- Email: [email protected]
Neah Power contracts with MTBSolutions, performs reverse merger
NEWS C-130 or C-27J aircraft, for example, making them ideal for military and humanitarian projects. In another application, the Italian government is sponsoring a pulp & paper demonstration project using the Ansaldo fuel cell. Contact: Ansaldo Fuel Cells, Genova, Italy. Tel: +39 010 655 8311, www.ansaldofuelcells.com
Protonex delivers soldier systems to USAF, wins development funding
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assachusetts-based Protonex Technology has delivered advanced prototypes of its portable P2 soldier power system to the US Air Force for evaluation. In addition, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has notified Protonex and its partner, Millennium Cell in New Jersey, of its intent to award an additional $1m program focusing on P2 enhancements and manufacturability and for procurement of additional systems for performance and reliability testing. The P2 delivery marks the successful completion of the two-year Dual Use Science and Technology (DUST) program awarded to Protonex in April 2003. The P2 system, which can produce up to 50 W of continuous power, combines Protonex fuel cell technology with a chemical hydride fueling subsystem based on technology licensed from Millennium Cell. The system’s rugged design and high energy density make it ideally suited to meet the aggressive requirements of demanding military applications. The delivered P2 systems will be put through a series of tests by AFRL to assess their reliability and durability. The P2’s enhanced operational features, including wide operating temperature range, orientation independence and low heat and noise signatures, will also be evaluated. From this round of AFRL testing, Protonex will gather valuable customer-use data that will be used to focus efforts under the additional contract. ‘Protonex and Millennium Cell are eager to use this supplementary AFRL funding to produce additional systems for military qualification, moving the product a step closer to fullscale deployment within both military and commercial markets,’ says Scott Pearson, CEO of Protonex.
Contact: Protonex Technology Corporation, Southborough, Massachusetts, USA. Tel: +1 508 490 9960, www.protonex.com
6
Fuel Cells Bulletin
Ceres announces wallmountable CHP design
U
K-based Ceres Power has passed a significant milestone in the design of its solid oxide fuel cell combined heat and power (CHP) product as part of the £2.7 million (US$4.9m) program with Centrica (British Gas). Design work by Ceres engineers has established that the complete CHP system will be sufficiently compact and lightweight to be wall-mountable. This feature is a prerequisite for installation into the majority of new or existing UK homes as a replacement for standard gas boilers. Under the contract with British Gas, Ceres is designing, building and evaluating fuel cell CHP units capable of delivering electricity, heating and hot water for the home, substantially reducing domestic energy costs and CO2 emissions. Achievement of this system innovation has been enabled by the compact, lightweight 1 kWe Ceres fuel cell stack, which was announced in the spring, which is the fundamental building block of Ceres’ micropower generation products [FCB, May]. As well as size and weight, a key factor for mass-market take-up is production cost. Ceres anticipates an attractive bill of materials cost for the entire system, based on its evaluation of key system components including control electronics, air and fuel delivery hardware, in its test facility. By virtue of its unique SOFC technology operating at intermediate temperatures of 500–600°C, the company is able to use standard, low-cost materials for its fuel cell and balance-of-plant. ‘The fact that our system design is similar in size to conventional wall-mounted boilers is a significant differentiator, making our product highly applicable not just to the UK market, but to other key geographies such as Europe and Japan,’ says CEO Peter Bance. Contact: Ceres Power Ltd, Crawley, W. Sussex, UK. Tel: +44 1293 400404, www.cerespower.com
Neah Power contracts with MTBSolutions, performs reverse merger
S
eattle-based Neah Power Systems has signed a contract with MTBSolutions Inc in California, a leader in advanced microelectronic packaging
technology for semiconductor, photonic and MEMS applications, in order to develop the necessary packaging technology that will enable mass production of Neah’s silicon-based DMFC. Neah Power has also undergone a reverse merger with a Nevada-based ‘shell’ company, which now sees it quoted on the Nasdaq index. Neah anticipates that the packaging expertise brought by MTBSolutions will significantly shorten the timetable to release a product for the military and commercial market. Its fuel cells have consistently demonstrated power densities equal to or greater than 100 mW/cm2 in both single cells and eight-cell stacks at room temperature. The company believes that its patented porous silicon technology will leverage the infrastructure of the existing silicon processing industry to economically mass-produce fuel cells. In contrast to other fuel cells for portable applications, Neah’s DMFC does not utilize proton-exchange membranes. In other news, Neah has undergone a reverse merger with Growth Mergers Inc in Nevada. Under the terms of an agreement and plan of merger, Growth Mergers Inc – a Nasdaq quoted company with no business operations – acquired 100% of the capital stock of Neah Power Systems Inc. Growth Merger then changed its corporate name to Neah Power Systems Inc. Contact: Neah Power Systems Inc, Bothell, Washington, USA. Tel: +1 425 424 3324, www.neahpower.com
Topsoe, Risø expand SOFC collaboration
I
n Denmark, Topsoe Fuel Cell (TOFC) and its strategic solid oxide fuel cell research partner, Risø National Laboratory have renewed their longterm collaboration agreement, to provide the framework for joint continued and expanded SOFC activities for the next five years. The agreement also secures certain financial support from TOFC to Risø, while TOFC retains exclusive rights to use of Risø SOFC related patents and know-how. ‘We are pleased that we have renewed this important agreement between Topsoe Fuel Cell and Risø, allowing us to continue the fruitful cooperation’, says Helge Holm-Larsen, business development director. ‘The joint effort committed in this agreement means that we can reach the critical research mass required for developing and commercializing the SOFC technology.’
