- Email: [email protected]
Oxide-ion conduction path in SOFCs visualized
NEWS fuel processing might therefore be possible by employing gold catalysts, removing the need for an additional on-board CO cleanup system. Very high activities are achievable with gold supported on ceria, and deactivation due to formate and carbonate formation could be easily regenerated by calcination. Professor Markus Kinne (University of Ulm, Germany) reported that gold on ceria is more active than conventional low-temperature WGS catalysts at 180°C. Excellent performance for gold catalysts was also reported for low-temperature CO preferential oxidation. And exciting work reported by Professor Chuan-Jian Zhong (State University of New York, Binghamton) showed the feasibility of exploiting nanostructured gold catalysts for electrocatalytic oxidation of CO and methanol. Contact: Dr Richard Holliday, World Gold Council, London, UK. Tel: +44 20 7766 2712, Email: [email protected], www.gold.org/discover/sci_indu
Airbus order for FuelCon European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has selected German-based FuelCon to supply testing and laboratory equipment for reforming, PEM and solid oxide fuel cell systems, as well as balance-of-plant components and supply and safety modules. FuelCon won the contract against stiff competition. Its Evaluator-C and -S line systems offer state-of-the-art, standardized test solutions for component, stack and fuel cell system testing for PEM, DMFC, SOFC and molten carbonate fuel cells. The company operates a test center for fuel cells at its facilities in Magdeburg. Contact: FuelCon AG, Magdeburg-Barleben, Germany. Tel: +49 39203 81330, www.fuelcon.com
New Honda stack can operate below freezing Honda Motor Co has developed its own PEM fuel cell stack for automotive propulsion. The remarkably compact ‘Honda FC Stack’ is claimed to deliver higher performance with increased range and fuel efficiency, and is designed to operate at temperatures down to –20°C (–4°F). Developed for volume production and the ultimate need to recycle fuel cell vehicles, this next-generation stack significantly reduces the use of special materials, and is expected to offer low-temperature starts and excellent driving performance. The automaker’s stack is believed to be the first to feature a stamped metal separator structure
December 2003
combined with newly developed electrolyte membranes for improved efficiency, recyclability, and operation over a wider temperature range. Instead of a complex structure with carbon separators bolted together, the stack has a simplified structure comprising metal separators with rubber seals attached in a unique molding process and enclosed by panels. This almost halves the part count, and more than doubles the output power density over the FCX V3 stack. The use of new membranes – developed with an unidentified Japanese industrial materials manufacturer – should greatly improve durability, and allow for power generation at temperatures ranging from –20°C to 95°C (203°F), which would be very difficult for conventional stacks employing fluorine-based membranes. The new membranes, combined with the metal separators, achieve double the proton conductivity at low temperatures, while the thermal capacity is reduced because the unit is more compact, giving a warmup time just 20% of a conventional stack. The estimated driving range of the FCX car with a Honda FC Stack – comprising two modules for a total power of 86 kWe – should increase to more than 180 miles. Currently the car uses Ballard® fuel cells, but both companies say they will continue to collaborate and strengthen their links. Honda says that it will soon begin public road evaluation of the stack in vehicle cold-start and driving performance trials. Contact: Honda Motor Co, Wako-shi, Saitama, Japan. Tel: +81 48 462 5467, Web: world.honda.com/tech
Oxide-ion conduction path in SOFCs visualized New Japanese research is expected to accelerate improvements in the performance and development of SOFCs. Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology (AIST) and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation have obtained the conduction (diffusion) path of oxide ions (O2–) in the fast oxide-ion conductor, doped lanthanum gallate. Associate professor Masatomo Yashima of TIT’s Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science & Technology, Dr Katsuhiro Nomura and coworkers from AIST’s Special Division for Green Life Technology and researchers from Mitsubishi Materials have deduced the temperature dependence of the spatial distribution of oxide ions, through precise analysis of hightemperature neutron diffraction data, and have succeeded for the first time in visualizing the conduction path of oxide ions in solid electrolyte. Lanthanum gallate (LaGaO3) is utilized as a solid electrolyte material in SOFCs that operate
