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PolyFuel membrane sets new performance record
ISSN 0958-2118 January 2007 www.filtsep.com
PolyFuel membrane sets new performance record Mountain View, California-based PolyFuel claims that its recently introduced, ultra-thin membrane delivers over 40% more power than any fuel cell membrane previously available. When used in direct methanol fuel cells, which are being developed to supply power for portable electronic devices, such as notebook computers and mobile phones, the 20 μm hydrocarbon membrane, produces an unprecedented 200 mW of peak power per square centimetre of material at 70°C, says the company. This allows for a significant reduction in the size, weight and cost of the stack component, a key part of a fuel cell system. The membrane also allows more than twice the amount of water to diffuse through it structure than previous materials, which can simplify the design of the fuel cell. During operation, water in the fuel–water solution is consumed on one side of the membrane (the anode), only to reappear on the opposite side (the cathode) as a by-product. The company’s membrane allows the water to diffuse back from the cathode to the anode, where it can once again participate in the reaction. This ‘molecular-level recycling’ can eliminate the
need for pumps, which are especially problematic in products intended for smaller applications such as mobile phones or personal digital assistants or PDAs. Engineers at electronics company Samsung indicated that the membrane is a breakthrough from their perspective. They recently conducted a rigorous series of tests on every fuel cell membrane that they could find. They claim that PolyFuel’s 20 μm material outperformed all of the others in terms of its combination of power and efficiency. Samsung is one of many consumer electronics companies that is trying to find alternatives to extend the run-time for portable electronic devices, which, with the rapid rise in consumerdemanded features, such as video, are becoming increasingly power hungry – beyond the capabilities of even the best batteries that are available today. Contact: PolyFuel Inc, 1245 Terra Bella Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Tel: +1 650 429 4700, www.polyfuel.com
Cooling-water recovery technology developed In the US, Nalco Company has teamed up with Argonne National Laboratory on a joint research partnership to develop technology that aims to reduce, reuse and recover powerplant cooling water. The research is part of the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s ‘Innovations for Existing Plants’ programme. The programme’s goal is to reduce power plant freshwater withdrawals and consumption by 19– 38 million m3 (5–10 billion gallons) of water per day through the development and application of technologies for continued electricity generation with minimal impact on the environment. Contacts: Nalco Company, 1601 West Diehl Road, Naperville, IL 60563, USA. Tel: +1 630 305 1000, www.nalco.com Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA. Tel: +1 630 252 2000, www.anl.gov
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GE, Texas Tech develop renewable, powered water purification In the US, GE Global Research, the centralized research organization of General Electric, is partnering with Texas Tech University to develop affordable water desalination systems to increase the quantity and quality of clean water available in arid areas around the US and worldwide. The partnership will focus on the integration of renewable energy systems, such as wind turbines, with membrane desalination processes. This approach has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of creating new sources of fresh water from impaired resources, such as brackish water, by directly addressing the major component of the operating cost of desalination systems – energy.
Dr Minesh Shah, Project Leader, GE Global Research said: ‘Up to 50% of the operating costs of desalination is derived from energy consumption. With the potential for large variability in energy costs because of fuel price volatility, desalination systems can have significant operational costs. The integration of wind energy provides an opportunity to mitigate this variability and allow for a lower cost desalination system.’ Contacts: GE Global Research, 1 Research Circle, Niskayuna, NY 12309, USA. Tel: +1 518 387 7914, www.ge.com/ research Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. Tel: +1 806 742 2011, www.ttu.edu
ISSN 0958-2118/07 © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved This journal and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use: Photocopying Single photocopies of single articles may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the publisher and payment of a fee is required for all other photocopying, including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms of document delivery. Special rates are available for educational institutions that wish to make photocopies for non-profit educational classroom use.
