- Email: [email protected]
Ceres contract is step towards mass production
NEWS triple the range compared to the existing battery powertrain, improving performance and profitability for transit authorities without a corresponding increase in pollutants. Hydrogenics is now marketing the fuel cell Midi Bus – the only certified ‘reduced scale’ fuel cell bus on the market today – to transit authorities in Germany and other European countries. Contact: Hydrogenics Corporation, Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. Tel: +1 905 361 3660, www.hydrogenics.com Or contact: TÜV Rheinland Group, Köln, Germany. Tel: +49 221 806 2148, www.tuv.com
EnBW, efc ready for residential fuel cell trial
I
n Germany, european fuel cell gmbh (efc) is preparing for the start of the country’s first field test of its beta prototype 1.5 kWe fuel cell heating unit, by providing a specialist training program for service technicians with energy utility EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg. Field-testing of efc’s PEM residential fuel cell heating unit (FCHU) ‘in an authentic environment’ is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2006, and will be carried out by EnBW in Schiltach [FCB, September]. The training at efc’s Hamburg premises is designed to equip the EnBW service technicians with specialist knowledge of fuel cell heating technology, and confidence in how to handle it. It follows a 20-point program, tailored to the requirements of the individual participants, comprising theoretical instruction in the fundamentals of fuel cell technology as well as direct, hands-on training with the apparatus itself. The EnBW service technicians will in turn be passing on their knowledge to their trade partners onsite. Guido Gummert, managing director of efc, emphasizes that the training of future service technicians is an important component ‘to ensure that the fuel cell heating unit operates correctly, and is further developed during its field test phase.’ A subsidiary of the UK-based Baxi Group, efc has been concentrating for eight years on the development of fuel cell cogen units for European single-family houses. The company successfully concluded long-term laboratory tests on the complete prototype unit in 2005 in preparation for the field-testing. Contact: european fuel cell gmbh, Hamburg, Germany. Tel: +49 40 2366 7600, www.europeanfuelcell.de Or contact: Baxi Group Ltd, Derby, UK. Tel: +44 1332 524800, www.baxi.com
February 2006
Tekion links with coupling maker for mini power pack
M
innesota-based Colder Products Company has developed a miniaturized coupling for the innovative Formira Power Pack™ micro fuel cell/ battery hybrid being commercialized by Tekion, a small company with operations in British Columbia and Illinois. The Formira Power Pack allows users to power portable devices continuously without mains recharging, and is said to offer a charge that lasts at least twice as long as a standard battery. Tekion’s technology uses Formira™ – purified and modified formic acid – as a fuel, rather than methanol. The company, which recently received a strategic investment from Motorola Ventures [FCB, January], says that the high power capability and simple chemistry of its technology offer a power density significantly higher than that of a DMFC, leading to less complex products that can actually fit within portable devices. The Formira Fuel Cell performs at a lower operating temperature, uses lower-cost catalysts, and requires fewer balance-of-plant components. The new coupling connects the micro fuel cell’s liquid cartridge to the power pack. When the fuel is consumed, the user can insert a new fuel cartridge with the device still in operation. The easy-to-use Colder connection product enables the cartridge to be quickly snapped in and out of the device in one simple motion. ‘[Colder] produced a custom-designed coupling prototype that not only addresses our size requirements, but also provides operational and safety benefits,’ says Malcolm Man, director of programs and strategic planning at Tekion. Colder’s connections meet the required safety standards for the applications being pursued, with virtually leak-free liquid fuel systems. Contact: Tekion Inc, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 656 6616, www.tekion.com Or contact: Colder Products Company, St Paul, Minnesota, USA. Tel: 1 866 671 9165 tollfree, www.colder.com
Ceres contract is step towards mass production
U
K-based Ceres Power has won a new £500 000 (US$890 000) contract from The Carbon Trust to help accelerate its mass-manufacturing capability and enable the company to meet the