In Brief US naval base, ship service project for FCE FuelCell Energy in Connecticut has received a US$954 000 contract award to participate in the US Navy’s Marine Fuel Cell Technology Verification–Trainer Program, to accelerate introduction of fuel cell power plants in naval ships and facilities. The 16-month contract is part of a larger, $2.6m Office of Naval Research (ONR) project with the University of Maine and Maine Maritime Academy, to understand the installation and operating characteristics of ship service fuel cells. Specific tasks of this new program include engineering and development for installing diesel-fueled Direct FuelCells at naval facilities and on ships, operational testing of a DFC300A power plant in Danbury from a control center in Maine, and development of a marine fuel cell simulator as an operator training aid. FCE is currently working on the second phase of a $21.6m ONR contract to deliver a 500 kWe ship service fuel cell power plant for land-based demonstration at the Naval Sea Systems Command in Philadelphia in 2004. MGE’s Evolution UPS with Ballard Nexa RM Ballard Power Systems and its California-based distribution partner MGE UPS Systems have launched field trials of MGE’s Evolution uninterruptible power supply (UPS), powered by Ballard’s Nexa® RM Series fuel cell modules. MGE has also announced the availability of the rack-based Evolution/Nexa RM systems for field trials, with commercial production slated for 2004. By integrating Ballard’s recently introduced Nexa RM Series power modules with its own proven UPS platform, MGE will be able to offer a realistic and reliable alternative to meet the growing customer demand for long-duration power backup for businesscritical applications. Call for papers on fuel cell systems The Fuel Cells Science & Technology 2004 conference on Scientific Advances in Fuel Cell Systems will be held 6–7 October 2004 in Munich, Germany. This research-oriented conference will build on the success of the first meeting, which took place in September 2002 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The meeting is a major forum for scientific exchange on the fundamentals of fuel cell technology, from the organizers of the Grove Fuel Cell Symposium. Papers are now being invited for consideration, on the topics of materials, electrochemistry and catalysis, stack and cell engineering, fuel processing, balance of plant, and hydrogen storage and distribution. The deadline for abstracts is 2 February 2004. More information at: www.fuelcelladvances.com
Fuel Cells Bulletin
3
NEWS at lower temperatures than conventional YSZbased SOFCs, and exhibit the highest efficiency in SOFCs. In this study – published in Chemical Physics Letters 380(3/4) 391–396, October 2003 – the conduction path and disorder of oxide ions were obtained through the maximum-entropy method combined with Rietveld analysis using neutron powder diffraction data. Contact: Dr Masatomo Yashima, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science & Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa, Japan. Fax: +81 45 924 5630, Email: [email protected]
Hydrogen pump is closer In the UK, engineers at the University of Southampton working with BOC Edwards, a leading vacuum pump manufacturer, have designed a new kind of hydrogen pump which could be used in fuel cell systems for a wide range of medium-scale applications. The pump was developed by Howard Stone, an engineering doctorate student in the university’s Low Temperature Engineering Group, and his supervisor Dr Neil Richardson of the School of Engineering Sciences. The work, sponsored by BOC Edwards, forms part of a wider investigation into enabling technologies for the hydrogen economy. Contact: Dr Neil Richardson, School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton, UK. Tel: +44 23 8059 2662, Email: [email protected], www.ses.soton.ac.uk Or contact: BOC Edwards, Crawley, West Sussex, UK. Tel: +44 1293 528844, www.bocedwards.com
