- Email: [email protected]
Donaldson air filter media specifically for fuel cell air inlets
NEWS these companies is signaling its interest in working with Medis to introduce our Power Pack product to their customer base, and joining a program of market seeding for our Power Pack products.’ Medis will benefit from feedback from the mobile operators and their customers, which will help in its production planning to satisfy anticipated demand for Power Pack products from mobile operators. Medis also expects its retail store distributors – Kensington/Acco, Superior and ASE [FCB, May and October 2004] – to demonstrate Power Packs to their customers to help determine allocations of product for those markets. The company plans to have its semi-automated production line in place at the end of this year, and have its first largescale automated production line in place for the second half of 2006. Meanwhile, market consultancy Frost & Sullivan has selected Medis Technologies as the recipient of its 2005 Excellence in Technology Award in the field of microfuel cells (in the fuel technology category). This award is presented to a company that has pioneered the development and introduction of an innovative technology into the market, and also distinguishes the company’s overall technical excellence and its commitment to technology innovation. Contact: Medis Technologies Ltd, New York, NY, USA. Tel: +1 212 935 8484, www.medistechnologies.com
HyNor project for H2 road in Norway
T
he HyNor project now under way in Norway is a joint industry initiative to demonstrate the real-life implementation of a hydrogen energy infrastructure along a 580 km route from Oslo to Stavanger by 2008. The venture comprises all of the steps required to develop a hydrogen infrastructure, and includes various hydrogen production technologies and applications of hydrogen, adapted to local conditions. The program will comprise various activities and cities in a common network along one of the country’s major transport corridors, between the capital Oslo and Stavanger, the major oil and energy center in southwestern Norway. It will demonstrate the commercial viability of hydrogen energy production and use in the transport sector, including buses, taxis and private cars, and varying transport systems at the urban, inter-city, regional and national scale. The Research Council of Norway, on behalf of the Ministry of Transport & Communication, is providing NOK30.2 million (US$4.6m) in
August 2005
funding over the next three years. The HyNor partnership brings together major industrial, energy and transport companies, regional and national public authorities, and R&D institutes. ‘We’re now finally beginning to see the contours of the hydrogen highway from Stavanger to Oslo, and have come a significant step closer to realizing Norway’s first hydrogen filling station,’ says the HyNor project leader, Christopher Kloed of the New Energy unit of (Norsk) Hydro Oil & Energy. Some NOK16.2 million ($2.5m) of the funding earmarked for HyNor is for Hydro’s project to establish a hydrogen fueling station in Porsgrunn. The hydrogen tation may be located close to Hydro’s research park, and could utilize surplus hydrogen already being produced locally by industry. Norway has a long industrial history of hydrogen production through electrolysis based on hydroelectric power. Norsk Hydro Electrolysers has previously supplied hydrogen fueling equipment for Hamburg in the Clean Urban Transport for Europe (CUTE) fuel cell bus program, for the linked ECTOS fuel cell bus project in Reykjavik in Iceland, and for the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) in Berlin. HyNor Secretariat: Einar Håndlykken, Zero Emission Resource Organisation (ZERO), Oslo, Norway. Tel: +47 9229 6200, Email: [email protected], www.zero.no or www.hynor.no Or contact: Norsk Hydro Electrolysers AS, Notodden, Norway. Tel: +47 3509 3999, www.electrolysers.com
Donaldson air filter media specifically for fuel cell air inlets
U
S-based Donaldson Company has unveiled new filter media designed specifically for fuel cell cathode air contamination control applications. Available to OEMs in various filter configurations, the patented media remove airborne particulates, as current filters do, and also airborne chemicals that worsen fuel cell performance. Donaldson, the leading supplier of oxidant air fuel cell filters worldwide, says the media can be economically retrofitted to current applications. The new media allow fuel cell makers to upgrade existing filters at costs lower than customengineered filtration solutions; the ability to package the media in various ways allows broad flexibility in filter design and format. Airborne chemicals including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and many other compounds can negatively affect fuel cell performance.
