- Email: [email protected]
HARC consortium to test Plug system outdoors
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NEWS Editorial office: Elsevier Advanced Technology PO Box 150 Kidlington Oxford OX5 1AS United Kingdom Tel:+44 (0)1865 843239 Fax: +44 (0)1865 853160 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.fuelcellsbulletin.com Editor: Steve Barrett Production Coordinator: Ben Pelling Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Science Rights & Permissions Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; phone: (+44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail: permissions@elsevier. com. You may also contact Rights & Permissions directly through Elsevier’s home page (http:// www.elsevier.nl), selecting first ‘Customer Support’, then ‘General Information’, then Permissions Query Form’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; phone: (978) 7508400, fax: (978) 7504744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; phone: (+44) 207 436 5931; fax: (+44) 207 631 5500. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Contact the publisher at the address indicated. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Science Rights & Permissions Department, at the mail, fax and e-mail addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer.
02233 Printed by Mayfield Press (Oxford) LImited
2
Fuel Cells Bulletin
HARC consortium to test Plug system outdoors A consortium organized by the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) has installed a 5 kWe Plug Power PEM fuel cell system, which will be tested as part of a project to demonstrate the viability of fuel cells for safe, clean and efficient electric power. ‘The Plug Power system is the first in the HARC study to be located outdoors,’ said Bruce Rauhe, project director of the HARC consortium. ‘We are reproducing real-world conditions by installing it outside the laboratory on a concrete pad and fueling it with pipeline natural gas.’ The system will operate grid-parallel, and HARC will integrate the fuel cell with a separate water heating system to evaluate the system’s combined heat and power (CHP) capabilities. ‘Operating in a CHP mode will provide a great opportunity to determine true maximum and normal heat recovery conditions and total energy efficiency potential,’ explained Rauhe. A substantial amount of data will be collected from external sensors installed by HARC and from internal monitoring supplied and shared by Plug. The HARC consortium, comprising Southern Company, Texaco Energy Systems Inc and Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, was created two years ago to demonstrate and analyze promising fuel cell technologies. The group is testing a number of fuel cells to determine how they work both in largeand small-scale stationary applications. The consortium is considering issues such as power quality and reliability, as well as how fuel cells might be applied to incentive programs that promote emission reductions. Contact: Center for Fuel Cell Research & Applications, Houston Advanced Research Center, 4800 Research Forest Drive, The Woodlands, TX 77381, USA. Tel: +1 281 367 1348, Fax: +1 281 363 7914, www.harc.edu/fuelcell Or contact: Plug Power Inc, 968 Albany-Shaker Road, Latham, NY 12110, USA. Tel: +1 518 782 7700, Fax: +1 518 782 9060, www.plugpower.com
FCVs would curtail greenhouse gas emissions, says study General Motors, with input from various energy companies and a leading independent research institute, has presented initial results from a comprehensive study assessing the effect of greenhouse gas emissions.
The study, released at the recent Hart World Fuel Conference in Brussels, assessed fuel sources, processing techniques and propulsion systems. A total of 36 fuel pathways and 18 propulsion concepts examined for the 2010 timeframe, from conventional engines to advanced concepts, were analyzed under European driving conditions. (The study assessed energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions, but not costs.) The complete chain was examined, from the production of fuels from their basic feedstock components to the actual consumption of the fuel in the car – known as a ‘well-to-wheel’ analysis. Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik (LBST), a research institute near Munich, Germany acted as scientific advisor and consultant. Energy companies BP, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalFinaElf provided additional data and analysis. A principal finding of the study was that fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) using hydrogen produced from natural gas could be attractive in terms of well-towheel gas emissions, depending on the source of the natural gas. However, optimum results are realized when renewable energies such as biomass or wind power are used to produce the hydrogen. The project is a sequel to last year’s North American Well-to-Wheels study, published by GM, BP, ExxonMobil, Shell and Argonne National Laboratory, which analyzed the impact of energy sources and alternative propulsion systems in North America. In that study, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup was used as a reference vehicle. That study reached similar conclusions, and is now regarded as a reference work in worldwide discussions on transport-related greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. In the new study, the original methodology was applied in a European context for both fuel and vehicle. ‘We based our additional research work, which took over a year, on the Opel Zafira minivan, European driving conditions, and our understanding of the European energy supply situation,’ explained Raj Choudhury, project manager for the study at the GM research center in Mainz-Kastel, Germany. The vehicle data for the European study was compiled by GM scientist, Trudy Weber: ‘The Zafira proved to be the ideal reference vehicle, since it already exists with gasoline, diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG) and fuel cell propulsion systems. We forecast the powertrain system characteristics for the 2010 time frame and imposed the constraint that all 18 vehicle variants examined be able to meet the same set of stringent, customer-based performance criteria over the European drive cycle (EDC). For the first time, this provided us with a realistic and comparable basis for energy use and net greenhouse gas emissions in a European context.’
