FuelCellsWorks

Berlin, Germany — In the fourth quarter of 2009, Heliocentris will launch the Heliocentris Nexa® 1200, a completely new fuel cell module developed by Heliocentris based on the FCgen 1020 ACS stack from Ballard, with a power output of 1.2 kW.

As a partner of Ballard Power Systems, Heliocentris has sold the Nexa® Power Module around the world for the past five years. Heliocentris has integrated the fuel cell modules in training systems and numerous turnkey projects. For independent integration of the fuel cell module by the customer, Heliocentris also developed matching integration components. More than five years of experience in sales and servicing created the ideal basis for development of a proprietary system.

A new generation of modules

The goal of the Heliocentris development team was to create a follow-up generation for the popular fuel cell module that can not only match the power output of the former system, but also offer significant improvements. “The development of a mere replacement was never a desirable goal for us,” says Klaus Rupprecht, Head of Product Development.

The parasitic power consumption could be reduced by up to 50%, thus significantly increasing the overall system efficiency of the Heliocentris Nexa 1200 as compared with the former model. This was achieved by the concept of atmospheric air supply in combination with the air-cooled stack.

Whilst the old Nexa® Power Module requires a compressor and a fan for the supply of reaction and cooling air, the Heliocentris Nexa 1200 uses a single fan on the back of the system drawing in ambient air for even distribution through the entire system. In addition to improved cooling, this made it possible to eliminate components such as a compressor or cooling water pump, which cause significant parasitic loads.

The system is therefore especially suitable for applications requiring long operating times with a limited hydrogen supply, for example in backup systems for standalone photovoltaic systems or uninterrupted power supply systems.

Optimized for easy integration

The fully integrated Heliocentris Nexa® 1200 contains all system components in a stable plastic housing, which also functions as a component rack and air baffle system. Inadvertent manipulation or short circuits on the stack, which can be caused by falling objects, are not possible. It is not necessary to enclose the system prior to integration. In this respect, the Heliocentris Nexa® 1200 eliminates complex integration processes. “Solely for the purpose of directed dissipation of cooling air, many of our customers have integrated the system from Ballard in a box,” explains Klaus Rupprecht; “with the Heliocentris Nexa® 1200 we have already solved this problem. The air outlet is designed for easy attachment of an exhaust air duct. Draining the water accumulated during the reaction is also facilitated. It evaporates with the cooling air.” It is therefore not necessary to drain the water from the application.

The Heliocentris Nexa® 1200 has a central interface unit on the back. With respect to orientation of the fuel cell module in the application, the system is likewise more flexible. While the system from Ballard could be installed only in upright position, the Heliocentris Nexa® 1200 can be installed vertically, horizontally and over head. The profile rails embedded in the housing enable easy mounting of the system in upright or suspended position. The system is also optimized for integration in 19″ racks.

Fit for the series

For use in series applications the fuel cell module fulfills the requirements of integrators. The system is equipped with an internal safety loop allowing also for integration of external components, such as an external hydrogen warning system, and conforms to the fuel cell standard EN 62282. Simple maintenance tasks, such as changing filters, can even be carried out by the user. An integrated error memory facilitates diagnosis in the event of an outage.

Availability

The Heliocentris Nexa® 1200 will be available in Europe starting the fourth quarter of 2009, initially as a lab system. Markets outside of Europe will be covered by the end of the first quarter of 2010. In addition to the fuel cell module, the product bundle includes a start-up kit for fast and easy system start-up, as well as monitoring software. An optional electronic load can also be purchased from Heliocentris.

Toward the end of the first quarter of 2010 Heliocentris will also offer an Overall System Controller (OSC) for the control of complex energy systems, consisting of several sources and drains, and a DC converter for battery hybridization.

The Mazda RX-8 RE Hydrogen have obtained National Type Approval (NTA) in Norway. This means that the vehicle can be registered for normal road traffic just the same as any other Mazda.