IN BRIEF Opel, IKEA start FCV test in Berlin In Germany, IKEA service personnel in Berlin are now making some of their customer visits in a HydroGen3 fuel cell vehicle supplied by General Motors’ German subsidiary, Opel. In a practical test launched recently, the Swedish furniture store and the German automaker aim to gain experience with the liquid hydrogen fueled propulsion concept as part of the Clean Energy Partnership Berlin (CEP) project. The fuel cell Zafira will be used by IKEA’s Berlin-Spandau branch for customer service trips. Two IKEA employees have been trained to collect data for analysis as part of the test. The Clean Energy Partnership Berlin (CEP) hydrogen demonstration project, which started last fall, is one of the largest European projects of its kind [FCB, January]. The 33m publicprivate partnership initiative is supported by the German government and 10 partner firms. NY forms fuel cell network Six organizations in upstate New York have linked up to create the New York Fuel Cell Network (www.neny.org/nyfcn), to coordinate their activities towards commercialization. The founding members are MTI MicroFuel Cells, Plug Power, Albany NanoTech’s Energy & Environmental Technology Application Center (E2TAC), General Motors and automobile component manufacturer Delphi Automotive, as well as the regional economic development agency Greater Rochester Enterprise. Matt Fronk, chief engineer of GM’s Fuel Cell Program in Rochester, told The Business Review in New York that although the automaker has invested more than $100m in fuel cell research since 1990, he believes collaboration is necessary to commercialize the technology. He points out that New York has small clusters of companies doing good work on the technology, but as a state the fuel cell research has not been focused. The network first aims to develop a ‘road map’ to coordinate efforts. Protonex increases second round funding Massachusetts-based Protonex Technology (www.protonex.com), a manufacturer of highperformance PEM and direct methanol fuel cell power systems for portable and remote applications, has increased its previously announced second round of institutional funding from $9m to $11m. The additional $2m came from the Venture Capital Fund of New England, Yellowstone Energy Ventures and Parker Hannifin; the latter also participated in the initial $9m round that closed on 1 April [FCB, June]. ‘Being oversubscribed for this round allowed us to be selective in choosing our new investment partners, all of whom bring more than money to Protonex,’ comments Scott Pearson, the company’s CEO.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
5
NEWS ‘Our lab and field tests have shown improved fuel cell performance with this product,’ comments Ric Canepa, Donaldson’s director of fuel cell filtration. ‘One customer reported a 3% increase in voltage output after installing our new filter media.’ Donaldson’s Fuel Cell Contamination Control (FC3) filters have been protecting fuel cells since 2000, and are now installed on more than 700 fuel cells, at all scales, in North America, Europe and Asia. Contact: Donaldson Company Inc, Fuel Cell Contamination Control (FC3) Group, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Tel: +1 952 703 4517, www.donaldson.com
Rolls-Royce opens SOFC components facility
I
n the UK, Loughborough University’s business park is home to a new facility for Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems Ltd (RRFCS), which will pilot the production of ceramic components for use in the company’s solid oxide fuel cell systems. ‘This is a state-of-the-art facility that will have the capability to produce over 1000 ceramic fuel cell components per week, while verifying the processes required for eventual full-scale production,’ says Charles Coltman, chairman/chief executive of RRFCS. ‘It draws on technology that has been provided by suppliers in Singapore, the US and Europe, reflecting again the importance to Rolls-Royce of operating on a global scale.’ The new facility will house an automated production line that marks an important step forward for the project. The site, managed by Loughborough University, was originally identified by Rolls-Royce as a suitable home for its fuel cell development following a building renovation project, jointly undertaken by the university and the East Midlands Development Agency. RRFCS is in the process of moving from its current site in nearby Derby. The automated line involves equipment and technology from US-based BTU International, which served as the primary contractor for construction of the production line, as well as Nutek Inc in Singapore and the UK office of DEK Printing Machines Ltd. The facility incorporates several BTU convection drying systems and its latest Elevator Hearth System for hightemperature sintering, as well as multiple screen-printing systems, a laser marking system and automated handling equipment to fully automate the process. Rolls-Royce began researching fuel cell technologies in 1992, and decided to pursue commercialization of its expertise in 2002. Utilizing 6
Fuel Cells Bulletin
its aerospace technology skills, the company has designed an electric power system that integrates a solid oxide fuel cell with a microturbine. This hybrid power system promises to be significantly more efficient than conventional gas turbines or reciprocating engines, with far less impact on the environment. The current objective is a stationary power-generation system providing around 1 MW of electricity, for market delivery before the end of 2008. Ealier this year Rolls-Royce announced the sale of a 25% stake in RRFCS to EnerTek Singapore Pte Ltd, a consortium of Singaporean companies [FCB, May]. The partners have agreed to invest a total of US$100 million in the development of a commercially viable power system based on SOFC/microturbine technology. Contact: Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems Ltd, Derby, UK. Tel: +44 1332 260343, www.rolls-royce.com/ energy/tech/fuelcells.jsp Or contact: BTU International Inc, North Billerica, Massachusetts, USA. Tel: +1 978 667 4111, www.btu.com
Honda delivers FCX car to world’s first individual customer
I
