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EnerFuel launches new fuel cell humidifier
NEWS The Phase II grants are usually larger than first phase awards, worth an average $719 000 each over a period of up to two years, and are intended to allow companies to continue with promising R&D efforts that were initiated with successful Phase I awards in last fiscal year’s SBIR/STTR competition. Two companies won awards under the topic ‘SOFC and material research’: • Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies in Tempe, Arizona is developing a low-cost hot anode recycle blower (pump) to recirculate fuel in SOFC systems. • R&D Dynamics Corporation in Bloomfield, Connecticut will design, manufacture and demonstrate a foil gas bearing supported highspeed anode gas recycle centrifugal blower, which will increase the efficiency of SOFC systems. The resulting high-speed direct drive motor combined with foil gas bearing technology is intended to result in a low-cost, efficient, small, oil-free and reliable blower. And one company won an award under the topic ‘Nanotechnology applications in industrial chemistry’: • Lynntech Inc in College Station, Texas will develop a plasma-based catalyst production system that eliminates chemical wastes and reduces manpower requirements, while the resulting nanoscale fuel cell catalyst should outperform commercially available, highercost catalysts. For more information on the SBIR/STTR programs, go to: www.science.doe.gov/sbir
Cassette system removes need for H2 cylinders
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alifornia-based FST Energy, a hydrogen storage, transportation and distribution company, claims to have made a significant breakthrough for the emerging fuel cell market by eliminating the need for metal hydrogen storage cylinders. The FST Fuel Cassette system uses a proprietary chemical reaction to generate 300% more hydrogen at one-third the weight of pressurized cylinders. The company is currently demonstrating this technology to customers at its laboratories based in northern California, and expects to produce its first field-test units by the end of 2007. The company says that its system enables fuel cell backup units to run for longer periods compared than those that currently rely on
September 2006
pressurized hydrogen fuel sources. Furthermore, it is significantly smaller, weighs less and has similar operating costs to pressurized hydrogen. ‘FST Fuel Cassettes easily provide enough hydrogen to power a 5 kW fuel cell for anywhere between 12 to 120 hours, yet require less space than a standard rack of six hydrogen cylinders, which provides 12 hours,’ claims Mike Wilson, CEO of FST. ‘This breakthrough ensures that fuel cells will be readily adopted over lead-acid batteries for backup units, because it enables them to beat the competition on both price and reliability.’ As fuel cells have become cost-competitive with lead-acid batteries, the telecoms, cable broadband and information technology industries are beginning to adopt them for use in backup systems. A cost-effective hydrogen storage system, with a reduced footprint and lower weight, is well suited to applications such as mobile phone cell towers, or for use in locations such as rooftops and remote cabinet installations, where space and weight are primary considerations. FST Energy recently received a multi-year grant totaling $825 000 from the Department of Energy to develop methods that safely store and release hydrogen for commercial use [FCB, January]. Contact: FST Energy Inc, San Francisco, California, USA. Tel: +1 415 504 1020, www.fstenergy.com
EnerFuel launches new fuel cell humidifier
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lorida-based EnerFuel has introduced a series of fuel cell humidifiers for PEM fuel cell systems, with units available offering air-to-air and water-to-air operating modes. The EnerFuel EFH-100 series solid-state humidifier utilizes a Nafion®-free, hollow-fiber material designed to make the humidifier highly durable and provide excellent tolerance to vibration. The lightweight, compact humidifier provides high humidification effectiveness irrespective of flow rates. ‘The humidifier is an often fragile, yet crucial component to the fuel cell system,’ says Rex Hodge, president of EnerFuel, the fuel cell subsidiary of Ener1 Inc. ‘Our team has taken a new and quite novel approach to fuel cell humidification that uses a different material than what’s found in the humidifiers on the market today.’ Contact: EnerFuel, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA. Tel: +1 561 868 6720, www.enerfuel.com
IN BRIEF Prices for Smart’s EFOY fuel cell cartridges cut by 40% German-based SFC Smart Fuel Cell is now using mass production techniques to manufacture its EFOY fuel cartridges, and the company is passing the resulting cost savings on to users by cutting prices for the cartridges. Effective 1 August 2006 the 10-liter M10 EFOY fuel cartridge will cost only 21.99 including tax, a saving of 40%. At the same time, the price for the M5 5-liter fuel cartridge will drop to 15.99 including tax. The company, which specializes in mobile and off-grid fuel cell products, launched the EFOY range – the successor to its SFC A50 fuel cell – during May [FCB, July]. Together with an EFOY fuel cell, the M10 provides 9.1 kWh (760 Ah at 12 V). For example, this is enough power to run a satellite television in a motorhome for 130 h. Under the new pricing scheme one hour of television viewing will now cost about 16 cents. Hydrogenics wins power modules order for Asian telecom market Canadian-based Hydrogenics has received an order for three HyPM® XR 12 kW Fuel Cell Power Modules to be integrated into a 48 Vdc backup power application for use by a leading mobile telecoms company in Asia. ‘This new order demonstrates the growing interest in fuel cells for backup power applications in the mobile telecom market, and Hydrogenics’ HyPM power products specifically,’ says president/CEO Pierre Rivard. ‘The reliability of the HyPM XR series provides telecom end-users with the confidence to explore this robust technology in the growing mobile backup power market.’ The company’s proprietary HyPM XR 12 kW Fuel Cell Power Modules are rack-mountable, integration-ready power generators running on hydrogen. In addition to a fuel cell stack, the power module includes the associated components, subsystems and control software required to produce consistent and abundant power with no emissions. World Cup service ‘bicycles’ use fuel cells At the 2006 World Cup held recently in Germany, T-Com, a business unit of Deutsche Telekom, used cargo ‘bicycles’ powered by fuel cells as service vehicles in and around the championship stadiums in Berlin and Dortmund. The bicycles, developed by German-based Masterflex, have a modular structure, allowing accessories to be added to the vehicles depending on the purpose for which they are being used. In addition to serving as a source of drive power, the 250 W fuel cell system can also supply power for the vehicle’s lighting or to refrigerate goods being transported. The hydrogen supply is delivered by gas producer Air Liquide.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