Fuel cell investment yields jobs, says study Increasing the level of investment in fuel cells could yield nearly 200 000 new jobs in the next 20 years, according to a new study from the Breakthrough Technologies Institute in Washington, DC. The study also concludes that, with the post-2001 decline in risk capital investment in fuel cells and hydrogen, it is crucial for government to increase its support in partnership with industry. The study, ‘Fuel cells at the crossroads: Attitudes regarding the investment climate for the US fuel cell industry and a projection of industry job creation potential,’ estimates that total employment in the US fuel cell industry in 2002 was 4500–5500, and could climb to as many as 189 000 by 2021 in direct and indirect job growth as demand grows. 4
Fuel Cells Bulletin
The study examines fuel cell industry and financial community views on the current investment climate for the transportation, stationary power generation and portable sectors of the fuel cell industry. It also considers the investment history of the fuel cell industry in the US. The study is available free at: www.fuelcells.org
First fuel cell operating on coalmine methane The world’s first fuel cell power plant to operate on coalmine methane gas has been dedicated at AEP Ohio Coal’s Rose Valley Site in Hopedale, Ohio. The project will demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of recovering methane – a coal mining hazard, and a strong agent of climate change – and turning it into a useful energy resource, using a 200 kWe Direct FuelCell® power plant manufactured by Connecticut-based FuelCell Energy. The site, about 60 miles (100 km) west of Pittsburgh, is operated by Northwest Fuel Development. The power plant uses approximately 55 000–80 000 cubic feet (1560–2270 m3) per day of coalmine methane gas containing 42–47% methane. American Electric Power (AEP) is purchasing the electricity generated at the site under a power purchase agreement with Northwest Fuel Development. The total cost of the three-year project, cofunded and managed by DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, is approximately $7m, shared equally between DOE and FCE. Contact: FuelCell Energy Inc, Danbury, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 203 825 6000, www.fce.com
Axane fuel cell prototype French-based Axane has launched its first commercial PEM fuel cell system. The Roller Pac™ is a portable 2 kWe, 110 Vac electric power generator using a hydrogen fuel cell, and is the first example of an application of the modular Evopac™ fuel cell system integrated in a portable power generator. The fuel cell technology developed by Axane is coupled with hydrogen technology from parent company Air Liquide, to give an integrated clean energy solution. The modular energy generator offers wide versatility for applications ranging from portable generators to small stationary and/or transport applications, with a power range of 500 We to 10 kWe. Contact: Axane Fuel Cell Systems, Sassenage, France. Tel: +33 4 7643 6047, www.axane.fr
Outstanding long-term results for GTI membrane Researchers at the Gas Technology Institute in Illinois have verified excellent long-term performance and stability of advanced protonexchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell components it is developing for a wide variety of applications. GTI recently unveiled a new membrane for PEM fuel cells, which offers substantially improved direct methanol fuel cell system performance [FCB, November]. Using state-of-the-art materials components and techniques, GTI assembled a large-area (360 cm2), five-cell PEM fuel cell stack incorporating high-purity molded graphite plates (developed by GTI with DOE support), W.L. Gore’s Primea® Series 5621 MEA, a new gasket sealing method, and several design and assembly techniques developed by GTI. ‘Our researchers used simulated hydrogen reformate gases blended to contain 80% H2, 20% CO2 and trace amounts (below 10 ppm) of CO,’ says Bill Liss, GTI’s director of advanced energy systems. ‘This fuel blend is consistent with the hydrocarbon fuel processing system designed by GTI that achieves high hydrogen content with extremely low CO levels.’ During nearly 5000 h of continuous testing, the MEAs in this multi-cell stack exhibited extraordinarily low cell voltage decay of 5 mV per thousand hours. The advanced molded graphite plates continue to exhibit excellent performance and stability. It is believed that this is among the lowest reported PEM cell decay rate in a stack using a synthetic reformate gas. Notably, this testing did not use complicated anode air bleed techniques, a step used by some to sidestep CO contamination problems. Contact: Gas Technology Institute, Des Plaines, Illinois, USA. Tel: +1 847 768 0500, www.gastechnology.org