IN BRIEF Spanish engineers develop fuel cell bike Researchers in the Energy Department of the CIDETEC-IK4 Centre for Electrochemical Technologies in northern Spain have designed a prototype motorized bicycle powered by a PEM fuel cell, which assists the pedalling action via a small electric motor. The project, financed by the Gipuzkoa provincial government, uses a bicycle provided by the Orbea bicycle company. CIDETEC is working on its own standardized lab-scale fuel cell electrode preparation methodology, which it sees as essential for achieving custom-made electrodes for each particular application, as well as offering the ability to modify its structure to optimize its performance. Its researchers are making progress on micro fuel cells for portable electronics such as cell phones [FCB, July 2004], with the design, construction and demonstration of a 1–2 We passive micro fuel cell prototype as a technological demonstrator, as well as development of a transportable, self-contained 1 kWe PEM fuel cell generator for residential applications. NEC boosts carbon nanohorn output In Japan, NEC has developed a device that can produce 1 kg of high-purity carbon nanohorns a day, 100 times the capacity of existing equipment. To expand the output, the firm added a mechanism that uses a special gas to process carbon nanohorns continuously. The nanotechbased material has been found to significantly increase fuel cell power generation efficiency. The company will shortly begin providing free samples to major automakers and others to prompt them to find new applications. NEC has been looking for uses for carbon nanohorns since it discovered them in 1998, although so far only NEC and affiliated research institutes have been involved in the commercialization. Researchers have found that the material improves the power generation efficiency of a fuel cell by 20% when used as its electrode. In tests, NEC-made fuel cells with carbon nanohorn electrodes powered a notebook personal computer for at least 10 h, according to a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. Global database of hydrogen stations German-based L-B-Systemtechnik GmbH (LBST) has launched a freely accessible database with details of the more than 220 hydrogen refueling stations around the world. The information system comprises all hydrogen refueling stations, whether currently in operation, planned or decommissioned. Each hydrogen station is described in a profile sheet, which includes technical as well as organization information, such as the year of construction, financiers, operator and the system components used, as well as images of many of the stations. The online database is at: www.H2Stations.org
Fuel Cells Bulletin
9
NEWS rapid growth in demand expected from its target markets. Ceres is developing intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell technology, and is already running a test-bed production facility at its Crawley headquarters. Ceres is partnering with British Gas to incorporate its fuel cells in domestic boilers that produce both heat and power. A similar program is under way with BOC, to develop fuel cell products using bottled gas for applications where grid-connection is unfeasible or uneconomic. ‘This new contract will help move our volume manufacturing strategy forward so that we can meet predicted market demand to the highest quality and reliability standards at the lowest possible cost,’ says Peter Bance, CEO of Ceres. The company’s technology can operate on readily available fuels such as natural gas and propane, as well as hydrogen. The technology is not dependent on the widespread development of a hydrogen economy, but will work effectively when this comes about. The fuel cells can be manufactured inexpensively using low-cost materials and established mass-production techniques, and will help to reduce both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Contact: Ceres Power Ltd, Crawley, UK. Tel: +44 1293 400404, www.cerespower.com
Imax produces portable fuel cells for US Army
O
hio-based Imax Industries is producing a batch of 120 portable fuel cells for the US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, according to a report in The News-Herald. The $750 000 contract is for small power sources for ‘fuzes’ in artillery rounds, which determine when a fired round detonates. The small, cylindrical fuel cells currently in production are prototypes, but the Army is looking for a supplier to mass-produce a larger version that would be used to make steerable artillery shells, according to David Pristash, president of Pemery Corporation, the company formed to fill the Army order. Pemery has applied for a Third Frontier grant from the Ohio Department of Development, that could help the company deliver the fuel cells to the military for testing this year. If the company were to land the contract for the larger fuel cells – producing 12 We rather than the 2 We of the first 120 units – it projects sales of nearly $40m by 2008. Pristash designed the ‘P100’ fuel cells after talking to Virginia-based The Ashlawn Group, 10
Fuel Cells Bulletin
which won the Army contract [FCB, October 2005]. Ashlawn decided to partner with Pristash after it became convinced it could mass-produce the fuel cells. They filed five US patent applications with one pending, then convinced the Pentagon they could mass-produce the cells. Imax machines and welds the stainless-steel casings for the fuel cells, with the other components purchased from other Ohio companies – except for the fuel cell membrane, which is made by W.L. Gore & Associates.