n California, American Honda Motor in Los Angeles has announced the lease of a 2005 FCX fuel cell car to the world’s first individual customers, Jon and Sandy Spallino of Redondo Beach, on a two-year lease. The Spallinos will use the FCX in everyday normal use, including commuting to work in Orange County, trips to school, shopping and household errands. ‘Our advanced fuel cell technology has been proven and tested through a successful fleet sales partnership over the last three years,’ comments John Mendel, senior VP of automotive operations for American Honda. ‘We’re pleased to be taking this historic step forward in the further advancement of our fuel cell program.’ The Spallino family, living in the Los Angeles area, will be among the first individuals to begin utilizing the first of California’s Hydrogen Highway refueling stations, a statewide infrastructure now under construction. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently announced the state’s commitment to a Hydrogen Highway, which will be built through a public-private partnership by 2010 [FCB, July]. The lease of the Honda FCX to the Spallino family will be the first of several FCX vehicles
to be leased to individual customers over the next year. Honda America is already roadtrialing a fleet of 13 FCX cars in regular daily use with six public municipal customers in California, New York and Nevada [FCB, April]. The Honda FCX is the first hydrogen vehicle to be certified by the US Environmental Protection Agency and California’s Air Resources Board (CARB). The 2005 FCX model is powered by the in-house developed Honda FC Stack, with the breakthrough capability to start up and operate at subzero temperatures as low as –20°C, along with increased performance, range and fuel efficiency compared with earlier models. Contact: American Honda Motor Co Inc, Torrance, California, USA. Tel: +1 310 783 3170, Web: world.honda.com/FuelCell
H.C. Starck, Webasto create Staxera as SOFC joint venture
I
n Germany, Webasto AG and the Bayer subsidiary H.C. Starck GmbH have formed a 50:50 joint venture to develop and commercialize solid oxide fuel cell stacks for use in auxiliary power units (APUs). The new company, called Staxera GmbH and based in Dresden, marks a new stage for the partnership between the two companies, which began in late 2003 [FCB, December 2003]. The joint venture’s aim is to develop SOFC stacks as far as the production stage, for both automotive APU and stationary applications. Staxera will operate as an independent stack supplier, and make its prototypes available to both Webasto and other system designers. Webasto has been working on an SOFC APU for several years, to run on liquid fuels. The goal is to meet the ever-increasing demand for auxiliary electrical power in vehicles by using an SOFC APU; the particular advantage is that such an APU could produce power indefinitely, even with the vehicle’s conventional internal combustion engine turned off. ‘We are confident that this is the right time to start marketing SOFC-based energy systems,’ says Staxera’s managing director, Dr Christian Wunderlich, who was responsible for the development of the APU while at Webasto. ‘The important factors in our view are robust design, a smoothly running production line, and the ability to supply customers with a fully tested complete solution.’ By concentrating on these
August 2005
HyNor project for H2 road in Norway
T
he HyNor project now under way in Norway is a joint industry initiative to demonstrate the real-life implementation of a hydrogen energy infrastructure along a 580 km route from Oslo to Stavanger by 2008. The venture comprises all of the steps required to develop a hydrogen infrastructure, and includes various hydrogen production technologies and applications of hydrogen, adapted to local conditions. The program will comprise various activities and cities in a common network along one of the country’s major transport corridors, between the capital Oslo and Stavanger, the major oil and energy center in southwestern Norway. It will demonstrate the commercial viability of hydrogen energy production and use in the transport sector, including buses, taxis and private cars, and varying transport systems at the urban, inter-city, regional and national scale. The Research Council of Norway, on behalf of the Ministry of Transport & Communication, is providing NOK30.2 million (US$4.6m) in
August 2005
funding over the next three years. The HyNor partnership brings together major industrial, energy and transport companies, regional and national public authorities, and R&D institutes. ‘We’re now finally beginning to see the contours of the hydrogen highway from Stavanger to Oslo, and have come a significant step closer to realizing Norway’s first hydrogen filling station,’ says the HyNor project leader, Christopher Kloed of the New Energy unit of (Norsk) Hydro Oil & Energy. Some NOK16.2 million ($2.5m) of the funding earmarked for HyNor is for Hydro’s project to establish a hydrogen fueling station in Porsgrunn. The hydrogen tation may be located close to Hydro’s research park, and could utilize surplus hydrogen already being produced locally by industry. Norway has a long industrial history of hydrogen production through electrolysis based on hydroelectric power. Norsk Hydro Electrolysers has previously supplied hydrogen fueling equipment for Hamburg in the Clean Urban Transport for Europe (CUTE) fuel cell bus program, for the linked ECTOS fuel cell bus project in Reykjavik in Iceland, and for the Clean Energy Partnership (CEP) in Berlin. HyNor Secretariat: Einar Håndlykken, Zero Emission Resource Organisation (ZERO), Oslo, Norway. Tel: +47 9229 6200, Email: [email protected], www.zero.no or www.hynor.no Or contact: Norsk Hydro Electrolysers AS, Notodden, Norway. Tel: +47 3509 3999, www.electrolysers.com
Donaldson air filter media specifically for fuel cell air inlets
U
S-based Donaldson Company has unveiled new filter media designed specifically for fuel cell cathode air contamination control applications. Available to OEMs in various filter configurations, the patented media remove airborne particulates, as current filters do, and also airborne chemicals that worsen fuel cell performance. Donaldson, the leading supplier of oxidant air fuel cell filters worldwide, says the media can be economically retrofitted to current applications. The new media allow fuel cell makers to upgrade existing filters at costs lower than customengineered filtration solutions; the ability to package the media in various ways allows broad flexibility in filter design and format. Airborne chemicals including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and many other compounds can negatively affect fuel cell performance.
