- Email: [email protected]
DESTA project to demonstrate European SOFC truck APU
NEWS operation and data on the economics of these vehicles to the Hydrogen Secure Data Center at DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Colorado for analysis and comparison. Data will be collected from actual airport operations, so that engineers and economic analysts can assess the technology’s performance, durability, and cost-effectiveness under the real-world conditions at commercial airports. Conclusions will be drawn from the data to evaluate the commercial viability of this application, and the data will be shared with fuel cell manufacturers, helping to improve their designs and optimise overall performance and costs. DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program: www.hydrogen.energy.gov NREL, Hydrogen & Fuel Cells: www.nrel.gov/hydrogen Hydrogen Secure Data Center: www.nrel.gov/hydrogen/proj_fc_analysis.html
Crown accelerates global initiatives for fuel cells in forklifts
U
S-based forklift manufacturer Crown Equipment Corporation has announced the qualification of sit-down counterbalanced forklifts to operate with fuel cells, and the deployment of the first fleet of hydrogen fuel cell powered forklifts in France. The Crown SC 5300 Series has been approved within the company’s Fuel Cell Qualification Program, which analyses its electric forklifts for use with fuel cell packs. This line of sit-down counterbalanced forklifts is equipped to handle multiple applications, from dock work to transporting and stocking. The truck as designed for fuel cells maintains similar features and benefits to the standard SC 5300 model. More than 20 of Crown’s forklift models have now been qualified for use with fuel cells; the company produced its 500th fuel cell powered forklift last summer [FCB, September 2011, p3]. The company’s qualification of lift trucks for battery replacement fuel cell projects has been supported by funding from the Ohio Department of Development and the Ohio Third Frontier Commission. [See the features on fuel cell powered forklifts in FCB, September and October 2010.] ‘With numerous companies in the US successfully integrating fuel cell powered forklifts into their fleets and facilities, we are beginning to receive an increasing number of inquiries and interest on the technology from 4
Fuel Cells Bulletin
many of our European customers,’ says Ernst Baumgartner, Crown’s fuel cell project manager. Baumgartner is a member of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Technical Committee (TC) 105, Working Group 6, which is preparing international standards relating to fuel cell technologies for electric forklift applications. The primary focus is on performance and safety, as well as interchangeability of components and parts. Meanwhile, industrial gases giant Air Liquide has become the first customer in Europe to install Crown trucks, and is the first operation in France to use fuel cell powered forklifts. Crown’s continuing initiative to facilitate the use of fuel cells with its forklifts represents a promising business opportunity for Crown, HyPulsion – the newly created joint venture between Axane (an Air Liquide subsidiary) and Plug Power – and Air Liquide Hydrogen Energy, says Pierre Etienne Franc, director of future technologies at Air Liquide [FCB, November 2011, p3]. ‘We are fully satisfied with this first hydrogen forklift operational deployment at the Air Liquide European Logistic Center in Vatry, France,’ says Franc. ‘It demonstrates our commitment to promote hydrogen energy solutions for logistic operators, a new clean and productive energy solution for captive fleets.’ Crown Equipment Corporation, New Bremen, Ohio, USA. Tel: +1 419 629 2311, www.crown.com Air Liquide, Hydrogen Energy: www.airliquide-hydrogen-energy.com Axane: www.axane.fr Plug Power: www.plugpower.com
DESTA project to demonstrate European SOFC truck APU
T
he European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) is providing E3.9 million (US$4.9 million) in funding for a new threeyear project to demonstrate the use of a solid oxide fuel cell in an auxiliary power unit (APU) for trucks. The project – with a total budget of E9.8 million ($12.4 million) – got under way in January, and aims to complete the truck demonstration in 2014. The new project, Demonstration of 1st European SOFC Truck APU (DESTA), starts with defining the APU requirements for the application of an SOFC APU in a Volvo heavy-duty truck for the US market. For the market entry of the SOFC
APU technology, the final milestone will be the demonstration of its functionality in a truck. Initial test results – including, for example, production costs, controllability, and manufacturability – will be obtained for two existing systems from AVL List GmbH in Austria and J. Eberspächer GmbH in Germany. Then a benchmark will be performed by the independent German research institute Forschungszentrum Jülich, which will lead to an optimised SOFC APU. This final unit will combine the superior features of the individual systems. In parallel, Topsoe Fuel Cell in Denmark will work on the SOFC stack optimisation. The consortium is confident that the technology will be sufficiently mature to perform well in a ÌÀÕVÊ`iÃÌÀ>ÌÊÊÓä£{° Eberspächer is currently developing a prototype SOFC APU system within the German-funded ENSAII project, and AVL is working in the ASysI project in Austria. In both projects, significant improvements in APU system design, operation, and at balanceof-plant component level have been achieved. For example, hot-gas anode recirculation technology is now available. The technical objectives are a maximum electrical power of at least 3 kW, operation on conventional road diesel fuel, expected lifetime (verified in long-term tests with statistical methods) to exceed 20 000 hours, system electrical net efficiency around 35%, system volume and weight below 150 litres and 120 kg, CO2 reduction of 75% compared to engine idling of a heavy-duty truck, a startup time of about 30 min, and a noise level of about ~65 dBA. Contact: Jürgen Rechberger, DESTA Project Coordinator, AVL List GmbH, Graz, Austria. Tel: +43 316 787 3426, Email: [email protected], Web: http://ow.ly/b621X AVL List, Fuel Cell Engineering: www.avl.com/fuel-cell-engineering J. Eberspächer GmbH: www.eberspaecher.com Topsoe Fuel Cell: www.topsoefuelcell.com Volvo Technology: http://ow.ly/b65J3 Forschungszentrum Jülich, Fuel Cells: http://ow.ly/b65Un