11
Cassette system removes need for H2 cylinders
C
alifornia-based FST Energy, a hydrogen storage, transportation and distribution company, claims to have made a significant breakthrough for the emerging fuel cell market by eliminating the need for metal hydrogen storage cylinders. The FST Fuel Cassette system uses a proprietary chemical reaction to generate 300% more hydrogen at one-third the weight of pressurized cylinders. The company is currently demonstrating this technology to customers at its laboratories based in northern California, and expects to produce its first field-test units by the end of 2007. The company says that its system enables fuel cell backup units to run for longer periods compared than those that currently rely on
September 2006
pressurized hydrogen fuel sources. Furthermore, it is significantly smaller, weighs less and has similar operating costs to pressurized hydrogen. ‘FST Fuel Cassettes easily provide enough hydrogen to power a 5 kW fuel cell for anywhere between 12 to 120 hours, yet require less space than a standard rack of six hydrogen cylinders, which provides 12 hours,’ claims Mike Wilson, CEO of FST. ‘This breakthrough ensures that fuel cells will be readily adopted over lead-acid batteries for backup units, because it enables them to beat the competition on both price and reliability.’ As fuel cells have become cost-competitive with lead-acid batteries, the telecoms, cable broadband and information technology industries are beginning to adopt them for use in backup systems. A cost-effective hydrogen storage system, with a reduced footprint and lower weight, is well suited to applications such as mobile phone cell towers, or for use in locations such as rooftops and remote cabinet installations, where space and weight are primary considerations. FST Energy recently received a multi-year grant totaling $825 000 from the Department of Energy to develop methods that safely store and release hydrogen for commercial use [FCB, January]. Contact: FST Energy Inc, San Francisco, California, USA. Tel: +1 415 504 1020, www.fstenergy.com
EnerFuel launches new fuel cell humidifier
F
lorida-based EnerFuel has introduced a series of fuel cell humidifiers for PEM fuel cell systems, with units available offering air-to-air and water-to-air operating modes. The EnerFuel EFH-100 series solid-state humidifier utilizes a Nafion®-free, hollow-fiber material designed to make the humidifier highly durable and provide excellent tolerance to vibration. The lightweight, compact humidifier provides high humidification effectiveness irrespective of flow rates. ‘The humidifier is an often fragile, yet crucial component to the fuel cell system,’ says Rex Hodge, president of EnerFuel, the fuel cell subsidiary of Ener1 Inc. ‘Our team has taken a new and quite novel approach to fuel cell humidification that uses a different material than what’s found in the humidifiers on the market today.’ Contact: EnerFuel, West Palm Beach, Florida, USA. Tel: +1 561 868 6720, www.enerfuel.com
IN BRIEF Prices for Smart’s EFOY fuel cell cartridges cut by 40% German-based SFC Smart Fuel Cell is now using mass production techniques to manufacture its EFOY fuel cartridges, and the company is passing the resulting cost savings on to users by cutting prices for the cartridges. Effective 1 August 2006 the 10-liter M10 EFOY fuel cartridge will cost only 21.99 including tax, a saving of 40%. At the same time, the price for the M5 5-liter fuel cartridge will drop to 15.99 including tax. The company, which specializes in mobile and off-grid fuel cell products, launched the EFOY range – the successor to its SFC A50 fuel cell – during May [FCB, July]. Together with an EFOY fuel cell, the M10 provides 9.1 kWh (760 Ah at 12 V). For example, this is enough power to run a satellite television in a motorhome for 130 h. Under the new pricing scheme one hour of television viewing will now cost about 16 cents. Hydrogenics wins power modules order for Asian telecom market Canadian-based Hydrogenics has received an order for three HyPM® XR 12 kW Fuel Cell Power Modules to be integrated into a 48 Vdc backup power application for use by a leading mobile telecoms company in Asia. ‘This new order demonstrates the growing interest in fuel cells for backup power applications in the mobile telecom market, and Hydrogenics’ HyPM power products specifically,’ says president/CEO Pierre Rivard. ‘The reliability of the HyPM XR series provides telecom end-users with the confidence to explore this robust technology in the growing mobile backup power market.’ The company’s proprietary HyPM XR 12 kW Fuel Cell Power Modules are rack-mountable, integration-ready power generators running on hydrogen. In addition to a fuel cell stack, the power module includes the associated components, subsystems and control software required to produce consistent and abundant power with no emissions. World Cup service ‘bicycles’ use fuel cells At the 2006 World Cup held recently in Germany, T-Com, a business unit of Deutsche Telekom, used cargo ‘bicycles’ powered by fuel cells as service vehicles in and around the championship stadiums in Berlin and Dortmund. The bicycles, developed by German-based Masterflex, have a modular structure, allowing accessories to be added to the vehicles depending on the purpose for which they are being used. In addition to serving as a source of drive power, the 250 W fuel cell system can also supply power for the vehicle’s lighting or to refrigerate goods being transported. The hydrogen supply is delivered by gas producer Air Liquide.
Fuel Cells Bulletin
11