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AFC fuel cell project with INEOS ChlorVinyls
NEWS ‘We are broadening our existing product portfolio, consisting of fuel cells mainly intended for civilian use, with niche systems for military applications, and are strengthening our position as a supplier of fuel cells,’ comments Martin Valfridsson, president/CEO of Morphic Technologies. ‘[The] initial order from the Polish Navy means that we now have a customer order for environmentally friendly electricity generation for land, underwater, and airborne applications.’ Contact: Morphic Exergy Fuel Cells, Cadriano di Granarolo, Bologna, Italy. Tel: +39 051 675 1129, www.exergyfuelcells.com Or contact: Morphic Technologies AB, Karlskoga, Sweden. Tel: +46 586 67390, www.morphic.se
SMALL STATIONARY
AFC fuel cell project with INEOS ChlorVinyls
A
lkaline fuel cell developer AFC Energy has signed a letter of intent with European chemicals company INEOS ChlorVinyls, to develop a hydrogen fuel cell project at its Runcorn Site manufacturing complex in Cheshire, UK. The Runcorn project is being commissioned as part of INEOS ChlorVinyls’ ongoing strategy to widen its energy portfolio, and to seek out alternative energy generation methods to offset energy generated from conventional fossil fuels. AFC Energy and INEOS ChlorVinyls will work together to develop a solution that will deliver energy from surplus hydrogen arising from the chlorine manufacturing process. AFC has already successfully demonstrated electricity generation utilizing industrially produced hydrogen, at AkzoNobel’s chlor-alkali facility in Bitterfeld, Germany [FCB, August 2009]. The aim is for AFC Energy to deliver a 50 kW alkaline fuel cell system to INEOS, using AFC’s proprietary low-cost electrodes, which are currently being developed.
Contact: AFC Energy Plc, Cranleigh, Surrey, UK. Tel: +44 1483 276726, www.afcenergy.com
LARGE STATIONARY
MTU fuel cell for German brewery, third order for hospital
I
n Germany, MTU Onsite Energy Fuel Cell Systems has commissioned a cogeneration molten carbonate fuel cell system at the Erdinger Weißbräu
October 2009
brewery. The HotModule distributed energy system generates electric power and heat from biogas, with the thermal energy used to heat the buildings, and heat water for the brewing process. And MTU has received another contract – worth nearly E2 million – from Giessen-Marburg University Hospital, under which its fuel cell will supply the hospital with energy from next year. Brewing is an energy-intensive business. Erdinger uses vast quantities of water at various temperatures for the brewing process, and to clean the brewing equipment. Before being flushed into the public sewage system, the waste water is pre-conditioned via an in-house anaerobic pre-sewage treatment system. A byproduct of this process is biogas containing 85% methane, making it an excellent energy source for the fuel cell. A gas cleaning system also developed by MTU Onsite Energy Fuel Cell Systems removes possible sulfur residues from the biogas, which would otherwise be detrimental to the fuel cell stack. At a temperature of approximately 650°C, the biogas is then converted into hydrogen. Almost 50% of the biogas energy content is converted into electric power, and more than 40% into heat (at about 400°C). Taken together, the result is an exceptionally streamlined overall efficiency of over 90%. The electric power output of the HotModule HM300B system at the brewery is about 240 kW, while the thermal output is more than 200 kW. The brewery’s heat requirement levels, which are continuously high throughout the year, make the HotModule the perfect system solution for this type of application. High-temperature fuel cell modules are also ideal for hospitals, because they have a constant need for thermal energy throughout the year. The HotModule fuel cell is always operated in continuous duty mode, and is therefore extremely energy-efficient. The HotModule HM400N natural gas fueled fuel cell at Giessen-Marburg University Hospital – with an electric output of 345 kW and a thermal output of 230 kW – is the most powerful such plant so far supplied by MTU Onsite Energy, a business unit of Tognum AG. The hospital can use the thermal energy, recovered at around 400°C, for heating and/or cooling, which is achieved using an absorption chiller. Combined operation is also possible; while the clinic uses the thermal energy for heating, the cooling function can be employed for air-conditioning, for example. Any surplus thermal energy can be diverted into the relevant grid operated by the Giessen municipal utility company.
The plant in Giessen-Marburg represents the third fuel cell installed by Rhön-Klinikum for one of its hospitals. The company previously ran a plant as a pilot project at its medical facility in Bad Neustadt from 2001 to 2004, and its second HotModule has been in operation in Bad Berka since 2003. Contact: MTU Onsite Energy, Fuel Cell Systems, Ottobrunn, Germany. Tel: +49 89 607 31534, www.mtu-online.com/mtuonsiteenergy
FUELING
H-Prize offers $1m for improved hydrogen storage materials
T
he US Department of Energy has launched the ‘H-Prize’ competition, offering a $1 million award to an individual or team that creates the most advanced materials for hydrogen storage in vehicles. The H-Prize is open to US companies, citizens and legal residents, with certain restrictions. The US Congress authorized the H-Prize in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, as a competition that awards large cash prizes in three categories. In all, the Act could provide up to $4m per year and a single $10m cash prize in public funding over a 10-year period for the most significant innovations in hydrogen storage, production, utilization and distribution. To augment prize funds, private donors are encouraged to contribute. The H-Prize is managed by DOE’s Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program. DOE selected the National Hydrogen Association’s Hydrogen Education Foundation, DC-based Technology Transition Corporation, and the South Carolina-based applied research company SCRA to assist in administering the initial, pilot prize competition. Future prizes will address other technical barriers to fuel cell vehicles, including hydrogen production and distribution. To qualify for the prize, a hydrogen storage material must store more than 70 g per liter of volume, must be able to store more than 7.5% of its weight in hydrogen, must release hydrogen at a rate of 0.00002 g of hydrogen per gram of material, must store hydrogen at a rate of 0.0004 g of hydrogen per second per gram of material, and must be also to cycle between less than 5% capacity to greater than 95% of capacity at least 100 times, after which it must still be able to store more than 7.1% of its weight in hydrogen.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7
SMALL STATIONARY
AFC fuel cell project with INEOS ChlorVinyls
A
lkaline fuel cell developer AFC Energy has signed a letter of intent with European chemicals company INEOS ChlorVinyls, to develop a hydrogen fuel cell project at its Runcorn Site manufacturing complex in Cheshire, UK. The Runcorn project is being commissioned as part of INEOS ChlorVinyls’ ongoing strategy to widen its energy portfolio, and to seek out alternative energy generation methods to offset energy generated from conventional fossil fuels. AFC Energy and INEOS ChlorVinyls will work together to develop a solution that will deliver energy from surplus hydrogen arising from the chlorine manufacturing process. AFC has already successfully demonstrated electricity generation utilizing industrially produced hydrogen, at AkzoNobel’s chlor-alkali facility in Bitterfeld, Germany [FCB, August 2009]. The aim is for AFC Energy to deliver a 50 kW alkaline fuel cell system to INEOS, using AFC’s proprietary low-cost electrodes, which are currently being developed.