First yacht with certified fuel cell propulsion German-based MTU Friedrichshafen has unveiled the first yacht with a fuel cell propulsion system certified by safety auditor Germanischer Lloyd, which confirms that both the propulsion system and the yacht itself comply with very stringent international safety regulations. The system has also received CE certification. The fuel cell propulsion system is used to propel the 12 m-long yacht in calm waters and maneuver the craft in harbor. The propulsion system comprises four 1.2 kWe PEM fuel cell
December 2003
Airbus order for FuelCon European aircraft manufacturer Airbus has selected German-based FuelCon to supply testing and laboratory equipment for reforming, PEM and solid oxide fuel cell systems, as well as balance-of-plant components and supply and safety modules. FuelCon won the contract against stiff competition. Its Evaluator-C and -S line systems offer state-of-the-art, standardized test solutions for component, stack and fuel cell system testing for PEM, DMFC, SOFC and molten carbonate fuel cells. The company operates a test center for fuel cells at its facilities in Magdeburg. Contact: FuelCon AG, Magdeburg-Barleben, Germany. Tel: +49 39203 81330, www.fuelcon.com
New Honda stack can operate below freezing Honda Motor Co has developed its own PEM fuel cell stack for automotive propulsion. The remarkably compact ‘Honda FC Stack’ is claimed to deliver higher performance with increased range and fuel efficiency, and is designed to operate at temperatures down to –20°C (–4°F). Developed for volume production and the ultimate need to recycle fuel cell vehicles, this next-generation stack significantly reduces the use of special materials, and is expected to offer low-temperature starts and excellent driving performance. The automaker’s stack is believed to be the first to feature a stamped metal separator structure
December 2003
combined with newly developed electrolyte membranes for improved efficiency, recyclability, and operation over a wider temperature range. Instead of a complex structure with carbon separators bolted together, the stack has a simplified structure comprising metal separators with rubber seals attached in a unique molding process and enclosed by panels. This almost halves the part count, and more than doubles the output power density over the FCX V3 stack. The use of new membranes – developed with an unidentified Japanese industrial materials manufacturer – should greatly improve durability, and allow for power generation at temperatures ranging from –20°C to 95°C (203°F), which would be very difficult for conventional stacks employing fluorine-based membranes. The new membranes, combined with the metal separators, achieve double the proton conductivity at low temperatures, while the thermal capacity is reduced because the unit is more compact, giving a warmup time just 20% of a conventional stack. The estimated driving range of the FCX car with a Honda FC Stack – comprising two modules for a total power of 86 kWe – should increase to more than 180 miles. Currently the car uses Ballard® fuel cells, but both companies say they will continue to collaborate and strengthen their links. Honda says that it will soon begin public road evaluation of the stack in vehicle cold-start and driving performance trials. Contact: Honda Motor Co, Wako-shi, Saitama, Japan. Tel: +81 48 462 5467, Web: world.honda.com/tech
Oxide-ion conduction path in SOFCs visualized New Japanese research is expected to accelerate improvements in the performance and development of SOFCs. Researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology (AIST) and Mitsubishi Materials Corporation have obtained the conduction (diffusion) path of oxide ions (O2–) in the fast oxide-ion conductor, doped lanthanum gallate. Associate professor Masatomo Yashima of TIT’s Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science & Technology, Dr Katsuhiro Nomura and coworkers from AIST’s Special Division for Green Life Technology and researchers from Mitsubishi Materials have deduced the temperature dependence of the spatial distribution of oxide ions, through precise analysis of hightemperature neutron diffraction data, and have succeeded for the first time in visualizing the conduction path of oxide ions in solid electrolyte. Lanthanum gallate (LaGaO3) is utilized as a solid electrolyte material in SOFCs that operate