July 2006
Protonex delivers soldier systems to USAF, wins development funding
M
assachusetts-based Protonex Technology has delivered advanced prototypes of its portable P2 soldier power system to the US Air Force for evaluation. In addition, the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) has notified Protonex and its partner, Millennium Cell in New Jersey, of its intent to award an additional $1m program focusing on P2 enhancements and manufacturability and for procurement of additional systems for performance and reliability testing. The P2 delivery marks the successful completion of the two-year Dual Use Science and Technology (DUST) program awarded to Protonex in April 2003. The P2 system, which can produce up to 50 W of continuous power, combines Protonex fuel cell technology with a chemical hydride fueling subsystem based on technology licensed from Millennium Cell. The system’s rugged design and high energy density make it ideally suited to meet the aggressive requirements of demanding military applications. The delivered P2 systems will be put through a series of tests by AFRL to assess their reliability and durability. The P2’s enhanced operational features, including wide operating temperature range, orientation independence and low heat and noise signatures, will also be evaluated. From this round of AFRL testing, Protonex will gather valuable customer-use data that will be used to focus efforts under the additional contract. ‘Protonex and Millennium Cell are eager to use this supplementary AFRL funding to produce additional systems for military qualification, moving the product a step closer to fullscale deployment within both military and commercial markets,’ says Scott Pearson, CEO of Protonex.
Contact: Protonex Technology Corporation, Southborough, Massachusetts, USA. Tel: +1 508 490 9960, www.protonex.com
6
Fuel Cells Bulletin
Ceres announces wallmountable CHP design
U
K-based Ceres Power has passed a significant milestone in the design of its solid oxide fuel cell combined heat and power (CHP) product as part of the £2.7 million (US$4.9m) program with Centrica (British Gas). Design work by Ceres engineers has established that the complete CHP system will be sufficiently compact and lightweight to be wall-mountable. This feature is a prerequisite for installation into the majority of new or existing UK homes as a replacement for standard gas boilers. Under the contract with British Gas, Ceres is designing, building and evaluating fuel cell CHP units capable of delivering electricity, heating and hot water for the home, substantially reducing domestic energy costs and CO2 emissions. Achievement of this system innovation has been enabled by the compact, lightweight 1 kWe Ceres fuel cell stack, which was announced in the spring, which is the fundamental building block of Ceres’ micropower generation products [FCB, May]. As well as size and weight, a key factor for mass-market take-up is production cost. Ceres anticipates an attractive bill of materials cost for the entire system, based on its evaluation of key system components including control electronics, air and fuel delivery hardware, in its test facility. By virtue of its unique SOFC technology operating at intermediate temperatures of 500–600°C, the company is able to use standard, low-cost materials for its fuel cell and balance-of-plant. ‘The fact that our system design is similar in size to conventional wall-mounted boilers is a significant differentiator, making our product highly applicable not just to the UK market, but to other key geographies such as Europe and Japan,’ says CEO Peter Bance. Contact: Ceres Power Ltd, Crawley, W. Sussex, UK. Tel: +44 1293 400404, www.cerespower.com
Neah Power contracts with MTBSolutions, performs reverse merger
S
eattle-based Neah Power Systems has signed a contract with MTBSolutions Inc in California, a leader in advanced microelectronic packaging
technology for semiconductor, photonic and MEMS applications, in order to develop the necessary packaging technology that will enable mass production of Neah’s silicon-based DMFC. Neah Power has also undergone a reverse merger with a Nevada-based ‘shell’ company, which now sees it quoted on the Nasdaq index. Neah anticipates that the packaging expertise brought by MTBSolutions will significantly shorten the timetable to release a product for the military and commercial market. Its fuel cells have consistently demonstrated power densities equal to or greater than 100 mW/cm2 in both single cells and eight-cell stacks at room temperature. The company believes that its patented porous silicon technology will leverage the infrastructure of the existing silicon processing industry to economically mass-produce fuel cells. In contrast to other fuel cells for portable applications, Neah’s DMFC does not utilize proton-exchange membranes. In other news, Neah has undergone a reverse merger with Growth Mergers Inc in Nevada. Under the terms of an agreement and plan of merger, Growth Mergers Inc – a Nasdaq quoted company with no business operations – acquired 100% of the capital stock of Neah Power Systems Inc. Growth Merger then changed its corporate name to Neah Power Systems Inc. Contact: Neah Power Systems Inc, Bothell, Washington, USA. Tel: +1 425 424 3324, www.neahpower.com
Topsoe, Risø expand SOFC collaboration
I
n Denmark, Topsoe Fuel Cell (TOFC) and its strategic solid oxide fuel cell research partner, Risø National Laboratory have renewed their longterm collaboration agreement, to provide the framework for joint continued and expanded SOFC activities for the next five years. The agreement also secures certain financial support from TOFC to Risø, while TOFC retains exclusive rights to use of Risø SOFC related patents and know-how. ‘We are pleased that we have renewed this important agreement between Topsoe Fuel Cell and Risø, allowing us to continue the fruitful cooperation’, says Helge Holm-Larsen, business development director. ‘The joint effort committed in this agreement means that we can reach the critical research mass required for developing and commercializing the SOFC technology.’
July 2006