The following conditions apply to the NTA:
·         The approval is valid in a period of 3 years from registration date (return of vehicle to MC)
·         The NTA is valid for “small production series” up to 20 vehicles
·         The driver will be given a special Hydrogen training by Mazda Motor Norway

“Critical moment” as new analysis shows $180bn global market potential

The Carbon Trust is today launching a UK bid for a breakthrough in fuel cell technology, which could open up a global fuel cell market worth over $180 billion by 2050, according to new analysis.

The “Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge” aims to accelerate the commercialisation of breakthrough UK technology that could see the mainstream cost effective (mass) production of fuel cell powered cars and buses, as well as providing electricity and heat in homes and business. These kinds of mass market applications could be saving the UK up to 7 million tonnes of CO2 a year in 2050, equivalent to taking two million of today’s cars off the road.

Launching the initiative, Dr Robert Trezona, Head of Research and Development at the Carbon Trust, said: “Fuel cells have been ten years away from a real breakthrough for the past 20 years. This is a critical moment for UK fuel cell technology as emerging markets combine with technology cost breakthroughs to create a golden opportunity to launch world-beating products onto a massive global market.  Our initiative aims to drive forward the commercialisation of the UK’s unique fuel cell expertise which will play a crucial role in the UK’s Clean Tech Revolution both cutting carbon and creating jobs and economic value.”

The initiative aims to deliver the critical reduction in fuel cell system costs that must be achieved to make mass market deployment a reality. New Carbon Trust analysis shows that if substantial cuts can be achieved, the global market could be worth over $26bn in 2020 and over $180bn in 2050. The UK share of this market could be $1bn in 2020 rising to $19bn in 2050.

David Hart, Head of Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Research, Centre for Energy Policy and Technology, Imperial College, said: “For many years fuel cell and hydrogen technologies have been expected to become a cornerstone of a low-carbon, more efficient energy system, but the cost, durability and performance of current fuel cell systems remain unattractive in most applications. The Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge is an exciting opportunity to address these issues with a fresh perspective and co-ordinated approach to make polymer fuel cells an everyday commercial reality.”

Celia Greaves, Fuel Cells UK, said: “We warmly welcome the Carbon Trust’s new Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge. The UK is home to a number of world class fuel cell companies and research centres, and substantive IP has already been created in this area. Initiatives such as this from the Carbon Trust are vital to strengthening the UK’s position and ensuring that the UK is innovative and remains competitive in this growing global industry.”

Current fuel cell system costs are still too high by a factor of at least ten for widespread uses. These costs could be brought down in the future through volume production, but projections show that even then, with today’s technology, costs would remain too high by 30-40% for most markets. The Polymer Fuel Cells Challenge will aim to support those breakthroughs that will allow high-volume costs to come down by 35%, making fuel cell systems attractive for mass markets.

Fuel cells efficiently convert the chemical energy contained in a fuel directly into electricity – they produce electricity like a battery but are fuelled like an engine or a boiler. Fuel cells are already marketed around the world, with sales growing at over 60% a year – they are used to power forklift trucks, mobile phone masts or provide power in camper vans. However, they currently remain too expensive to be more widespread.

By 2030, polymer fuel cells worldwide could be saving every year more CO2 than the UK will emit.

The £8 million Polymer Fuel Cell Challenge will be split into two phases.  A call for proposals opening today (carbontrust.co.uk/fuelcells) will lead to the selection of up to three novel ideas, offering up to £1m per project to further develop and prove them. If one of these demonstrates its potential for lower-cost fuel cell systems, the Carbon Trust will then co-invest up to £5m in the technology to develop it commercially.

Fuel cells in the UK

The UK is one of the leading fuel cell research hubs in the world, drawing on the country’s strong materials science and chemistry research base as well as recent novel ideas from outside the fuel cell community.  Examples of this technology transfer are the adaptation of a water filtration membrane to make fuel cells, or the use of plastic materials originally developed for contact lenses.

