professor Fujii said that he hopes to achieve hydrogen absorption and emission below 100°C within five years. Contact: Professor Hironobu Fujii, Natural Science Center for Basic Research & Development, Hiroshima University, Japan. Tel: +81 814 246551, Email: [email protected]
8
Fuel Cells Bulletin
UK plans national fuel cell applications facility A major new National Fuel Cell Applications Facility (NFCAF) will be launched in the UK in early 2004. Based at the Wilton Centre in the Tees Valley, it will have access to existing state-of-the-art laboratories and highly skilled staff from the area’s long expertise in the chemicals industry, particularly in ICI. More details of the services to be offered will be announced shortly. Exploiting fuel cell systems requires the development of a new market, a range of radically new products, and the evolution of a supply chain capable of delivering these competitively. Navigating the assault course between laboratory and market application requires shrewd collaboration in assets, technology and enterprise. The NFCAF is intended to support companies facing these challenges, and is the result of extensive discussions involving several major industrial, government and academic organizations. The Tees Valley has a nationally unique infrastructure for low carbon fuels (particularly hydrogen), embracing large-scale production, storage and distribution. A concerted effort has been made to place the region in a prominent position in the UK’s drive for sustainable energy, and several significant demonstration projects are active or imminent, including a 2 MWe cogeneration trial featuring fuel cells from a variety of developers and manufacturers. The NFCAF has been planned to align with relevant initiatives in the UK and internationally. The facility is recruiting its director and key staff (more details at: www.griffononline.com, ref: GOL 0189).
Planet Capital to commercialize PSI energy technologies, sell ECN molten carbonate patents Netherlands-based venture capitalist Planet Capital Management has concluded an agreement to commercialize energy technologies developed at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the leading Swiss national energy research center. Planet Capital is also handling the sale of the molten carbonate fuel cell patents portfolio of the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands (ECN), following
refocusing of its Fuel Cell Research Group’s research activities on PEM and solid oxide fuel cells and fuel processing technology. PSI’s multidisciplinary energy research includes technologies for renewable energy, energy storage and energy conversion, including PEM fuel cells. Planet Capital will evaluate the energy technologies created at PSI on an initial, exclusive basis, to determine the opportunities for commercialization. The venture capital firm will then arrange for financing and assist in establishing commercial spin-offs based on PSI technology. Meanwhile, ECN has asked the venture capitalist to offer strategically active parties the opportunity to acquire ECN’s portfolio of MCFC patents built up between 1986 and 1999. The package of 13 patents covers inventions at system design, stack development and cell level. The decision of ECN management to concentrate on fuel processing, SOFCs and systems, and PEM fuel cell systems means that the portfolio is now available for an industrial research consortium to commercialize and create viable low-cost, high-efficiency systems for decentralized energy generation. Planet Capital Management was a shareholder in InDEC, the Dutch fuel cell company recently taken over by H.C. Starck, a subsidiary of Bayer. Contact: Marco Pieterse, Planet Capital Management BV, Zeist, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 30 666 8318, Email: [email protected], www.planetcapital.nl Or contact: Dr Philipp Dietrich, Head of Technology Transfer, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen PSI, Switzerland. Tel: +41 56 310 4573, Email: [email protected], www.psi.ch
Advanced technology R&D awards from NIST Three fuel cell projects are among 16 novel technologies to be developed by the private sector with support from the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) of the National Institute of Standards & Technology, part of the US Department of Commerce. In Massachusetts, Cambridge-based TIAX – formerly Arthur D. Little’s Technology & Innovation business – has been awarded $2m towards a three-year, $4.2m project to design and demonstrate technologies for low-cost solid oxide fuel cells using novel materials for interconnect components, to increase durability and power. Once the components are designed, TIAX will construct and demonstrate a 1 kWe power generation system. Saint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics in Northboro will be subcontracted to provide support in material property estimation and characterization.
