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FUEL CELLS - BATTERY ALTERNATIVES
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In principle, a fuel cell operates like a battery. Unlike a battery, a fuel cell does not run down or require recharging. Typically, it requires a feed of hydrogen and oxygen. It will produce energy in the form of electricity and heat as long as fuel is supplied.
A fuel cell consists of two electrodes sandwiched around an electrolyte. Oxygen passes over one electrode and hydrogen over the other, generating electricity, water and heat.
Hydrogen fuel is fed into the "anode" of the fuel cell. Oxygen (or air) enters the fuel cell through the cathode. Encouraged by a catalyst, the hydrogen atom splits into a proton and an electron, which take different paths to the cathode. The proton passes through the electrolyte. The electrons create a separate current that can be utilized before they return to the cathode, to be reunited with the hydrogen and oxygen in a molecule of water.
A fuel cell system which includes a "fuel reformer" can utilize the hydrogen from any hydrocarbon fuel - from natural gas to methanol, and even gasoline. Since the fuel cell relies on chemistry and not combustion, emissions from this type of a system would still be much smaller than emissions from the cleanest fuel combustion processes.
Fuel cells have the power to change our future. A breakthrough "clean machine," the fuel cell harnesses the chemical energy of hydrogen and oxygen to generate electricity without combustion or pollution. Fuel cells will power the boat or car of tomorrow - quieter, cleaner and more energy efficieint, with good range and performance. This could benefit: national energy security, cleaner air, and economic growth.
There is intense competition around the world in fuel cells. Companies in Germany and Japan are testing fully engineered vehicles. The country that develops practical fuel cell technology may hold the key to the next generation of power production.
To keep abreast of the latest advancements in the transportation industry, see Fuel Cell Technology Updates.
Fuel cells are modular, scalable and fuel flexible, characteristics that make them excellent candidates for a wide range of specialty applications in vehicles and for portable power. Fuel cells are being examined for use in deep mines and on board unmanned aircraft capable of flying for months at a time. In between are various specialty vehicles, such as bicycles and scooters, some of which come with an on-board electrical outlet. The following is not meant to be a complete listing of every fuel cell specialty vehicle; these are the major developers and demonstrations underway. For some pictures of specialty vehicles, check out our Fuel Cells in Transportation: What in the World is Going On? brochure.
FuelCell Propulsion Institute
FuelCell Propulsion Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy are working together, along with contributions from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and more than 20 international partners, has developed a fuel cell powered mining locomotive. The 25-month project converted a 13.3 kW battery-powered mining locomotive to a 14.4 kW fuel cell design. Research at the Institute has shown that using fuel cells coupled with metal-hydride onboard energy storage will provide improved health and safety, enhanced performance, and reduced mine operating costs, since the diesel engine is not well suited for underground operation and becomes extremely costly.
U.S. Office of Naval Research
The U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) has funded research at the Naval Undersea Warfare Center to test a new, high-energy electric power source to propel unmanned undersea vehicles. Researchers have conducted a continuous 37-hour demonstration of a semi-fuel cell, which combines features of a fuel cell and a standard battery, carrying a permanent internal power generator that runs on external liquid hydrogen peroxide tanks.
Energy Partners
Energy Partners joined with John Deere Corporation to develop fuel cell utility vehicles based on Deere's "Gator" vehicle. With a 10kW PEM fuel cell engine, the Gator can run for 5.3 hours, and can be refueled with hydrogen in five minutes.
Energy Partners build a fuel cell "Genesis" people mover, similar to a golf cart. The 7.5kW PEM fuel cell engine uses stored hydrogen for a range of 45 miles between fuelings.
FuelCell Propulsion Institute
FuelCell Propulsion Institute and the U.S. Department of Energy are working together, along with contributions from Natural Resources Canada (NRCan) and more than 20 international partners, has developed a fuel cell powered mining locomotive. The 25-month project converted a 13.3 kW battery-powered mining locomotive to a 14.4 kW fuel cell design. Research at the Institute has shown that using fuel cells coupled with metal-hydride onboard energy storage will provide improved health and safety, enhanced performance, and reduced mine operating costs, since the diesel engine is not well suited for underground operation and becomes extremely costly.
SCOTTISH ENTERPRISE - On the 20th of May 2020, Scottish Enterprise hosted a webinar: "Green Hydrogen at Industrial Scale for a Zero Carbon Future." What was clear from the 120 minutes of presentations, questions and answers, to do with the abundance of green hydrogen from wind power, was the relatively high cost of such production as compared to blue hydrogen and fossil fuels - and the problem of bringing this down to be competitive. It might be that the proposed Hydrogen Batteries in combination with smart service stations, could provide a means to introduce alongside batteries, helping to bring down the cost of electric motoring.