Contact: Ballard Power Systems Inc, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 454 0900, www.ballard.com Or contact: Ebara Ballard Corporation, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Tel: +81 3 5461 6558, Fax: +81 3 5461 6087. Or contact: Nippon Oil Corporation, Fuel Cell Research & Development Department, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Tel: +81 3 3502 9208, www.eneos.co.jp
Contact: Imax Industries Inc, Painesville, Ohio, USA. Tel: +1 440 357 2214, www.imaxindustries.com
H.C. Starck begins SOFC prototype production
Or contact: Pemery Corporation, Broadview Heights, Ohio, USA. Tel: +1 216 272 4583, Email: [email protected]
I
Nippon Oil installing 1 kWe kerosene fuel cell cogen units
F
rom March, Nippon Oil Corporation (NOC) will begin renting out 1 kWe kerosene-fueled residential fuel cell cogeneration units in Japan, which it believes are the world’s first commercial fuel cells running on kerosene. Over the coming year the company expects to install up to 100 units in homes in the Tokyo, Hokkaido, Tohoku and Hokuriku regions, and aims to reach 500 rental contracts in fiscal 2007. The kerosene-fueled units, which will be supplied by Ebara Ballard, incorporate Ballard Power Systems’ Mark 1030 fuel cell stack in a system developed by Ebara Ballard that utilizes fuel processing technology developed by NOC. The cogeneration system has a rated power output of 950 We, an electrical efficiency of 35% (LHV) and heat recovery efficiency of 46% (LHV), and operates down to –10°C. The fuel cell system, including the water tank, will be leased for ¥60 000 (US$500) per annum including maintenance, and requires a three-year rental agreement. While natural gas-fueled cogeneration units are already commercially available [FCB, February 2005], more than 30% of Japanese households use kerosene, particularly in areas where natural gas is not readily available. ‘The addition of this new kerosene option allows fuel cell technology to reach a broader spectrum of the Japanese residential market,’ says Noordin Nanji, Ballard’s VP for marketing & business development. The Japanese government is very supportive of alternative energy solutions; in 2005 it provided $26m in product introduction subsidies for the installation of 480 fuel cell cogeneration systems.
n Germany, H.C. Starck GmbH has inaugurated prototype SOFC production at its H.C. Starck Ceramics subsidiary in Selb, the result of a significant investment to set up a new large-scale production line. The SOFC manufacturing line comprises facilities to produce slurries for tape-casting and screen-print pastes. The continuous tape-caster processes the slurry into SOFC support tapes (like electrolytes) up to 200 m long. The tapes are then cut automatically to the required dimensions, and fired in a high-temperature batch furnace with a capacity of more than 2000 substrates per run. The SOFC electrode pastes are applied to the support substrates (electrolytes) on a fully automated screen-printing line, then finally the electrodes are fired at 1350°C. The manufacturing equipment has been installed in different production rooms with a total area of 430 m². With the exception of the furnace area, all rooms are humidity- and temperature-controlled and have a clean-room atmosphere. The annual capacity of the production line will be 300 000 cell components, which is sufficient to build 50 000, 1 kWe SOFC stacks. A significant number of cells will be produced for Staxera, the joint venture between Webasto and H.C. Starck that is developing SOFC modules. In 2003 H.C. Starck acquired a majority holding in the SOFC cell producer InDEC from the ECN Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands [FCB, June 2003]. Last summer the company further strengthened its SOFC activities by founding the stack producer Staxera in a joint venture with Webasto [FCB, August 2005]. Contact: Dr Aloys Eiling, General Manager – Ceramics & Surface Technologies, H.C. Starck Ceramics GmbH, Selb, Germany. Tel: +49 5321 751 3312, Email: [email protected], www.hcstarck-ceramics.de or www.hcstarck.com Or contact: Rolf Huiberts, SOFC Marketing Manager, InDEC Pilot Production BV, Petten, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 224 564888, Email: [email protected], www.hcstarck.com/index.php?page_id=567
February 2006
EnBW, efc ready for residential fuel cell trial
I