September 2003
NEWS Virent Energy Systems in Madison, Wisconsin will develop and demonstrate catalyst and compact microchannel reactor technologies using non-flammable, renewable feedstocks to produce hydrogen for fuel cells offering five times the energy density (and runtime) of today’s advanced batteries. The two-year, $2.6m project (with $2m from ATP) will build on the University of Wisconsin’s discovery of liquidphase fuel reforming, which generates high yields of hydrogen from energy-rich ethylene glycol. Virent will design and demonstrate a microchannel reactor that, incorporating the improved catalyst, can power a 50 We fuel cell. Motorola Labs in Tempe, Arizona will lead a $4.7m ($2.3m from ATP), three-year joint venture partnership with Engelhard in Iselin, New Jersey to develop a miniaturized fuel cell using a catalytic microchannel reactor for methanol steam reforming (MSR). The MSR catalyst will operate at 190–290°C and eliminate deactivation when exposed to water and air, which plagues current copper and zinc oxide steam-reforming catalysts. Motorola will develop a miniature ceramic reformer, while Engelhard will search for an improved, more practical MSR catalyst. The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor will be subcontracted to investigate their carbide and oxycarbide catalysts for MSR use. Contact: Twig Mowatt, TIAX LLC, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Tel: +1 617 498 7366, Email: [email protected], www.tiax.biz Or contact: Tony Hartmann, Virent Energy Systems, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Tel: +1 608 663 0228, Email: [email protected], www.virent.com Or contact: Jerry Hallmark, Energy Technology Labs, Solid State Research Center, Motorola Labs, Tempe, Arizona, USA. Tel: +1 480 755 5588, Email: [email protected], www.motorola.com/labs
Chrysalix leads buyout funding of Avista Labs Spokane, Washington-based PEM fuel cell developer and manufacturer Avista Labs has secured US$7.5m for an 80% stake in its first round of independent financing. The funding came from a syndicate led by Vancouverbased Chrysalix Energy, and also including Wall Street Technology Partners of New York and Buerk Craig Victor of Seattle. The majority holding was sold by former parent company Avista Corporation, which had talked about a spinoff as long ago as early 2000; it will retain a 19.9% minority interest in a new entity, AVLB Inc. The business will continue to operate under the name Avista Labs for up to 24 months, and is expected to remain in Spokane.
September 2003
The deal includes a commitment by Avista Corporation to provide additional future funding of up to $1.5m under certain conditions. The financing will provide the necessary capital to support Avista Labs’ continuing development and commercialization of its line of fuel cell products. The company currently markets three fuel cell products from its Independence™ line for commercial and industrial backup power solutions in the 50 We–5 kWe range. Its patented Modular Cartridge Technology® provides very high reliability for backup of critical power loads by allowing customers to perform maintenance while the system continues to operate. ‘Two years ago Avista Labs purposely shifted their market focus to the premium power markets with fuel cells running on bottled hydrogen for backup power applications,’ commented Adam Lichtenstein of Wall Street Technology Partners. ‘The fact that many other PEM fuel cell developers are now focusing on this same market validates the move by Avista Labs, and strengthens their leadership position in this space. Since the addressable markets are quite sizable to support numerous suppliers, this is very positive for the industry as a whole.’ Contact: Avista Labs, Spokane, WA, USA. Tel: +1 509 228 6500, www.avistalabs.com Or contact: Chrysalix Energy Limited Partnership, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 659 5499, www.chrysalix.com
Illinois 2H2 launched as public-private partnership The Illinois Coalition and the state’s Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity have established Illinois 2H2 to create an industry cluster centered on the development of hydrogen as an energy carrier. The organization resulted from an April conference of industry leaders at the Gas Technology Institute in Des Plaines, where there was overwhelming support for formalizing a public-private partnership to capitalize on national momentum and the state’s inherent strength in this emerging industry. The partnership is now working to create a strategic action plan by the end of November, centered on hydrogen and fuel cell opportunities, which will be presented to federal, state and local government bodies. It will also draw from four regional forums to engage the public and build localized grass-roots support. Contact: Chris Tynan, Illinois Coalition, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Tel: +1 312 229 1970, Email: [email protected], www.ilcoalition.org