TRANSPORTATION APPLICATIONS
Ballard to Provide Fuel Cell Engines to Australia, Delivers Fuel Cell Buses to London. Ballard Power Systems will provide three of its latest generation heavy-duty fuel cell engines to EvoBus for integration into Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses for the public transport system in Perth, Western Australia. Ballard will deliver the 205 kW heavy-duty fuel cell engines in the first half of 2004 and the buses will be placed in routine transit operation in the second half of 2004 as part of a two-year demonstration program. Ballard also delivered three Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses, powered with Ballard® fuel cell engines, to the public transport authorities in London. The City of London will operate the Ballard powered fuel cell buses on a central London bus route, beginning in January 2004, as part of the Clean Urban Tranport for Europe (CUTE) project. http://www.ballard.com/
U.S.
Air Force Fuel Cell Bus a Success.
Enova Systems has successfully integrated a fuel cell
system into the U.S. Air Force's first hybrid fuel cell
bus at Enova's facilities in Honolulu,
Hawaii. The
partners on the bus project include Enova, the U.S. Air
Force, the State of Hawaii's High Technology Development
Corporation (HTDC) and Hydrogenics.
GVB
Begins Hydrogen Bus Operation.
GVB, the transit authority of Amsterdam, The
Netherlands, began operating four hydrogen-fueled buses
on two routes in the northern part of the city. The
buses extract hydrogen from nine roof-mounted water
tanks, each capable of supplying enough fuel to power
the bus for 250 kilometers (155 miles). The two-year
project will cost 7 million euros (US$8.6 million), with
funding supplied by the European Union, the Dutch
Transport Ministry and the
Amsterdam
Council. Also
involved in the project are DaimlerChrysler, Hoek Loos,
Nuon, Shell and the Netherlands Agency for Energy and
the Environment.
Proton
Energy Wins Two SBIR Awards. Proton
Energy Systems, Inc. was awarded a Small Business
Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase II contract from NASA
for development of lightweight unitized regenerative
fuel cell technology for unmanned aerial vehicles.
Proton also received a SBIR Phase I contract from the
U.S. Army Missile Defense Agency (MDA) for development
of lightweight regenerative fuel cell technology for
high altitude airships.
STATIONARY POWER
Yale
Fuel Cell Dedicated. FuelCell
Energy, Inc., the Connecticut Clean Energy Fund and Yale
University dedicated a high-efficiency Direct FuelCell®
power plant at the Environmental Science Center (ESC)
near Yale University's
Peabody Museum. The 250 kilowatt
fuel cell will provide approximately 25 percent of the
building's electricity needs, with the heat being used
primarily to maintain tight temperature and humidity
controls at the ESC.
http://www.fce.com/# PORTABLE/BACKUP POWER
Astris
Launches New Fuel Cell Generator.
Astris Energi Inc.
has unveiled the 2.4 kW model E8 alkaline fuel cell
generator. The E8 is a completely self-contained
portable unit, powered by Astris' new POWERSTACK MC250
fuel cell, which performs 30%-60% better than previous
units. Astris Energi plans to place the POWERSTACK MC250
into pilot production in its Vlasim,
Czech
Republic
facility in the first half of 2004.
Plug
Power Begins Product Shipments.
Plug Power has
shipped fifteen GenCore™ 5T 5kW hydrogen fueled
back-up power system to customers in the United States,
the United Kingdom and
Japan
to support a variety of
applications in the telecommunication, industrial,
research, and government sectors.
Hitachi and Tokai Develop DMFC Prototype. Hitachi, Ltd. and Tokai Corporation have developed a prototype direct methanol fuel cell for use in handheld electronic devices. The DMFC has a methanol concentration of approximately 20 percent, which is expected to be increased by 10 percent once the units are commercially available. Hitachi plans to introduce the DMFC by 2005 for use in a compatible personal digital assistant. ERD
and Manhattan Scientifics Sign Licensing Agreement.
Energy Related Devices (ERD) has entered into an
agreement with Manhattan Scientifics for a worldwide
non-exclusive license of Manhattan's MicroFuel Cell
technology. Under the agreement, ERD is allowed to
sublicense to any number of companies to produce and
sell MicroFuel Cells.
FUELS/REFORMERS/STORAGE
New
York to Build Hydrogen HI WAY.