Ultra Electronics AMI completes SOFC order for TARDEC UGVs
I
n the US, the delivery of 15 fieldready fuel cells marks the completion of Ultra Electronics AMI’s $4.2 million multi-year contract with the US Army Tank Automotive Research,
May 2012
Crown accelerates global initiatives for fuel cells in forklifts
U
S-based forklift manufacturer Crown Equipment Corporation has announced the qualification of sit-down counterbalanced forklifts to operate with fuel cells, and the deployment of the first fleet of hydrogen fuel cell powered forklifts in France. The Crown SC 5300 Series has been approved within the company’s Fuel Cell Qualification Program, which analyses its electric forklifts for use with fuel cell packs. This line of sit-down counterbalanced forklifts is equipped to handle multiple applications, from dock work to transporting and stocking. The truck as designed for fuel cells maintains similar features and benefits to the standard SC 5300 model. More than 20 of Crown’s forklift models have now been qualified for use with fuel cells; the company produced its 500th fuel cell powered forklift last summer [FCB, September 2011, p3]. The company’s qualification of lift trucks for battery replacement fuel cell projects has been supported by funding from the Ohio Department of Development and the Ohio Third Frontier Commission. [See the features on fuel cell powered forklifts in FCB, September and October 2010.] ‘With numerous companies in the US successfully integrating fuel cell powered forklifts into their fleets and facilities, we are beginning to receive an increasing number of inquiries and interest on the technology from 4
Fuel Cells Bulletin
many of our European customers,’ says Ernst Baumgartner, Crown’s fuel cell project manager. Baumgartner is a member of the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) Technical Committee (TC) 105, Working Group 6, which is preparing international standards relating to fuel cell technologies for electric forklift applications. The primary focus is on performance and safety, as well as interchangeability of components and parts. Meanwhile, industrial gases giant Air Liquide has become the first customer in Europe to install Crown trucks, and is the first operation in France to use fuel cell powered forklifts. Crown’s continuing initiative to facilitate the use of fuel cells with its forklifts represents a promising business opportunity for Crown, HyPulsion – the newly created joint venture between Axane (an Air Liquide subsidiary) and Plug Power – and Air Liquide Hydrogen Energy, says Pierre Etienne Franc, director of future technologies at Air Liquide [FCB, November 2011, p3]. ‘We are fully satisfied with this first hydrogen forklift operational deployment at the Air Liquide European Logistic Center in Vatry, France,’ says Franc. ‘It demonstrates our commitment to promote hydrogen energy solutions for logistic operators, a new clean and productive energy solution for captive fleets.’ Crown Equipment Corporation, New Bremen, Ohio, USA. Tel: +1 419 629 2311, www.crown.com Air Liquide, Hydrogen Energy: www.airliquide-hydrogen-energy.com Axane: www.axane.fr Plug Power: www.plugpower.com
DESTA project to demonstrate European SOFC truck APU
T
he European Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) is providing E3.9 million (US$4.9 million) in funding for a new threeyear project to demonstrate the use of a solid oxide fuel cell in an auxiliary power unit (APU) for trucks. The project – with a total budget of E9.8 million ($12.4 million) – got under way in January, and aims to complete the truck demonstration in 2014. The new project, Demonstration of 1st European SOFC Truck APU (DESTA), starts with defining the APU requirements for the application of an SOFC APU in a Volvo heavy-duty truck for the US market. For the market entry of the SOFC
APU technology, the final milestone will be the demonstration of its functionality in a truck. Initial test results – including, for example, production costs, controllability, and manufacturability – will be obtained for two existing systems from AVL List GmbH in Austria and J. Eberspächer GmbH in Germany. Then a benchmark will be performed by the independent German research institute Forschungszentrum Jülich, which will lead to an optimised SOFC APU. This final unit will combine the superior features of the individual systems. In parallel, Topsoe Fuel Cell in Denmark will work on the SOFC stack optimisation. The consortium is confident that the technology will be sufficiently mature to perform well in a ÌÀÕVÊ`iÃÌÀ>ÌÊÊÓä£{° Eberspächer is currently developing a prototype SOFC APU system within the German-funded ENSAII project, and AVL is working in the ASysI project in Austria. In both projects, significant improvements in APU system design, operation, and at balanceof-plant component level have been achieved. For example, hot-gas anode recirculation technology is now available. The technical objectives are a maximum electrical power of at least 3 kW, operation on conventional road diesel fuel, expected lifetime (verified in long-term tests with statistical methods) to exceed 20 000 hours, system electrical net efficiency around 35%, system volume and weight below 150 litres and 120 kg, CO2 reduction of 75% compared to engine idling of a heavy-duty truck, a startup time of about 30 min, and a noise level of about ~65 dBA. Contact: Jürgen Rechberger, DESTA Project Coordinator, AVL List GmbH, Graz, Austria. Tel: +43 316 787 3426, Email: [email protected], Web: http://ow.ly/b621X AVL List, Fuel Cell Engineering: www.avl.com/fuel-cell-engineering J. Eberspächer GmbH: www.eberspaecher.com Topsoe Fuel Cell: www.topsoefuelcell.com Volvo Technology: http://ow.ly/b65J3 Forschungszentrum Jülich, Fuel Cells: http://ow.ly/b65Un
Ultra Electronics AMI completes SOFC order for TARDEC UGVs
I
n the US, the delivery of 15 fieldready fuel cells marks the completion of Ultra Electronics AMI’s $4.2 million multi-year contract with the US Army Tank Automotive Research,
May 2012