n Germany, european fuel cell gmbh (efc) is preparing for the start of the country’s first field test of its beta prototype 1.5 kWe fuel cell heating unit, by providing a specialist training program for service technicians with energy utility EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg. Field-testing of efc’s PEM residential fuel cell heating unit (FCHU) ‘in an authentic environment’ is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2006, and will be carried out by EnBW in Schiltach [FCB, September]. The training at efc’s Hamburg premises is designed to equip the EnBW service technicians with specialist knowledge of fuel cell heating technology, and confidence in how to handle it. It follows a 20-point program, tailored to the requirements of the individual participants, comprising theoretical instruction in the fundamentals of fuel cell technology as well as direct, hands-on training with the apparatus itself. The EnBW service technicians will in turn be passing on their knowledge to their trade partners onsite. Guido Gummert, managing director of efc, emphasizes that the training of future service technicians is an important component ‘to ensure that the fuel cell heating unit operates correctly, and is further developed during its field test phase.’ A subsidiary of the UK-based Baxi Group, efc has been concentrating for eight years on the development of fuel cell cogen units for European single-family houses. The company successfully concluded long-term laboratory tests on the complete prototype unit in 2005 in preparation for the field-testing. Contact: european fuel cell gmbh, Hamburg, Germany. Tel: +49 40 2366 7600, www.europeanfuelcell.de Or contact: Baxi Group Ltd, Derby, UK. Tel: +44 1332 524800, www.baxi.com
February 2006
Tekion links with coupling maker for mini power pack
M
innesota-based Colder Products Company has developed a miniaturized coupling for the innovative Formira Power Pack™ micro fuel cell/ battery hybrid being commercialized by Tekion, a small company with operations in British Columbia and Illinois. The Formira Power Pack allows users to power portable devices continuously without mains recharging, and is said to offer a charge that lasts at least twice as long as a standard battery. Tekion’s technology uses Formira™ – purified and modified formic acid – as a fuel, rather than methanol. The company, which recently received a strategic investment from Motorola Ventures [FCB, January], says that the high power capability and simple chemistry of its technology offer a power density significantly higher than that of a DMFC, leading to less complex products that can actually fit within portable devices. The Formira Fuel Cell performs at a lower operating temperature, uses lower-cost catalysts, and requires fewer balance-of-plant components. The new coupling connects the micro fuel cell’s liquid cartridge to the power pack. When the fuel is consumed, the user can insert a new fuel cartridge with the device still in operation. The easy-to-use Colder connection product enables the cartridge to be quickly snapped in and out of the device in one simple motion. ‘[Colder] produced a custom-designed coupling prototype that not only addresses our size requirements, but also provides operational and safety benefits,’ says Malcolm Man, director of programs and strategic planning at Tekion. Colder’s connections meet the required safety standards for the applications being pursued, with virtually leak-free liquid fuel systems. Contact: Tekion Inc, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 656 6616, www.tekion.com Or contact: Colder Products Company, St Paul, Minnesota, USA. Tel: 1 866 671 9165 tollfree, www.colder.com
Ceres contract is step towards mass production
U
K-based Ceres Power has won a new £500 000 (US$890 000) contract from The Carbon Trust to help accelerate its mass-manufacturing capability and enable the company to meet the
IN BRIEF Spanish engineers develop fuel cell bike Researchers in the Energy Department of the CIDETEC-IK4 Centre for Electrochemical Technologies in northern Spain have designed a prototype motorized bicycle powered by a PEM fuel cell, which assists the pedalling action via a small electric motor. The project, financed by the Gipuzkoa provincial government, uses a bicycle provided by the Orbea bicycle company. CIDETEC is working on its own standardized lab-scale fuel cell electrode preparation methodology, which it sees as essential for achieving custom-made electrodes for each particular application, as well as offering the ability to modify its structure to optimize its performance. Its researchers are making progress on micro fuel cells for portable electronics such as cell phones [FCB, July 2004], with the design, construction and demonstration of a 1–2 We passive micro fuel cell prototype as a technological demonstrator, as well as development of a transportable, self-contained 