In Brief US naval base, ship service project for FCE FuelCell Energy in Connecticut has received a US$954 000 contract award to participate in the US Navy’s Marine Fuel Cell Technology Verification–Trainer Program, to accelerate introduction of fuel cell power plants in naval ships and facilities. The 16-month contract is part of a larger, $2.6m Office of Naval Research (ONR) project with the University of Maine and Maine Maritime Academy, to understand the installation and operating characteristics of ship service fuel cells. Specific tasks of this new program include engineering and development for installing diesel-fueled Direct FuelCells at naval facilities and on ships, operational testing of a DFC300A power plant in Danbury from a control center in Maine, and development of a marine fuel cell simulator as an operator training aid. FCE is currently working on the second phase of a $21.6m ONR contract to deliver a 500 kWe ship service fuel cell power plant for land-based demonstration at the Naval Sea Systems Command in Philadelphia in 2004. MGE’s Evolution UPS with Ballard Nexa RM Ballard Power Systems and its California-based distribution partner MGE UPS Systems have launched field trials of MGE’s Evolution uninterruptible power supply (UPS), powered by Ballard’s Nexa® RM Series fuel cell modules. MGE has also announced the availability of the rack-based Evolution/Nexa RM systems for field trials, with commercial production slated for 2004. By integrating Ballard’s recently introduced Nexa RM Series power modules with its own proven UPS platform, MGE will be able to offer a realistic and reliable alternative to meet the growing customer demand for long-duration power backup for businesscritical applications. Call for papers on fuel cell systems The Fuel Cells Science & Technology 2004 conference on Scientific Advances in Fuel Cell Systems will be held 6–7 October 2004 in Munich, Germany. This research-oriented conference will build on the success of the first meeting, which took place in September 2002 in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The meeting is a major forum for scientific exchange on the fundamentals of fuel cell technology, from the organizers of the Grove Fuel Cell Symposium. Papers are now being invited for consideration, on the topics of materials, electrochemistry and catalysis, stack and cell engineering, fuel processing, balance of plant, and hydrogen storage and distribution. The deadline for abstracts is 2 February 2004. More information at: www.fuelcelladvances.com
Fuel Cells Bulletin
3
NEWS at lower temperatures than conventional YSZbased SOFCs, and exhibit the highest efficiency in SOFCs. In this study – published in Chemical Physics Letters 380(3/4) 391–396, October 2003 – the conduction path and disorder of oxide ions were obtained through the maximum-entropy method combined with Rietveld analysis using neutron powder diffraction data. Contact: Dr Masatomo Yashima, Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Science & Engineering, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama-shi, Kanagawa, Japan. Fax: +81 45 924 5630, Email: [email protected]
Hydrogen pump is closer In the UK, engineers at the University of Southampton working with BOC Edwards, a leading vacuum pump manufacturer, have designed a new kind of hydrogen pump which could be used in fuel cell systems for a wide range of medium-scale applications. The pump was developed by Howard Stone, an engineering doctorate student in the university’s Low Temperature Engineering Group, and his supervisor Dr Neil Richardson of the School of Engineering Sciences. The work, sponsored by BOC Edwards, forms part of a wider investigation into enabling technologies for the hydrogen economy. Contact: Dr Neil Richardson, School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton, UK. Tel: +44 23 8059 2662, Email: [email protected], www.ses.soton.ac.uk Or contact: BOC Edwards, Crawley, West Sussex, UK. Tel: +44 1293 528844, www.bocedwards.com
Fuel cell investment yields jobs, says study Increasing the level of investment in fuel cells could yield nearly 200 000 new jobs in the next 20 years, according to a new study from the Breakthrough Technologies Institute in Washington, DC. The study also concludes that, with the post-2001 decline in risk capital investment in fuel cells and hydrogen, it is crucial for government to increase its support in partnership with industry. The study, ‘Fuel cells at the crossroads: Attitudes regarding the investment climate for the US fuel cell industry and a projection of industry job creation potential,’ estimates that total employment in the US fuel cell industry in 2002 was 4500–5500, and could climb to as many as 189 000 by 2021 in direct and indirect job growth as demand grows. 4
