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Ballard, Simon Fraser win Canadian funding for bus fuel cell R&D
NEWS / EDITORIAL To accommodate its growing fuel cell bus fleet, CTTransit is building a new garage to store up to six fuel cell buses, and is installing a hydrogen fueling station at its headquarters. UTC Power, South Windsor, Connecticut, USA. Tel: +1 860 727 2200, www.utcpower.com AC Transit, fuel cell bus program: www.actransit.org/environment/the-hyroad CTTransit, hydrogen fuel cell bus program: http://fuelcell.cttransit.com
Ballard, Simon Fraser win Canadian funding for bus fuel cell R&D
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C-based Ballard Power Systems has launched a major research and commercialization project that aims to make fuel cell-powered buses competitive with diesel hybrids by 2015. Ballard will collaborate with researchers at Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria, with project funding through the Automotive Partnership Canada. The project is targeting a breakthrough in driving down the cost of fuel cells for bus propulsion, and improving their durability and reliability. Ballard’s PEM fuel cell modules have already seen significant cost reductions in recent years. This has contributed to a reduction in the capital cost of each fuel cell bus – from C$3 million (US$2.9 million) in 2000 to about half that today – in limited production volumes. The new collaboration with SFU and UVic – which will be Ballard’s largest R&D program – will contribute to the development of a nextgeneration fuel cell module that would help reduce the price of each transit bus to between C$750 000 and C$1 million. This will make them cost-competitive with diesel hybrid buses on a lifecycle-cost basis, says Jeff Grant, a business development manager at Ballard. ‘This project is about getting our seventhgeneration product to commercial readiness and full production within four years,’ says Grant. ‘It will drive down our costs and help us to win competitive solicitations internationally.’ Ballard’s current FCvelocity®-HD6 (sixthgeneration heavy-duty) bus module is offered with a warranty of five years or 12 000 hours. The company aims to extend the module’s longevity to at least 20 000 hours, comparable to the life of a diesel engine. ‘Initial development on the HD7 was done at Ballard, but it lacks the in-house capacity for the applied research required to further extend the
September 2011
lifetime of the product while reducing costs,’ says Shanna Knights, Ballard’s project manager. ‘In order to improve the durability of the fuel cell module and be able to predict its longevity, first we need to understand the degradation mechanisms that take place when it’s in operation under real-world transit bus conditions,’ she explains. ‘SFU and UVic have the bandwidth, the equipment and people to help us develop those technical models, so we can understand what’s happening at a fundamental level.’ The main issue – which Ballard has been working on for more than 15 years – is the durability of the proton-exchange membrane. The new project will use SFU’s advanced materials lab in Burnaby and its mechatronics lab in Surrey, as well as expertise at the University of Victoria, to conduct sophisticated modeling, analysis and testing to improve membrane stability, and the ability to accurately predict the product’s lifetime over several years of service. ‘We’re not just refining a current product through this research, we’re changing the fundamentals and proving them,’ says Erik Kjeang, an assistant professor with SFU’s Mechatronics Systems Engineering program, and the academic lead on the project. Kjeang will be recruiting eight postdoctoral fellows from across Canada and internationally to work with undergraduate and graduate students, both on campus and at Ballard’s research facility in Burnaby. Automotive Partnership Canada is providing more than C$4 million to the C$11.9 million (US$11.5 million) project, with Ballard contributing the balance in personnel, equipment, and other resources. Contact: Shanna Knights, Ballard Power Systems Inc, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 454 0900, Email: [email protected], Web: www.ballard.com Or contact: Dr Erik Kjeang, Mechatronics Systems Engineering, Simon Fraser University, Surrey, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 778 782 8791, Email: [email protected], Web: http://mse.ensc.sfu.ca Automotive Partnership Canada: www.apc-pac.ca
MOBILE APPLICATIONS
Crown builds its 500th fuel cell powered forklift
O
hio-based forklift manufacturer Crown Equipment Corporation has announced that it has built its 500th new forklift to be operated with fuel