1 kWe PEM fuel cell generator for residential applications. NEC boosts carbon nanohorn output In Japan, NEC has developed a device that can produce 1 kg of high-purity carbon nanohorns a day, 100 times the capacity of existing equipment. To expand the output, the firm added a mechanism that uses a special gas to process carbon nanohorns continuously. The nanotechbased material has been found to significantly increase fuel cell power generation efficiency. The company will shortly begin providing free samples to major automakers and others to prompt them to find new applications. NEC has been looking for uses for carbon nanohorns since it discovered them in 1998, although so far only NEC and affiliated research institutes have been involved in the commercialization. Researchers have found that the material improves the power generation efficiency of a fuel cell by 20% when used as its electrode. In tests, NEC-made fuel cells with carbon nanohorn electrodes powered a notebook personal computer for at least 10 h, according to a report in the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. Global database of hydrogen stations German-based L-B-Systemtechnik GmbH (LBST) has launched a freely accessible database with details of the more than 220 hydrogen refueling stations around the world. The information system comprises all hydrogen refueling stations, whether currently in operation, planned or decommissioned. Each hydrogen station is described in a profile sheet, which includes technical as well as organization information, such as the year of construction, financiers, operator and the system components used, as well as images of many of the stations. The online database is at: www.H2Stations.org
Fuel Cells Bulletin
9
NEWS rapid growth in demand expected from its target markets. Ceres is developing intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cell technology, and is already running a test-bed production facility at its Crawley headquarters. Ceres is partnering with British Gas to incorporate its fuel cells in domestic boilers that produce both heat and power. A similar program is under way with BOC, to develop fuel cell products using bottled gas for applications where grid-connection is unfeasible or uneconomic. ‘This new contract will help move our volume manufacturing strategy forward so that we can meet predicted market demand to the highest quality and reliability standards at the lowest possible cost,’ says Peter Bance, CEO of Ceres. The company’s technology can operate on readily available fuels such as natural gas and propane, as well as hydrogen. The technology is not dependent on the widespread development of a hydrogen economy, but will work effectively when this comes about. The fuel cells can be manufactured inexpensively using low-cost materials and established mass-production techniques, and will help to reduce both energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions. Contact: Ceres Power Ltd, Crawley, UK. Tel: +44 1293 400404, www.cerespower.com
Imax produces portable fuel cells for US Army
O
hio-based Imax Industries is producing a batch of 120 portable fuel cells for the US Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center, according to a report in The News-Herald. The $750 000 contract is for small power sources for ‘fuzes’ in artillery rounds, which determine when a fired round detonates. The small, cylindrical fuel cells currently in production are prototypes, but the Army is looking for a supplier to mass-produce a larger version that would be used to make steerable artillery shells, according to David Pristash, president of Pemery Corporation, the company formed to fill the Army order. Pemery has applied for a Third Frontier grant from the Ohio Department of Development, that could help the company deliver the fuel cells to the military for testing this year. If the company were to land the contract for the larger fuel cells – producing 12 We rather than the 2 We of the first 120 units – it projects sales of nearly $40m by 2008. Pristash designed the ‘P100’ fuel cells after talking to Virginia-based The Ashlawn Group, 10
Fuel Cells Bulletin
which won the Army contract [FCB, October 2005]. Ashlawn decided to partner with Pristash after it became convinced it could mass-produce the fuel cells. They filed five US patent applications with one pending, then convinced the Pentagon they could mass-produce the cells. Imax machines and welds the stainless-steel casings for the fuel cells, with the other components purchased from other Ohio companies – except for the fuel cell membrane, which is made by W.L. Gore & Associates.