IN BRIEF Opel, IKEA start FCV test in Berlin In Germany, IKEA service personnel in Berlin are now making some of their customer visits in a HydroGen3 fuel cell vehicle supplied by General Motors’ German subsidiary, Opel. In a practical test launched recently, the Swedish furniture store and the German automaker aim to gain experience with the liquid hydrogen fueled propulsion concept as part of the Clean Energy Partnership Berlin (CEP) project. The fuel cell Zafira will be used by IKEA’s Berlin-Spandau branch for customer service trips. Two IKEA employees have been trained to collect data for analysis as part of the test. The Clean Energy Partnership Berlin (CEP) hydrogen demonstration project, which started last fall, is one of the largest European projects of its kind [FCB, January]. The 33m publicprivate partnership initiative is supported by the German government and 10 partner firms. NY forms fuel cell network Six organizations in upstate New York have linked up to create the New York Fuel Cell Network (www.neny.org/nyfcn), to coordinate their activities towards commercialization. The founding members are MTI MicroFuel Cells, Plug Power, Albany NanoTech’s Energy & Environmental Technology Application Center (E2TAC), General Motors and automobile component manufacturer Delphi Automotive, as well as the regional economic development agency Greater Rochester Enterprise. Matt Fronk, chief engineer of GM’s Fuel Cell Program in Rochester, told The Business Review in New York that although the automaker has invested more than $100m in fuel cell research since 1990, he believes collaboration is necessary to commercialize the technology. He points out that New York has small clusters of companies doing good work on the technology, but as a state the fuel cell research has not been focused. The network first aims to develop a ‘road map’ to coordinate efforts. Protonex increases second round funding Massachusetts-based Protonex Technology (www.protonex.com), a manufacturer of highperformance PEM and direct methanol fuel cell power systems for portable and remote applications, has increased its previously announced second round of institutional funding from $9m to $11m. The additional $2m came from the Venture Capital Fund of New England, Yellowstone Energy Ventures and Parker Hannifin; the latter also participated in the initial $9m round that closed on 1 April [FCB, June]. ‘Being oversubscribed for this round allowed us to be selective in choosing our new investment partners, all of whom bring more than money to Protonex,’ comments Scott Pearson, the company’s CEO.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
5
NEWS ‘Our lab and field tests have shown improved fuel cell performance with this product,’ comments Ric Canepa, Donaldson’s director of fuel cell filtration. ‘One customer reported a 3% increase in voltage output after installing our new filter media.’ Donaldson’s Fuel Cell Contamination Control (FC3) filters have been protecting fuel cells since 2000, and are now installed on more than 700 fuel cells, at all scales, in North America, Europe and Asia. Contact: Donaldson Company Inc, Fuel Cell Contamination Control (FC3) Group, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. Tel: +1 952 703 4517, www.donaldson.com
Rolls-Royce opens SOFC components facility
I
n the UK, Loughborough University’s business park is home to a new facility for Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems Ltd (RRFCS), which will pilot the production of ceramic components for use in the company’s solid oxide fuel cell systems. ‘This is a state-of-the-art facility that will have the capability to produce over 1000 ceramic fuel cell components per week, while verifying the processes required for eventual full-scale production,’ says Charles Coltman, chairman/chief executive of RRFCS. ‘It draws on technology that has been provided by suppliers in Singapore, the US and Europe, reflecting again the importance to Rolls-Royce of operating on a global scale.’ The new facility will house an automated production line that marks an important step forward for the project. The site, managed by Loughborough University, was originally identified by Rolls-Royce as a suitable home for its fuel cell development following a building renovation project, jointly undertaken by the university and the East Midlands Development Agency. RRFCS is in the process of moving from its current site in nearby Derby. The automated line involves equipment and technology from US-based BTU International, which served as the primary contractor for construction of the production line, as well as Nutek Inc in Singapore and the UK office of DEK Printing Machines Ltd. The facility incorporates several BTU convection drying systems and its latest Elevator Hearth System for hightemperature sintering, as well as multiple screen-printing systems, a laser marking system and automated handling equipment to fully automate the process. Rolls-Royce began researching fuel cell technologies in 1992, and decided to pursue commercialization of its expertise in 2002. Utilizing 6