In Brief Umicore acquires OMG Precious Metals Belgian metals and materials group Umicore has acquired the Precious Metals Group of Ohio-based OM Group. The deal was closed at the beginning of August, on receiving the necessary regulatory approvals. The acquisition makes Umicore a preeminent player in the global precious metals business, and marks a major expansion of its activities towards more technology-intensive materials. Through PMG, Umicore will acquire an extensive technology portfolio and related intellectual property rights, with fuel cells the most prominent technology in the development pipeline. PMG has invested heavily in the development and manufacture of catalysts and components for PEM fuel cells, originally as Degussa Metals Catalysts Cerdec (dmc2), before it was acquired by OMG in August 2001. Four more years for California partnership Collaborative work to encourage fuel cell vehicle commercialization will continue at the California Fuel Cell Partnership through 2007, following its recent extension of activities originally planned to run through 2003. On its launch in spring 1999 CaFCP had eight members, including just two automakers (DaimlerChrysler and Ford) and Ballard as the only fuel cell developer. The unique partnership now has 30 members on board, including eight automakers and UTC Fuel Cells, all playing integral roles in the development and demonstration of fuel cell technology. ‘The value of working together the past four years is so clear,’ said Alan Lloyd, 2003 CaFCP chair, and chair of the California Air Resources Board. ‘To successfully bridge fuel cell vehicle demonstration with commercialization, the fastest way remains through collaboration. The CaFCP remains a powerful force on the path to fuel cell vehicle commercialization.’ Plenty of interest in Luzern This year’s Lucerne Fuel Cell Forum offered a good opportunity to catch up with global developments in fuel cells, through its helpful combination of a conference on demonstrations and commercialization in parallel with a more research-oriented forum on PEM fuel cells. The small exhibition included demonstrations of a fuel cell powered bicycle and a scooter. The conference proceedings – with 60+ presentations in the ‘Fuel Cell World’ conference, and more than 40 presentations and 40 posters in the PEM fuel cell forum – are available from the organizer, priced at SFr200 for each conference. The Lucerne Fuel Cell Forum 2004 (28 June–2 July) will comprise The Fuel Cell World and the 6th European SOFC Forum. For more information, go to: www.efcf.com
Fuel Cells Bulletin
9
High-performance lithium nitride for hydrogen storage Material scientists at Hiroshima University in Japan have developed a new material that can store three times more hydrogen than existing alloys, according to a Kyodo News report. Professor Hironobu Fujii and Dr Takayuki Ichikawa of the Natural Science Center for Basic Research & Development have succeeded in absorbing and desorbing a large amount of hydrogen (up to 6 wt%), corresponding to almost three times higher capacity than conventional hydrogen storage alloys at temperatures lower than 200°C. The greater capacity means that hydrogen can be stored more efficiently, and lighter tanks can be used for fuel cell vehicles. It can also store hydrogen at lower temperatures, offering greater safety. The work builds on earlier research at the National University of Singapore, showing that the nitrogen-lithium compound holds great promise for hydrogen storage. The Hiroshima group ground two types of lithium powder into tiny particles inside a pressurized container holding hydrogen along with a metal catalyst. Professor Fujii said that he hopes to achieve hydrogen absorption and emission below 100°C within five years. Contact: Professor Hironobu Fujii, Natural Science Center for Basic Research & Development, Hiroshima University, Japan. Tel: +81 814 246551, Email: [email protected]
8
Fuel Cells Bulletin
UK plans national fuel cell applications facility A major new National Fuel Cell Applications Facility (NFCAF) will be launched in the UK in early 2004. Based at the Wilton Centre in the Tees Valley, it will have access to existing state-of-the-art laboratories and highly skilled staff from the area’s long expertise in the chemicals industry, particularly in ICI. More details of the services to be offered will be announced shortly. Exploiting fuel cell systems requires the development of a new market, a range of radically new products, and the evolution of a supply chain capable of delivering these competitively. Navigating the assault course between laboratory and market application requires shrewd collaboration in assets, technology and enterprise. The NFCAF is intended to support companies facing these challenges, and is the result of extensive discussions involving several major industrial, government and academic organizations. The Tees Valley has a nationally unique infrastructure for low carbon fuels (particularly hydrogen), embracing large-scale production, storage and distribution. A concerted effort has been made to place the region in a prominent position in the UK’s drive for sustainable energy, and several significant demonstration projects are active or imminent, including a 2 MWe cogeneration trial featuring fuel cells from a variety of developers and manufacturers. The NFCAF has been planned to align with relevant initiatives in the UK and internationally. The facility is recruiting its director and key staff (more details at: www.griffononline.com, ref: GOL 0189).