$2 million in federal
support has been awarded to establish the Hydrogen
"HI WAY" Initiative in New York State. Funding
for the project, which will create a hydrogen energy
infrastructure validation platform across the state, is
included in the Conference Report for Fiscal Year 2004
Energy and Water Appropriations. Reps. John M. McHugh
(R-NY), James T. Walsh (R-NY), and John E. Sweeney
(R-NY) spearheaded the effort, which will bring together
a team of industry, academic, state and federal partners
to create the infrastructure and end-use technology to
support production of hydrogen energy.
http://mchugh.house.gov/pr2003/111803_hiway.html
Proton Unveils New Hydrogen Generator. Proton Energy Systems, Inc. unveiled its HOGEN H Series hydrogen generators at the POWER-GEN International convention in December. The H Series hydrogen produces ultra-pure hydrogen 24/7 at an output capacity of 80-240 standard cubic feet per hour at a fraction of the cost of cylinder or tube trailer gas. http://www.protonenergy.com/
Dynetek
to Deliver Storage Systems to Ford. Dynetek
Industries Ltd. will deliver on-board complete hydrogen
fuel storage systems for Ford Motor Company's 2004 Ford
Focus FCV zero emission automobiles. Dynetek will
provide complete fuel storage and components solution
using its certified 350 bar (5000 psi) hydrogen fuel
storage system.
QuestAir
and Iwatani Sign Marketing Agreement.
QuestAir
Technologies Inc. has signed an agreement with Iwatani
International Corporation to market QuestAir's hydrogen
purification systems in Japan and other parts of Asia.
Under the terms of the three-year, non-exclusive
agreement, Iwatani received the right to market
QuestAir's HyQuestor® and QuestAir H- 3200 pressure
swing adsorption (PSA) products in Japan, China and nine
other Asian countries.
Innovatek
Wins Army Contract.
Innovatek, Inc. has received a
$780,000 contract with the U.S. Army to develop a new
fuel processor that will generate hydrogen for use in
portable fuel cells. The technology is built on
InnovaTek's proprietary compact microchannel
architecture that produces hydrogen from readily
available fuels such as gasoline and diesel.
http://www.tekkie.com/news/press_release_12162003.htm
FUEL CELL COMPONENTS
UQM
Delivers Motor to Eaton, Receives Order from
Caterpillar.
UQM
Technologies has developed and delivered a UQM®
compressor drive motor to Eaton Corporation for use as
part of the air handling system in a fuel cell. The
highly efficient UQM® motor operates at 24,000
revolutions per minute and is lightweight and compact.
UQM also received an order from Caterpillar Inc. for its
permanent magnet motors that will be installed on a fuel
cell powered Caterpillar-Elphinstone R1300 mine loader.
The mine loader is under development by a consortium of
companies led by Vehicle Projects LLC. and includes
Caterpillar Inc., Natural Resources Canada, and the U.S.
Department of Energy. The zero emission fuel cell
powered mine loader is expected to be placed in
demonstration at a mine in Nevada in early 2005 to
evaluate the operability, and productivity of the
system.
REPORTS/MARKET STUDIES
Solid Oxide Fuel Cells. Business Communications Company, Inc. (BCC) has released a new report, "RGB-282 Solid Oxide Fuel Cells," which reveals that the global market for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) is currently estimated at $123 million, of which the North American market is estimated to be approximately $67 million. http://www.bccresearch.com/
North American Stationary Fuel Cell Market. Frost & Sullivan has released a new report, "North American Stationary Fuel Cell Markets," which claims that revenues in the stationary fuel cell market totaled $21.4 million in 2002 and are projected to reach $1.27 billion by 2009. http://www.frost.com/prod/servlet/frost-home.pag
MISCELLANEOUS
Palcan Joins With Shanghai Mingliang Plastic. Palcan Fuel Cells Ltd. has signed a joint venture agreement with Shanghai Mingliang Plastic Co. Ltd. to establish a commercial manufacturing facility in Shanghai to produce PEM fuel cell stacks for the global fuel cell marketplace. Palcan will have full managerial control of the facility, which is expected to be operational within six months. When fully operational, the manufacturing facility will manufacture 20,000 PEM fuel cell stacks units per year. The units will be sold at substantially less than the current world market prices. http://www.palcan.com/
FuelCon Selects Illies as Asia Sales Partner. FuelCon has selected Illies & Co. as its sales partner for the Asia region. Illies & Co. will market FuelCon's fuel cell test systems in Japan, China, Taiwan and Korea. http://www.fuelcon.com/en/news/index.html#
SMART-CHARGER - This graceful electric car concept (inspired by Reid Railton is potentially the world's fastest vehicle to be powered by hydrogen energy cartridges. This streamliner is theoretically capable of 400mph using the latest production electric motors, but is designed to beat 208mph at Pendine Sands in the United Kingdom, to beat the Ford Fusion 999 record, and then 350mph at the Bonneville Salt Flats in the USA, to beat the Buckeye Bullet 2 record of 303mpm. Featuring built in energy cartridge swapping system, charged using renewable solar energy. A unique PR opportunity in celebration of the EU banning petrol and diesel cars in Europe and the UK from 2030.
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