Fuel Cells Bulletin
The study examines fuel cell industry and financial community views on the current investment climate for the transportation, stationary power generation and portable sectors of the fuel cell industry. It also considers the investment history of the fuel cell industry in the US. The study is available free at: www.fuelcells.org
First fuel cell operating on coalmine methane The world’s first fuel cell power plant to operate on coalmine methane gas has been dedicated at AEP Ohio Coal’s Rose Valley Site in Hopedale, Ohio. The project will demonstrate the feasibility and advantages of recovering methane – a coal mining hazard, and a strong agent of climate change – and turning it into a useful energy resource, using a 200 kWe Direct FuelCell® power plant manufactured by Connecticut-based FuelCell Energy. The site, about 60 miles (100 km) west of Pittsburgh, is operated by Northwest Fuel Development. The power plant uses approximately 55 000–80 000 cubic feet (1560–2270 m3) per day of coalmine methane gas containing 42–47% methane. American Electric Power (AEP) is purchasing the electricity generated at the site under a power purchase agreement with Northwest Fuel Development. The total cost of the three-year project, cofunded and managed by DOE’s National Energy Technology Laboratory, is approximately $7m, shared equally between DOE and FCE. Contact: FuelCell Energy Inc, Danbury, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 203 825 6000, www.fce.com
Axane fuel cell prototype French-based Axane has launched its first commercial PEM fuel cell system. The Roller Pac™ is a portable 2 kWe, 110 Vac electric power generator using a hydrogen fuel cell, and is the first example of an application of the modular Evopac™ fuel cell system integrated in a portable power generator. The fuel cell technology developed by Axane is coupled with hydrogen technology from parent company Air Liquide, to give an integrated clean energy solution. The modular energy generator offers wide versatility for applications ranging from portable generators to small stationary and/or transport applications, with a power range of 500 We to 10 kWe. Contact: Axane Fuel Cell Systems, Sassenage, France. Tel: +33 4 7643 6047, www.axane.fr
Outstanding long-term results for GTI membrane Researchers at the Gas Technology Institute in Illinois have verified excellent long-term performance and stability of advanced protonexchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell components it is developing for a wide variety of applications. GTI recently unveiled a new membrane for PEM fuel cells, which offers substantially improved direct methanol fuel cell system performance [FCB, November]. Using state-of-the-art materials components and techniques, GTI assembled a large-area (360 cm2), five-cell PEM fuel cell stack incorporating high-purity molded graphite plates (developed by GTI with DOE support), W.L. Gore’s Primea® Series 5621 MEA, a new gasket sealing method, and several design and assembly techniques developed by GTI. ‘Our researchers used simulated hydrogen reformate gases blended to contain 80% H2, 20% CO2 and trace amounts (below 10 ppm) of CO,’ says Bill Liss, GTI’s director of advanced energy systems. ‘This fuel blend is consistent with the hydrocarbon fuel processing system designed by GTI that achieves high hydrogen content with extremely low CO levels.’ During nearly 5000 h of continuous testing, the MEAs in this multi-cell stack exhibited extraordinarily low cell voltage decay of 5 mV per thousand hours. The advanced molded graphite plates continue to exhibit excellent performance and stability. It is believed that this is among the lowest reported PEM cell decay rate in a stack using a synthetic reformate gas. Notably, this testing did not use complicated anode air bleed techniques, a step used by some to sidestep CO contamination problems. Contact: Gas Technology Institute, Des Plaines, Illinois, USA. Tel: +1 847 768 0500, www.gastechnology.org
First yacht with certified fuel cell propulsion German-based MTU Friedrichshafen has unveiled the first yacht with a fuel cell propulsion system certified by safety auditor Germanischer Lloyd, which confirms that both the propulsion system and the yacht itself comply with very stringent international safety regulations. The system has also received CE certification. The fuel cell propulsion system is used to propel the 12 m-long yacht in calm waters and maneuver the craft in harbor. The propulsion system comprises four 1.2 kWe PEM fuel cell
December 2003