EDITORIAL
U
nmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or systems (UAS) are seeing extensive use in both military and civil applications around the world. In particular, the US military is using them in Afghanistan for reconnaissance and to provide offensive weapons in remote locations; Israel is another major developer and user in a wide range of applications. The rapidly expanding diversity of civilian applications includes police surveillance, border patrol, inspection of remote power lines and pipelines, traffic surveillance, emergency and disaster monitoring, search and rescue, agricultural applications, and aerial photography. In this issue we carry two news items where fuel cell power is being used to extend UAV flight times. In the US, Lockheed Martin has unveiled the ruggedized Stalker eXtreme Endurance aircraft, which is powered by a propane-fueled solid oxide fuel cell – developed by Ultra Electronics AMI – in combination with a small, conventional lithium polymer battery to handle power peaks [see page 4]. This hybrid power system quadruples flight endurance to more than eight hours, apparently without any impact on aircraft mobility or payload flexibility. Over the border in Canada, EnergyOr Technologies has demonstrated a long-endurance flight with its PEM fuel cell powered UAVs [also page 4]. The FAUCON H2 aircraft executed a predetermined flight plan for 10 hours and 4 minutes, before landing autonomously just as dusk was falling. EnergyOr says that the FAUCON H2 is one of the first UAV platforms to be designed specifically around the fuel cell. This allows the entire flight system – with integrated avionics – to be optimized, which gives very high efficiencies at the system level for both the UAV airframe and the fuel cell system. There has been a steady stream of news items on fuel cell powered UAVs in the past year, reflecting the rapid and ongoing progress since we published our feature article on fuel cell powered UAVs [FCB, December 2007]. A key fuel cell supplier has been Singaporebased hydrogen PEM fuel cell developer Horizon Energy Systems, which has worked with Israeli companies Elbit Systems [FCB, January 2011] and Israel Aerospace Industries [FCB, September 2010], and with research groups in South Korea and Russia [FCB, December 2010]. This stems from the company beginning commercial sales of its new Aeropak™ hydrogen fuel cell power system for UAVs last summer [FCB, August 2010]. And we shouldn’t forget that last fall a Jadoo Power Systems fuel cell powered a Mako UAV in a test program run by the US Office of Naval Research [FCB, November 2010]. Steve Barrett
Fuel Cells Bulletin
3
Ballard, Simon Fraser win Canadian funding for bus fuel cell R&D
B
C-based Ballard Power Systems has launched a major research and commercialization project that aims to make fuel cell-powered buses competitive with diesel hybrids by 2015. Ballard will collaborate with researchers at Simon Fraser University and the University of Victoria, with project funding through the Automotive Partnership Canada. The project is targeting a breakthrough in driving down the cost of fuel cells for bus propulsion, and improving their durability and reliability. Ballard’s PEM fuel cell modules have already seen significant cost reductions in recent years. This has contributed to a reduction in the capital cost of each fuel cell bus – from C$3 million (US$2.9 million) in 2000 to about half that today – in limited production volumes. The new collaboration with SFU and UVic – which will be Ballard’s largest R&D program – will contribute to the development of a nextgeneration fuel cell module that would help reduce the price of each transit bus to between C$750 000 and C$1 million. This will make them cost-competitive with diesel hybrid buses on a lifecycle-cost basis, says Jeff Grant, a business development manager at Ballard. ‘This project is about getting our seventhgeneration product to commercial readiness and full production within four years,’ says Grant. ‘It will drive down our costs and help us to win competitive solicitations internationally.’ Ballard’s current FCvelocity®-HD6 (sixthgeneration heavy-duty) bus module is offered with a warranty of five years or 12 000 hours. The company aims to extend the module’s longevity to at least 20 000 hours, comparable to the life of a diesel engine. ‘Initial development on the HD7 was done at Ballard, but it lacks the in-house capacity for the applied research required to further extend the
September 2011