Planet Capital to commercialize PSI energy technologies, sell ECN molten carbonate patents Netherlands-based venture capitalist Planet Capital Management has concluded an agreement to commercialize energy technologies developed at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), the leading Swiss national energy research center. Planet Capital is also handling the sale of the molten carbonate fuel cell patents portfolio of the Energy Research Center of the Netherlands (ECN), following
refocusing of its Fuel Cell Research Group’s research activities on PEM and solid oxide fuel cells and fuel processing technology. PSI’s multidisciplinary energy research includes technologies for renewable energy, energy storage and energy conversion, including PEM fuel cells. Planet Capital will evaluate the energy technologies created at PSI on an initial, exclusive basis, to determine the opportunities for commercialization. The venture capital firm will then arrange for financing and assist in establishing commercial spin-offs based on PSI technology. Meanwhile, ECN has asked the venture capitalist to offer strategically active parties the opportunity to acquire ECN’s portfolio of MCFC patents built up between 1986 and 1999. The package of 13 patents covers inventions at system design, stack development and cell level. The decision of ECN management to concentrate on fuel processing, SOFCs and systems, and PEM fuel cell systems means that the portfolio is now available for an industrial research consortium to commercialize and create viable low-cost, high-efficiency systems for decentralized energy generation. Planet Capital Management was a shareholder in InDEC, the Dutch fuel cell company recently taken over by H.C. Starck, a subsidiary of Bayer. Contact: Marco Pieterse, Planet Capital Management BV, Zeist, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 30 666 8318, Email: [email protected], www.planetcapital.nl Or contact: Dr Philipp Dietrich, Head of Technology Transfer, Paul Scherrer Institut, Villigen PSI, Switzerland. Tel: +41 56 310 4573, Email: [email protected], www.psi.ch
Advanced technology R&D awards from NIST Three fuel cell projects are among 16 novel technologies to be developed by the private sector with support from the Advanced Technology Program (ATP) of the National Institute of Standards & Technology, part of the US Department of Commerce. In Massachusetts, Cambridge-based TIAX – formerly Arthur D. Little’s Technology & Innovation business – has been awarded $2m towards a three-year, $4.2m project to design and demonstrate technologies for low-cost solid oxide fuel cells using novel materials for interconnect components, to increase durability and power. Once the components are designed, TIAX will construct and demonstrate a 1 kWe power generation system. Saint-Gobain Ceramics & Plastics in Northboro will be subcontracted to provide support in material property estimation and characterization.
September 2003
NEWS Virent Energy Systems in Madison, Wisconsin will develop and demonstrate catalyst and compact microchannel reactor technologies using non-flammable, renewable feedstocks to produce hydrogen for fuel cells offering five times the energy density (and runtime) of today’s advanced batteries. The two-year, $2.6m project (with $2m from ATP) will build on the University of Wisconsin’s discovery of liquidphase fuel reforming, which generates high yields of hydrogen from energy-rich ethylene glycol. Virent will design and demonstrate a microchannel reactor that, incorporating the improved catalyst, can power a 50 We fuel cell. Motorola Labs in Tempe, Arizona will lead a $4.7m ($2.3m from ATP), three-year joint venture partnership with Engelhard in Iselin, New Jersey to develop a miniaturized fuel cell using a catalytic microchannel reactor for methanol steam reforming (MSR). The MSR catalyst will operate at 190–290°C and eliminate deactivation when exposed to water and air, which plagues current copper and zinc oxide steam-reforming catalysts. Motorola will develop a miniature ceramic reformer, while Engelhard will search for an improved, more practical MSR catalyst. The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor will be subcontracted to investigate their carbide and oxycarbide catalysts for MSR use. Contact: Twig Mowatt, TIAX LLC, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. Tel: +1 617 498 7366, Email: [email protected], www.tiax.biz Or contact: Tony Hartmann, Virent Energy Systems, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. Tel: +1 608 663 0228, Email: [email protected], www.virent.com Or contact: Jerry Hallmark, Energy Technology Labs, Solid State Research Center, Motorola Labs, Tempe, Arizona, USA. Tel: +1 480 755 5588, Email: [email protected], www.motorola.com/labs
Chrysalix leads buyout funding of Avista Labs Spokane, Washington-based PEM fuel cell developer and manufacturer Avista Labs has secured US$7.5m for an 80% stake in its first round of independent financing. The funding came from a syndicate led by Vancouverbased Chrysalix Energy, and also including Wall Street Technology Partners of New York and Buerk Craig Victor of Seattle. The majority holding was sold by former parent company Avista Corporation, which had talked about a spinoff as long ago as early 2000; it will retain a 19.9% minority interest in a new entity, AVLB Inc. The business will continue to operate under the name Avista Labs for up to 24 months, and is expected to remain in Spokane.