News In Brief Features: Yale constructs forward osmosis desalination pilot plant Membrane filtration technologies tackle water reuse and purification
1–6 3, 5, 6
7–8
9–11
Research Trends
11–13
Patents
13–16
Events Calendar
15
PolyFuel membrane sets new performance record Mountain View, California-based PolyFuel claims that its recently introduced, ultra-thin membrane delivers over 40% more power than any fuel cell membrane previously available. When used in direct methanol fuel cells, which are being developed to supply power for portable electronic devices, such as notebook computers and mobile phones, the 20 μm hydrocarbon membrane, produces an unprecedented 200 mW of peak power per square centimetre of material at 70°C, says the company. This allows for a significant reduction in the size, weight and cost of the stack component, a key part of a fuel cell system. The membrane also allows more than twice the amount of water to diffuse through it structure than previous materials, which can simplify the design of the fuel cell. During operation, water in the fuel–water solution is consumed on one side of the membrane (the anode), only to reappear on the opposite side (the cathode) as a by-product. The company’s membrane allows the water to diffuse back from the cathode to the anode, where it can once again participate in the reaction. This ‘molecular-level recycling’ can eliminate the
need for pumps, which are especially problematic in products intended for smaller applications such as mobile phones or personal digital assistants or PDAs. Engineers at electronics company Samsung indicated that the membrane is a breakthrough from their perspective. They recently conducted a rigorous series of tests on every fuel cell membrane that they could find. They claim that PolyFuel’s 20 μm material outperformed all of the others in terms of its combination of power and efficiency. Samsung is one of many consumer electronics companies that is trying to find alternatives to extend the run-time for portable electronic devices, which, with the rapid rise in consumerdemanded features, such as video, are becoming increasingly power hungry – beyond the capabilities of even the best batteries that are available today. Contact: PolyFuel Inc, 1245 Terra Bella Avenue, Mountain View, CA 94043, USA. Tel: +1 650 429 4700, www.polyfuel.com
Cooling-water recovery technology developed In the US, Nalco Company has teamed up with Argonne National Laboratory on a joint research partnership to develop technology that aims to reduce, reuse and recover powerplant cooling water. The research is part of the National Energy Technology Laboratory’s ‘Innovations for Existing Plants’ programme. The programme’s goal is to reduce power plant freshwater withdrawals and consumption by 19– 38 million m3 (5–10 billion gallons) of water per day through the development and application of technologies for continued electricity generation with minimal impact on the environment. Contacts: Nalco Company, 1601 West Diehl Road, Naperville, IL 60563, USA. Tel: +1 630 305 1000, www.nalco.com Argonne National Laboratory, 9700 S. Cass Avenue, Argonne, IL 60439, USA. Tel: +1 630 252 2000, www.anl.gov
Contents
GE, Texas Tech develop renewable, powered water purification In the US, GE Global Research, the centralized research organization of General Electric, is partnering with Texas Tech University to develop affordable water desalination systems to increase the quantity and quality of clean water available in arid areas around the US and worldwide. The partnership will focus on the integration of renewable energy systems, such as wind turbines, with membrane desalination processes. This approach has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of creating new sources of fresh water from impaired resources, such as brackish water, by directly addressing the major component of the operating cost of desalination systems – energy.
Dr Minesh Shah, Project Leader, GE Global Research said: ‘Up to 50% of the operating costs of desalination is derived from energy consumption. With the potential for large variability in energy costs because of fuel price volatility, desalination systems can have significant operational costs. The integration of wind energy provides an opportunity to mitigate this variability and allow for a lower cost desalination system.’ Contacts: GE Global Research, 1 Research Circle, Niskayuna, NY 12309, USA. Tel: +1 518 387 7914, www.ge.com/ research Texas Tech University, 2500 Broadway, Lubbock, TX 79409, USA. Tel: +1 806 742 2011, www.ttu.edu
ISSN 0958-2118/07 © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved This journal and the individual contributions contained in it are protected under copyright by Elsevier Ltd, and the following terms and conditions apply to their use: Photocopying Single photocopies of single articles may be made for personal use as allowed by national copyright laws. Permission of the publisher and payment of a fee is required for all other photocopying, including multiple or systematic copying, copying for advertising or promotional purposes, resale, and all forms of document delivery. Special rates are available for educational institutions that wish to make photocopies for non-profit educational classroom use.
News In Brief Features: Yale constructs forward osmosis desalination pilot plant Membrane filtration technologies tackle water reuse and purification
1–6 3, 5, 6
7–8
9–11
Research Trends
11–13
Patents
13–16
Events Calendar
15