lifetime of the product while reducing costs,’ says Shanna Knights, Ballard’s project manager. ‘In order to improve the durability of the fuel cell module and be able to predict its longevity, first we need to understand the degradation mechanisms that take place when it’s in operation under real-world transit bus conditions,’ she explains. ‘SFU and UVic have the bandwidth, the equipment and people to help us develop those technical models, so we can understand what’s happening at a fundamental level.’ The main issue – which Ballard has been working on for more than 15 years – is the durability of the proton-exchange membrane. The new project will use SFU’s advanced materials lab in Burnaby and its mechatronics lab in Surrey, as well as expertise at the University of Victoria, to conduct sophisticated modeling, analysis and testing to improve membrane stability, and the ability to accurately predict the product’s lifetime over several years of service. ‘We’re not just refining a current product through this research, we’re changing the fundamentals and proving them,’ says Erik Kjeang, an assistant professor with SFU’s Mechatronics Systems Engineering program, and the academic lead on the project. Kjeang will be recruiting eight postdoctoral fellows from across Canada and internationally to work with undergraduate and graduate students, both on campus and at Ballard’s research facility in Burnaby. Automotive Partnership Canada is providing more than C$4 million to the C$11.9 million (US$11.5 million) project, with Ballard contributing the balance in personnel, equipment, and other resources. Contact: Shanna Knights, Ballard Power Systems Inc, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 454 0900, Email: [email protected], Web: www.ballard.com Or contact: Dr Erik Kjeang, Mechatronics Systems Engineering, Simon Fraser University, Surrey, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 778 782 8791, Email: [email protected], Web: http://mse.ensc.sfu.ca Automotive Partnership Canada: www.apc-pac.ca
MOBILE APPLICATIONS
Crown builds its 500th fuel cell powered forklift
O
hio-based forklift manufacturer Crown Equipment Corporation has announced that it has built its 500th new forklift to be operated with fuel
EDITORIAL
U
nmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) or systems (UAS) are seeing extensive use in both military and civil applications around the world. In particular, the US military is using them in Afghanistan for reconnaissance and to provide offensive weapons in remote locations; Israel is another major developer and user in a wide range of applications. The rapidly expanding diversity of civilian applications includes police surveillance, border patrol, inspection of remote power lines and pipelines, traffic surveillance, emergency and disaster monitoring, search and rescue, agricultural applications, and aerial photography. In this issue we carry two news items where fuel cell power is being used to extend UAV flight times. In the US, Lockheed Martin has unveiled the ruggedized Stalker eXtreme Endurance aircraft, which is powered by a propane-fueled solid oxide fuel cell – developed by Ultra Electronics AMI – in combination with a small, conventional lithium polymer battery to handle power peaks [see page 4]. This hybrid power system quadruples flight endurance to more than eight hours, apparently without any impact on aircraft mobility or payload flexibility. Over the border in Canada, EnergyOr Technologies has demonstrated a long-endurance flight with its PEM fuel cell powered UAVs [also page 4]. The FAUCON H2 aircraft executed a predetermined flight plan for 10 hours and 4 minutes, before landing autonomously just as dusk was falling. EnergyOr says that the FAUCON H2 is one of the first UAV platforms to be designed specifically around the fuel cell. This allows the entire flight system – with integrated avionics – to be optimized, which gives very high efficiencies at the system level for both the UAV airframe and the fuel cell system. There has been a steady stream of news items on fuel cell powered UAVs in the past year, reflecting the rapid and ongoing progress since we published our feature article on fuel cell powered UAVs [FCB, December 2007]. A key fuel cell supplier has been Singaporebased hydrogen PEM fuel cell developer Horizon Energy Systems, which has worked with Israeli companies Elbit Systems [FCB, January 2011] and Israel Aerospace Industries [FCB, September 2010], and with research groups in South Korea and Russia [FCB, December 2010]. This stems from the company beginning commercial sales of its new Aeropak™ hydrogen fuel cell power system for UAVs last summer [FCB, August 2010]. And we shouldn’t forget that last fall a Jadoo Power Systems fuel cell powered a Mako UAV in a test program run by the US Office of Naval Research [FCB, November 2010]. Steve Barrett
Fuel Cells Bulletin
3