FuelCellsWorks

“Demonstrating the duration capabilities of a UGV in a rugged, real-world environment is a critical milestone in aligning the Adaptive Materials fuel cells with the potential of UGVs,” said Michelle Crumm, chief business officer.  “UGVs are limited now by the power provided through batteries; on battery power, UGVs can only travel so far or sit and sense for a limited period of time before the battery needs to be charged or replaced.  By leveraging the proven, reliable power of an Adaptive Materials fuel cell, UGVs can achieve ultra-long duration and long range missions.”

The iRobot Scout, with a hybrid Adaptive Materials fuel cell – battery power system, held a consistent speed of 5 kilometers an hour throughout the demonstration.  In addition to powering the UGV for a record distance, the fuel cell also powered an on-board camera and computer that reported speed, GPS and other critical data.

The Adaptive Materials fuel cell consumed three 8-ounce canisters of store-bought propane during its long duration demonstration.  Throughout the demonstration, the fuel cell delivered 150-watts of power continuously with peak power output as high as 600-watts.

For comparison, a typical UGV battery pack offers about 40 minutes of continuous power in similar conditions to those demonstrated at Camp Grayling.  Adaptive Materials’ fuel cell delivered 18 times that amount of energy without having to stop and recharge, and for a fraction of the cost.

Although the UGV powered by Adaptive Materials’ fuel cell travelled 64-kilometers at Camp Grayling, the distance covered by the UGV is the same as between:
•    The fortified Green Zone in Baghdad, Iraq and Fallujah, Iraq – enabling the UGV to conduct myriad tasks and keep a soldier out of harm’s way
•    Baltimore and Washington, D.C.
•    Kabul and Charikar, Jalez, Sherhabod, or Pol-e’Alam, Afghanistan

Adaptive Materials’ UGV endurance demonstration was completed in partnership with the National Automotive Center (NAC), U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), iRobot and Camp Grayling.

About Adaptive Materials, Inc.
Based in Ann Arbor, Mich., Adaptive Materials, Inc. is the leader in the development of portable power made from solid oxide fuel cell technology.  Leveraging its patented single-step process to manufacture micro-tubular fuel cells, Adaptive Materials is the first company to develop, demonstrate and deliver a portable, affordable, and fuel flexible solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system.  Adaptive Materials’ fuel cell system provides portable power to the United States Armed Forces as well as industries including leisure, remote monitoring, and medical devices.  For more information, visit www.adaptivematerials.com.

Sandia researcher Cy Fujimoto demonstrates his new flexible hydrocarbon polymer electrolyte membrane, which could be a key factor in realizing a hydrogen car. (Photo by Randy Montoya)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Sandia National Laboratories researchers may have developed the key to making hydrogen cars a commercial reality.

A major roadblock in the development of hydrogen cars has been the lack of a reliable hydrogen fuel cell that works well in both dry and humid environments. Hydrogen fuel cells are electrochemical engines that come in several different varieties with the most common being the polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell. PEM fuel cells use oxygen from the air and pressurized hydrogen to create electricity, heat and water (steam) as byproducts. The electricity powers the electric motor that turns the wheels of the car.

Sandia researcher Cy Fujimoto has developed a PEM using a different material that appears to be as durable as current PEMs but which also operates well in both dry and humid environments, unlike current PEMs.

“The findings have been quite intriguing and may impact the future of hydrogen cars,” Fujimoto said.

In recent tests, the Sandia polymer outperformed current state-of-the-art fuel cells in two categories. The new Sandia PEM material evolved from an earlier generation Fujimoto and former Sandian Chris Cornelius developed five years ago that operate at elevated temperatures.

The early Sandia fuel cell material, however, was not specifically designed for automotive applications. Fujimoto is making adjustments so that it will suit automakers’ needs, which include high proton conductivity at high temperature and at low water content.

Fujimoto anticipates that the new materials he developed over the past year and a half will make the Sandia PEM perform better at low relative humidity. The chemistry allows him to control where and how much acid is deposited on the polymer backbone, which enables fine-tuning of the size of the ion conducting channels. With larger pathways for proton movement the membranes will work better in low humidity environments.

Other acid-containing PEMS, such as Nafion, maintain a path for protons to pass through when the membranes are hydrated. As they dehydrate, the path shrinks and becomes disconnected, restricting proton movement. The result is diminished function of fuel cells in dry desert climates like the Southwest.

Fujimoto compares the current state of PEMs to a path in a park.

“You can be moving right along and then come to a place where the path breaks. A person walking the path can maneuver around the break and move on. Not so with protons. They come to a dead end,” he says. “Automobile manufacturers want a membrane that is reliable in all environments. They can’t have one that functions well in a humid climate like Miami, for example, and not work well in dry Albuquerque.”

Working through Sandia’s Intellectual Project Management, Alliances & Licensing Department, Fujimoto is collaborating with a consortium of automobile manufacturers to build the better PEM. He says a cooperative research and development agreement (CRADA) and possible licensing of the technology are forthcoming.

Before the collaboration can proceed much further, he says, he needs to come up with a way to “scale up the chemistry” so the membrane can be mass-produced at a low cost.

“We have to get the cost of manufacturing the membrane below $25 per square meter for the method to be practical for cars,” Fujimoto says. “This is one of the biggest challenges yet.”

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Sandia is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a Lockheed Martin company, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.

Hyundai Kia Automotive Group announced yesterday that its hydrogen fuel cell vehicles completed the 2,655-kilometer course in the Hydrogen Road Tour 2009. The tour was organized by the U.S. Department of Energy. Other than Hyundai Kia Automotive Group, some of the world’s largest carmakers including General Motors, Toyota and Nissan took part in the San Diego to Vancouver tour for hydrogen vehicles.

The Korean group entered the event with hydrogen fuel cell powered sport utility vehicles Tucson and Mohave. The company said that its vehicles drove at an average speed of over 100 kilometers per hour over a distance of 400 to 500 kilometers a day to complete the trip.

The company is currently testing 66 hydrogen vehicles in projects organized by the U.S. Department of Energy and Korea’s Ministry of Knowledge Economy.

MENTOR, Oh – The Chemsultants International Fuel Cell Technology Group and its partner, Michigan Molecular Institute, have successfully completed research and development of a new and novel fuel cell membrane technology. Partially funded by a Department of Energy grant, the new membrane technology offers promise in achieving improved fuel-cell performance in high-temperature and low-humidity operating environments such as automotive power applications.

The company has recently filed a U.S. Patent application for the new technology. The patent covers three areas of technology including a highly modified membrane polymer, a functional nano-particle additive and a novel process for solution casting multilayer membrane structures.

Chemsultants is continuing development and optimization of several variants of the new membrane technology. The company’s goal is to develop a commercial fuel cell membrane product that will help address the growing national need for renewable energy sources.

It’ll be a decade before you’ll see soccer moms driving around in fuel-cell-powered minivans, but the technology is beginning to come into its own.

The B.C. leg of the “hydrogen highway” will be completed before the 2010 Games, and in the next eight months Whistler will launch the world’s first fuel-cell bus fleet.

Yesterday, a dozen fuel-cell vehicles, built by seven automakers, finished a nine-day trek from California to Vancouver to showcase the technology.

Catherine Dunwoody, executive director of the California Fuel Cell Partnership, said four carmakers plan to commercialize fuel-cell vehicles by 2015.

She said B.C. is a “leader” in building hydrogen-fuelling stations for vehicles.