July 2002
16/07/2002
09:14
Page 2
NEWS Editorial office: Elsevier Advanced Technology PO Box 150 Kidlington Oxford OX5 1AS United Kingdom Tel:+44 (0)1865 843239 Fax: +44 (0)1865 853160 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.fuelcellsbulletin.com Editor: Steve Barrett Production Coordinator: Ben Pelling Permissions may be sought directly from Elsevier Science Rights & Permissions Department, PO Box 800, Oxford OX5 1DX, UK; phone: (+44) 1865 843830, fax: (+44) 1865 853333, e-mail: permissions@elsevier. com. You may also contact Rights & Permissions directly through Elsevier’s home page (http:// www.elsevier.nl), selecting first ‘Customer Support’, then ‘General Information’, then Permissions Query Form’. In the USA, users may clear permissions and make payments through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, USA; phone: (978) 7508400, fax: (978) 7504744, and in the UK through the Copyright Licensing Agency Rapid Clearance Service (CLARCS), 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP, UK; phone: (+44) 207 436 5931; fax: (+44) 207 631 5500. Other countries may have a local reprographic rights agency for payments. Derivative Works Subscribers may reproduce tables of contents or prepare lists of articles including abstracts for internal circulation within their institutions. Permission of the publisher is required for resale or distribution outside the institution. Permission of the publisher is required for all other derivative works, including compilations and translations. Electronic Storage or Usage Permission of the publisher is required to store or use electronically any material contained in this journal, including any article or part of an article. Contact the publisher at the address indicated. Except as outlined above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher. Address permissions requests to: Elsevier Science Rights & Permissions Department, at the mail, fax and e-mail addresses noted above. Notice No responsibility is assumed by the Publisher for any injury and/or damage to persons or property as a matter of products liability, negligence or otherwise, or from any use or operation of any methods, products, instructions or ideas contained in the material herein. Because of rapid advances in the medical sciences, in particular, independent verification of diagnoses and drug dosages should be made. Although all advertising material is expected to conform to ethical a guarantee or endorsement of the quality or value of such product or of the claims made of it by its manufacturer.
02233 Printed by Mayfield Press (Oxford) LImited
2
Fuel Cells Bulletin
HARC consortium to test Plug system outdoors A consortium organized by the Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC) has installed a 5 kWe Plug Power PEM fuel cell system, which will be tested as part of a project to demonstrate the viability of fuel cells for safe, clean and efficient electric power. ‘The Plug Power system is the first in the HARC study to be located outdoors,’ said Bruce Rauhe, project director of the HARC consortium. ‘We are reproducing real-world conditions by installing it outside the laboratory on a concrete pad and fueling it with pipeline natural gas.’ The system will operate grid-parallel, and HARC will integrate the fuel cell with a separate water heating system to evaluate the system’s combined heat and power (CHP) capabilities. ‘Operating in a CHP mode will provide a great opportunity to determine true maximum and normal heat recovery conditions and total energy efficiency potential,’ explained Rauhe. A substantial amount of data will be collected from external sensors installed by HARC and from internal monitoring supplied and shared by Plug. The HARC consortium, comprising Southern Company, Texaco Energy Systems Inc and Walt Disney Imagineering Research & Development, was created two years ago to demonstrate and analyze promising fuel cell technologies. The group is testing a number of fuel cells to determine how they work both in largeand small-scale stationary applications. The consortium is considering issues such as power quality and reliability, as well as how fuel cells might be applied to incentive programs that promote emission reductions. Contact: Center for Fuel Cell Research & Applications, Houston Advanced Research Center, 4800 Research Forest Drive, The Woodlands, TX 77381, USA. Tel: +1 281 367 1348, Fax: +1 281 363 7914, www.harc.edu/fuelcell Or contact: Plug Power Inc, 968 Albany-Shaker Road, Latham, NY 12110, USA. Tel: +1 518 782 7700, Fax: +1 518 782 9060, www.plugpower.com
FCVs would curtail greenhouse gas emissions, says study General Motors, with input from various energy companies and a leading independent research institute, has presented initial results from a comprehensive study assessing the effect of greenhouse gas emissions.
The study, released at the recent Hart World Fuel Conference in Brussels, assessed fuel sources, processing techniques and propulsion systems. A total of 36 fuel pathways and 18 propulsion concepts examined for the 2010 timeframe, from conventional engines to advanced concepts, were analyzed under European driving conditions. (The study assessed energy efficiency and greenhouse gas emissions, but not costs.) The complete chain was examined, from the production of fuels from their basic feedstock components to the actual consumption of the fuel in the car – known as a ‘well-to-wheel’ analysis. Ludwig-Bölkow-Systemtechnik (LBST), a research institute near Munich, Germany acted as scientific advisor and consultant. Energy companies BP, ExxonMobil, Shell and TotalFinaElf provided additional data and analysis. A principal finding of the study was that fuel cell vehicles (FCVs) using hydrogen produced from natural gas could be attractive in terms of well-towheel gas emissions, depending on the source of the natural gas. However, optimum results are realized when renewable energies such as biomass or wind power are used to produce the hydrogen. The project is a sequel to last year’s North American Well-to-Wheels study, published by GM, BP, ExxonMobil, Shell and Argonne National Laboratory, which analyzed the impact of energy sources and alternative propulsion systems in North America. In that study, a Chevrolet Silverado pickup was used as a reference vehicle. That study reached similar conclusions, and is now regarded as a reference work in worldwide discussions on transport-related greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption. In the new study, the original methodology was applied in a European context for both fuel and vehicle. ‘We based our additional research work, which took over a year, on the Opel Zafira minivan, European driving conditions, and our understanding of the European energy supply situation,’ explained Raj Choudhury, project manager for the study at the GM research center in Mainz-Kastel, Germany. The vehicle data for the European study was compiled by GM scientist, Trudy Weber: ‘The Zafira proved to be the ideal reference vehicle, since it already exists with gasoline, diesel, compressed natural gas (CNG) and fuel cell propulsion systems. We forecast the powertrain system characteristics for the 2010 time frame and imposed the constraint that all 18 vehicle variants examined be able to meet the same set of stringent, customer-based performance criteria over the European drive cycle (EDC). For the first time, this provided us with a realistic and comparable basis for energy use and net greenhouse gas emissions in a European context.’
July 2002