Polymer fuel cells

Of the several different types of fuel cell, polymer fuel cells (also known as PEM fuel cells) are the most commonly-used.  They are based around a plastic, or polymer, membrane which carries the ions that move electrical charge inside the fuel cell.  Polymer fuel cells are light weight, powerful and increasingly durable, but are currently expensive.  The Carbon Trust is focussing on polymer fuel cells for three reasons: (i) they can be used in many different products, including all the applications with a strong prospect for carbon savings (cars, buses, combined heat and power); (ii) the horizontal structure of the polymer fuel cell supply chain allows the development of new businesses to market component technologies rather than requiring the development of completely new systems; and (iii) there is capacity and appetite from the UK research and industry community to deliver breakthrough polymer fuel cell technologies, which the Carbon Trust has confirmed with extensive recent engagement.

The Carbon Trust

• The Carbon Trust is an independent company set up in 2001 by Government in response to the threat of climate change, to accelerate the move to a low carbon economy by working with organisations to reduce carbon emissions and develop commercial low carbon technologies.
• We cut carbon emissions now by giving business and the public sector expert advice, finance and certification to help them reduce their carbon footprint and to stimulate demand for low carbon products and services.
• Through our work, we’ve already helped save over 23 million tonnes of carbon, delivering costs savings of around £1.4 billion. We aim to help our customers cut a further 17MtCO2 and save another £1 billion in the next three years.
• In the past year, the Carbon Trust has supported 30,000 customers, saving companies up to £227 million in direct costs and cutting up to 2 million tonnes of carbon dioxide from their annual emissions.
• We cut future carbon emissions by developing new low carbon technologies. We are helping the UK become a global hub for low carbon innovation. We do this through funding and managing projects, investing and collaborating on low carbon technologies and by identifying market barriers and practical ways to overcome them. Our work on commercialising new technologies will  deliver savings of up to 23 million tonnes of carbon a year by 2050.
• The Carbon Trust is also undertaking world leading projects on offshore wind, algae and advanced solar power.

IDAHO FALLS — Hydrogen researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory have reached another milestone on the road to reducing carbon emissions and protecting the nation against the effects of peaking world oil production.

Stephen Herring, laboratory fellow and technical director of the INL High Temperature Electrolysis team, today announced that the latest fuel cell modification has set a new mark in endurance. The group’s Integrated Laboratory Scale experiment has now operated continuously for 2,583 hours at higher efficiencies than previously attained.

“I’m very much encouraged that it will be able to operate for longer periods of time,” said Herring. “It means that this research is closer to commercial viability.”

The commercial viability that Herring spoke about is likely different than what many may think of when they hear about hydrogen and fuel cells. Instead of working to create vehicles that use pure hydrogen as fuel, Herring and his team are focused on another application.

Currently, “gasoline and diesel fuel actually have a lot of hydrogen that has been added to them, and that’s one thing many people don’t recognize,” said Herring. “Next to a refinery, there’s often a plant that’s making hydrogen used for upgrading.”

If that hydrogen can be produced more efficiently, by decreasing the amount of electricity required by the electrolysis process that separates hydrogen from oxygen in water, there’s the potential for large savings.

Perhaps even more motivating is that multiple government, corporate and other organizations have published reports pointing to severe world economic consequences when world oil production peaks sometime in the near future. Those same reports identify that one of the key parts of a solution is being able to upgrade lower quality petroleum, from sources like oil sands in Canada, into transportation-grade fuels.

“The production of liquid fuels, such as gasoline or diesel, is the primary use of this hydrogen.  Refining poor-quality crude oils, upgrading the tar-like Canadian oil sands and removing sulfur from petroleum already require large amounts of hydrogen,” said Herring.

By adding a special coating to the cells used in the latest test, the team achieved more than double the lifetime of previous cells and will immediately begin analysis of the experiment to try to improve the design further.

“It has been a lot of work by a number of people here, particularly Lisa Moore-McAteer, Keith Condie, Carl Stoots and Jim O’Brien,” said Herring. “They’ve really worked hard in putting this all together over the last five or six years and then keeping it running, that’s always a real challenge.”

INL is one of the DOE’s 10 multiprogram national laboratories. The laboratory performs work in each of the strategic goal areas of DOE: energy, national security, science and environment. INL is the nation’s leading center for nuclear energy research and development. Day-to-day management and operation of the laboratory is the responsibility of Battelle Energy Alliance.