Contact: Ballard Power Systems Inc, Burnaby, BC, Canada. Tel: +1 604 454 0900, www.ballard.com Or contact: Ebara Ballard Corporation, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Tel: +81 3 5461 6558, Fax: +81 3 5461 6087. Or contact: Nippon Oil Corporation, Fuel Cell Research & Development Department, Minato-ku, Tokyo, Japan. Tel: +81 3 3502 9208, www.eneos.co.jp
Contact: Imax Industries Inc, Painesville, Ohio, USA. Tel: +1 440 357 2214, www.imaxindustries.com
H.C. Starck begins SOFC prototype production
Or contact: Pemery Corporation, Broadview Heights, Ohio, USA. Tel: +1 216 272 4583, Email: [email protected]
I
Nippon Oil installing 1 kWe kerosene fuel cell cogen units
F
rom March, Nippon Oil Corporation (NOC) will begin renting out 1 kWe kerosene-fueled residential fuel cell cogeneration units in Japan, which it believes are the world’s first commercial fuel cells running on kerosene. Over the coming year the company expects to install up to 100 units in homes in the Tokyo, Hokkaido, Tohoku and Hokuriku regions, and aims to reach 500 rental contracts in fiscal 2007. The kerosene-fueled units, which will be supplied by Ebara Ballard, incorporate Ballard Power Systems’ Mark 1030 fuel cell stack in a system developed by Ebara Ballard that utilizes fuel processing technology developed by NOC. The cogeneration system has a rated power output of 950 We, an electrical efficiency of 35% (LHV) and heat recovery efficiency of 46% (LHV), and operates down to –10°C. The fuel cell system, including the water tank, will be leased for ¥60 000 (US$500) per annum including maintenance, and requires a three-year rental agreement. While natural gas-fueled cogeneration units are already commercially available [FCB, February 2005], more than 30% of Japanese households use kerosene, particularly in areas where natural gas is not readily available. ‘The addition of this new kerosene option allows fuel cell technology to reach a broader spectrum of the Japanese residential market,’ says Noordin Nanji, Ballard’s VP for marketing & business development. The Japanese government is very supportive of alternative energy solutions; in 2005 it provided $26m in product introduction subsidies for the installation of 480 fuel cell cogeneration systems.
n Germany, H.C. Starck GmbH has inaugurated prototype SOFC production at its H.C. Starck Ceramics subsidiary in Selb, the result of a significant investment to set up a new large-scale production line. The SOFC manufacturing line comprises facilities to produce slurries for tape-casting and screen-print pastes. The continuous tape-caster processes the slurry into SOFC support tapes (like electrolytes) up to 200 m long. The tapes are then cut automatically to the required dimensions, and fired in a high-temperature batch furnace with a capacity of more than 2000 substrates per run. The SOFC electrode pastes are applied to the support substrates (electrolytes) on a fully automated screen-printing line, then finally the electrodes are fired at 1350°C. The manufacturing equipment has been installed in different production rooms with a total area of 430 m². With the exception of the furnace area, all rooms are humidity- and temperature-controlled and have a clean-room atmosphere. The annual capacity of the production line will be 300 000 cell components, which is sufficient to build 50 000, 1 kWe SOFC stacks. A significant number of cells will be produced for Staxera, the joint venture between Webasto and H.C. Starck that is developing SOFC modules. In 2003 H.C. Starck acquired a majority holding in the SOFC cell producer InDEC from the ECN Energy Research Centre of the Netherlands [FCB, June 2003]. Last summer the company further strengthened its SOFC activities by founding the stack producer Staxera in a joint venture with Webasto [FCB, August 2005]. Contact: Dr Aloys Eiling, General Manager – Ceramics & Surface Technologies, H.C. Starck Ceramics GmbH, Selb, Germany. Tel: +49 5321 751 3312, Email: [email protected], www.hcstarck-ceramics.de or www.hcstarck.com Or contact: Rolf Huiberts, SOFC Marketing Manager, InDEC Pilot Production BV, Petten, The Netherlands. Tel: +31 224 564888, Email: [email protected], www.hcstarck.com/index.php?page_id=567
February 2006