Contact: AFC Energy Plc, Cranleigh, Surrey, UK. Tel: +44 1483 276726, www.afcenergy.com
LARGE STATIONARY
MTU fuel cell for German brewery, third order for hospital
I
n Germany, MTU Onsite Energy Fuel Cell Systems has commissioned a cogeneration molten carbonate fuel cell system at the Erdinger Weißbräu
October 2009
brewery. The HotModule distributed energy system generates electric power and heat from biogas, with the thermal energy used to heat the buildings, and heat water for the brewing process. And MTU has received another contract – worth nearly E2 million – from Giessen-Marburg University Hospital, under which its fuel cell will supply the hospital with energy from next year. Brewing is an energy-intensive business. Erdinger uses vast quantities of water at various temperatures for the brewing process, and to clean the brewing equipment. Before being flushed into the public sewage system, the waste water is pre-conditioned via an in-house anaerobic pre-sewage treatment system. A byproduct of this process is biogas containing 85% methane, making it an excellent energy source for the fuel cell. A gas cleaning system also developed by MTU Onsite Energy Fuel Cell Systems removes possible sulfur residues from the biogas, which would otherwise be detrimental to the fuel cell stack. At a temperature of approximately 650°C, the biogas is then converted into hydrogen. Almost 50% of the biogas energy content is converted into electric power, and more than 40% into heat (at about 400°C). Taken together, the result is an exceptionally streamlined overall efficiency of over 90%. The electric power output of the HotModule HM300B system at the brewery is about 240 kW, while the thermal output is more than 200 kW. The brewery’s heat requirement levels, which are continuously high throughout the year, make the HotModule the perfect system solution for this type of application. High-temperature fuel cell modules are also ideal for hospitals, because they have a constant need for thermal energy throughout the year. The HotModule fuel cell is always operated in continuous duty mode, and is therefore extremely energy-efficient. The HotModule HM400N natural gas fueled fuel cell at Giessen-Marburg University Hospital – with an electric output of 345 kW and a thermal output of 230 kW – is the most powerful such plant so far supplied by MTU Onsite Energy, a business unit of Tognum AG. The hospital can use the thermal energy, recovered at around 400°C, for heating and/or cooling, which is achieved using an absorption chiller. Combined operation is also possible; while the clinic uses the thermal energy for heating, the cooling function can be employed for air-conditioning, for example. Any surplus thermal energy can be diverted into the relevant grid operated by the Giessen municipal utility company.
The plant in Giessen-Marburg represents the third fuel cell installed by Rhön-Klinikum for one of its hospitals. The company previously ran a plant as a pilot project at its medical facility in Bad Neustadt from 2001 to 2004, and its second HotModule has been in operation in Bad Berka since 2003. Contact: MTU Onsite Energy, Fuel Cell Systems, Ottobrunn, Germany. Tel: +49 89 607 31534, www.mtu-online.com/mtuonsiteenergy
FUELING
H-Prize offers $1m for improved hydrogen storage materials
T
he US Department of Energy has launched the ‘H-Prize’ competition, offering a $1 million award to an individual or team that creates the most advanced materials for hydrogen storage in vehicles. The H-Prize is open to US companies, citizens and legal residents, with certain restrictions. The US Congress authorized the H-Prize in the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, as a competition that awards large cash prizes in three categories. In all, the Act could provide up to $4m per year and a single $10m cash prize in public funding over a 10-year period for the most significant innovations in hydrogen storage, production, utilization and distribution. To augment prize funds, private donors are encouraged to contribute. The H-Prize is managed by DOE’s Hydrogen, Fuel Cells & Infrastructure Technologies Program. DOE selected the National Hydrogen Association’s Hydrogen Education Foundation, DC-based Technology Transition Corporation, and the South Carolina-based applied research company SCRA to assist in administering the initial, pilot prize competition. Future prizes will address other technical barriers to fuel cell vehicles, including hydrogen production and distribution. To qualify for the prize, a hydrogen storage material must store more than 70 g per liter of volume, must be able to store more than 7.5% of its weight in hydrogen, must release hydrogen at a rate of 0.00002 g of hydrogen per gram of material, must store hydrogen at a rate of 0.0004 g of hydrogen per second per gram of material, and must be also to cycle between less than 5% capacity to greater than 95% of capacity at least 100 times, after which it must still be able to store more than 7.1% of its weight in hydrogen.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
7