September 2003
The deal includes a commitment by Avista Corporation to provide additional future funding of up to $1.5m under certain conditions. The financing will provide the necessary capital to support Avista Labs’ continuing development and commercialization of its line of fuel cell products. The company currently markets three fuel cell products from its Independence™ line for commercial and industrial backup power solutions in the 50 We–5 kWe range. Its patented Modular Cartridge Technology® provides very high reliability for backup of critical power loads by allowing customers to perform maintenance while the system continues to operate. ‘Two years ago Avista Labs purposely shifted their market focus to the premium power markets with fuel cells running on bottled hydrogen for backup power applications,’ commented Adam Lichtenstein of Wall Street Technology Partners. ‘The fact that many other PEM fuel cell developers are now focusing on this same market validates the move by Avista Labs, and strengthens their leadership position in this space. Since the addressable markets are quite sizable to support numerous suppliers, this is very positive for the industry as a whole.’ Contact: Avista Labs, Spokane, WA, USA. Tel: +1 509 228 6500, www.avistalabs.com Or contact: Chrysalix Energy Limited Partnership, Vancouver, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 659 5499, www.chrysalix.com
Illinois 2H2 launched as public-private partnership The Illinois Coalition and the state’s Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity have established Illinois 2H2 to create an industry cluster centered on the development of hydrogen as an energy carrier. The organization resulted from an April conference of industry leaders at the Gas Technology Institute in Des Plaines, where there was overwhelming support for formalizing a public-private partnership to capitalize on national momentum and the state’s inherent strength in this emerging industry. The partnership is now working to create a strategic action plan by the end of November, centered on hydrogen and fuel cell opportunities, which will be presented to federal, state and local government bodies. It will also draw from four regional forums to engage the public and build localized grass-roots support. Contact: Chris Tynan, Illinois Coalition, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Tel: +1 312 229 1970, Email: [email protected], www.ilcoalition.org
In Brief Umicore acquires OMG Precious Metals Belgian metals and materials group Umicore has acquired the Precious Metals Group of Ohio-based OM Group. The deal was closed at the beginning of August, on receiving the necessary regulatory approvals. The acquisition makes Umicore a preeminent player in the global precious metals business, and marks a major expansion of its activities towards more technology-intensive materials. Through PMG, Umicore will acquire an extensive technology portfolio and related intellectual property rights, with fuel cells the most prominent technology in the development pipeline. PMG has invested heavily in the development and manufacture of catalysts and components for PEM fuel cells, originally as Degussa Metals Catalysts Cerdec (dmc2), before it was acquired by OMG in August 2001. Four more years for California partnership Collaborative work to encourage fuel cell vehicle commercialization will continue at the California Fuel Cell Partnership through 2007, following its recent extension of activities originally planned to run through 2003. On its launch in spring 1999 CaFCP had eight members, including just two automakers (DaimlerChrysler and Ford) and Ballard as the only fuel cell developer. The unique partnership now has 30 members on board, including eight automakers and UTC Fuel Cells, all playing integral roles in the development and demonstration of fuel cell technology. ‘The value of working together the past four years is so clear,’ said Alan Lloyd, 2003 CaFCP chair, and chair of the California Air Resources Board. ‘To successfully bridge fuel cell vehicle demonstration with commercialization, the fastest way remains through collaboration. The CaFCP remains a powerful force on the path to fuel cell vehicle commercialization.’ Plenty of interest in Luzern This year’s Lucerne Fuel Cell Forum offered a good opportunity to catch up with global developments in fuel cells, through its helpful combination of a conference on demonstrations and commercialization in parallel with a more research-oriented forum on PEM fuel cells. The small exhibition included demonstrations of a fuel cell powered bicycle and a scooter. The conference proceedings – with 60+ presentations in the ‘Fuel Cell World’ conference, and more than 40 presentations and 40 posters in the PEM fuel cell forum – are available from the organizer, priced at SFr200 for each conference. The Lucerne Fuel Cell Forum 2004 (28 June–2 July) will comprise The Fuel Cell World and the 6th European SOFC Forum. For more information, go to: www.efcf.com
Fuel Cells Bulletin
9