Fuel Cells Bulletin
its aerospace technology skills, the company has designed an electric power system that integrates a solid oxide fuel cell with a microturbine. This hybrid power system promises to be significantly more efficient than conventional gas turbines or reciprocating engines, with far less impact on the environment. The current objective is a stationary power-generation system providing around 1 MW of electricity, for market delivery before the end of 2008. Ealier this year Rolls-Royce announced the sale of a 25% stake in RRFCS to EnerTek Singapore Pte Ltd, a consortium of Singaporean companies [FCB, May]. The partners have agreed to invest a total of US$100 million in the development of a commercially viable power system based on SOFC/microturbine technology. Contact: Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems Ltd, Derby, UK. Tel: +44 1332 260343, www.rolls-royce.com/ energy/tech/fuelcells.jsp Or contact: BTU International Inc, North Billerica, Massachusetts, USA. Tel: +1 978 667 4111, www.btu.com
Honda delivers FCX car to world’s first individual customer
I
n California, American Honda Motor in Los Angeles has announced the lease of a 2005 FCX fuel cell car to the world’s first individual customers, Jon and Sandy Spallino of Redondo Beach, on a two-year lease. The Spallinos will use the FCX in everyday normal use, including commuting to work in Orange County, trips to school, shopping and household errands. ‘Our advanced fuel cell technology has been proven and tested through a successful fleet sales partnership over the last three years,’ comments John Mendel, senior VP of automotive operations for American Honda. ‘We’re pleased to be taking this historic step forward in the further advancement of our fuel cell program.’ The Spallino family, living in the Los Angeles area, will be among the first individuals to begin utilizing the first of California’s Hydrogen Highway refueling stations, a statewide infrastructure now under construction. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger recently announced the state’s commitment to a Hydrogen Highway, which will be built through a public-private partnership by 2010 [FCB, July]. The lease of the Honda FCX to the Spallino family will be the first of several FCX vehicles
to be leased to individual customers over the next year. Honda America is already roadtrialing a fleet of 13 FCX cars in regular daily use with six public municipal customers in California, New York and Nevada [FCB, April]. The Honda FCX is the first hydrogen vehicle to be certified by the US Environmental Protection Agency and California’s Air Resources Board (CARB). The 2005 FCX model is powered by the in-house developed Honda FC Stack, with the breakthrough capability to start up and operate at subzero temperatures as low as –20°C, along with increased performance, range and fuel efficiency compared with earlier models. Contact: American Honda Motor Co Inc, Torrance, California, USA. Tel: +1 310 783 3170, Web: world.honda.com/FuelCell
H.C. Starck, Webasto create Staxera as SOFC joint venture
I
n Germany, Webasto AG and the Bayer subsidiary H.C. Starck GmbH have formed a 50:50 joint venture to develop and commercialize solid oxide fuel cell stacks for use in auxiliary power units (APUs). The new company, called Staxera GmbH and based in Dresden, marks a new stage for the partnership between the two companies, which began in late 2003 [FCB, December 2003]. The joint venture’s aim is to develop SOFC stacks as far as the production stage, for both automotive APU and stationary applications. Staxera will operate as an independent stack supplier, and make its prototypes available to both Webasto and other system designers. Webasto has been working on an SOFC APU for several years, to run on liquid fuels. The goal is to meet the ever-increasing demand for auxiliary electrical power in vehicles by using an SOFC APU; the particular advantage is that such an APU could produce power indefinitely, even with the vehicle’s conventional internal combustion engine turned off. ‘We are confident that this is the right time to start marketing SOFC-based energy systems,’ says Staxera’s managing director, Dr Christian Wunderlich, who was responsible for the development of the APU while at Webasto. ‘The important factors in our view are robust design, a smoothly running production line, and the ability to supply customers with a fully tested complete solution.’ By concentrating on these
August 2005