Issue 0603 
Issue 0603
The latest from the hydrogen and fuel cell markets
***********************************************************************
News from California: "Rally Thru The Vally" brings hydrogen closer to
home
Dynetek reports positive cash-flow from R&D programs, more employees
Hydrogen fueling in record time
Storing more hydrogen at lower cost
Energy security with hydrogen from coal?
Taking off with hydrogen: Several fuel cell aircraft programs underway
European Portable Fuel Cell Study: Last chance to participate
Talking business at Hydrogen Expo USA: Satisfied exhibitors speak up
Mobile H2 refueling system to be demonstrated live at H2Expo in Hamburg
***********************************************************************
News from California: "Rally Thru The Vally" brings hydrogen closer to home
From May 14 to 16, a fuel cell caravan made its way through California from Sacramento to Los Angeles. Initiated by the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP), the public outreach and awareness tour was meant to be both fun and informative with technical displays, ride-and-drives and educational activities. "Through the challenges and triumphs, the sunburns and smiles, we brought fuel cell vehicles and hydrogen technology to thousands of California residents", reports Catherine Dunwoody from the Partnership. "Now they know the potential for a cleaner, more sustainable future for ourselves and for our children." The rally made the capabilities and technology of fuel cell mobility tangible on a 3-day, 400-mile caravan of H2-fueled FCVs. The trip was an important challenge for the vehicles. According to Dunwoody's rally journal they were driving at posted freeway speeds for long stretches of time, working their way down a two-lane highway with numerous trucks and other traffic. The cars' performance "easily matches that of any conventional vehicle". How were they refueled, when there are no hydrogen filling stations along the freeway? This is where CaFCP's energy partners came in, keeping the cars running with a combination of low pressure tube trailer and high pressure mobile refueler. "We worked with local authorities to obtain permits", comments Dunwoody, "and we demonstrated to a good handful of fire departments that hydrogen is a safe fueling alternative." The final destination of the first day was Fresno, where 1 in 5 of the region's children suffer from asthma. Air quality is top on the list as the most important concern to Fresno residents so the caravan was welcomed by Mayor Alan Autry aka "Captain Bubba Skinner" from the series "In the Heat of the Night", another celebrity to support the hydrogen cause. TV crews gathered around the open hoods of the zero emission vehicles after a test ride, peppering the engineers with questions about the technology. Says Dunwoody: "Guests lined up for rides and came back with that infamous fuel cell smile". On the second day, the tour ended in Bakersfield, California's richest oil and gas-producing region. Bakersfield has the third worst air quality in the United States, so it is another natural candidate to embrace clean transportation alternatives. In Bakersfield, the vehicles' multi-functionality was demonstrated by using the electricity from one of the cars to make popcorn for a street fair. Los Angeles was the last stop on the route. A helicopter TV crew joined the team of engineers and visionaries on the final stretch. Deputy Mayor of Los Angeles Brian Williams had arrived in one of the city fleet FCVs to greet the caravan, with more media waiting to see the cars and to interview the drivers. Zero-emission fuel cell vehicles from 6 of the partnership’s 8 automakers demonstrated the road-worthiness of the technology: DaimlerChrysler, Ford, Honda, Hyundai, Nissan and Toyota. Other partners participating in the road rally included Air Products, Ballard Power Systems, BP, ChevronTexaco, Praxair, Shell Hydrogen, Stuart Energy, the California Air Resources Board, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District. Pickung up this thread, from April 26 to 29, 2004, Hydrogen Expo USA will be held at the Renaissance Hollywood Hotel in Los Angeles, CA, featuring 60+ exhibits, a ride-and-drive and site tours in the valley. For more information go to: www.hydrogenexpo.com
Dynetek reports positive cash-flow from R&D programs, more employees
Canadian hydrogen storage company Dynetek Industries Ltd. released its first quarter 2003 financial and operating results to shareholders, quoting positive cash flow from the research and development programs. The income from these programs for the three months ending March 31, 2003 was 1.5 million CDN (0.92 million EUR) or 147% higher than for the same period in 2002. Cylinder and system sales were 3.3 million CDN (2.02 million EUR) for the first quarter 2003 or up 33% compared to last year. General and administration expenses are reported to have increased from 0.6 to 0.9 million CDN (0.55 million EUR) because of Dynetek's European activities and an increase in the number of employees from 68 to 85. The company's R&D saw the formation of a valve division in 2002, which is focused on the compressed hydrogen market. According to the report, this was the result of customers and partners requiring a regulator and valve solution operating at higher pressures. The division currently has prototypes being tested under normal everyday driving conditions by third parties to provide quality data and validation documentation. The report's outlook underlines Dynetek's commitment to invest in the hydrogen economy. Current products include the DyneCell cylinder, which is capable of storing high pressure gases such as H2 and CNG. In Europe, the Middle East and Australia, the DyneCell is marketed through the German subsidiary Dynetek Europe GmbH, which was formed in 2001 to better serve the company's customers.
Hydrogen fueling in record time
Scientists from the Research Center of Karlsruhe (FZK) achieved a milestone in hydrogen storage. According to a recent press release this development enabled the charging of nanoparticles with hydrogen in only a few minutes. Storage remains one of the major challenges for the H2 economy. The energy carrier can be stored under high pressure or at extremely low temperatures. Another option are metal hydrides, which absorb hydrogen, store it in their atomic structure and release it under increased temperatures. One of the problems of this technology, in the eyes of the FZK team, is the time it takes for the hydrogen to be absorbed and released, which results in a refueling process of more than an hour, during which the fuel quality is said to suffer. FZK seems to have developed a superior alternative with their proprietary nano particles. A custom made catalyst made from titanium nano clusters was able to significantly reduce the process of charging and releasing the hydrogen to a record time of 7 to 8 minutes. "This brings us close to fueling times like to future user of the hydrogen car is used to from his conventional vehicle", explains Dr. Maximilian Fichtner, project leader at the Research Center. The material could also be employed in applications such as camcorders or laptops, where compared to the recharging of batteries even more dramatic improvements were possible.
Storing more hydrogen at lower cost
Another release on the development of advanced storage technology comes from the University of Michigan. Researchers report to have found a new class of materials capable of storing large amounts of H2 at normally encountered temperatures and pressures. "Our idea was to create a material with pores that attract hydrogen," says Professor Omar Yaghi, whose work over the past 12 years led to the development. "That makes it possible to 'stuff' more hydrogen molecules into a small area without resorting to high pressure or low temperature." According to the release, this class of materials, called metal-organic frameworks (MOFs), can be made from low-cost ingredients, such as zinc oxide, a common component of sunscreen, and terephthalate, which is used in plastic soda bottles. Sometimes called crystal sponges, MOFs are essentially scaffolds made up of linked rods, a structure that makes for maximum surface area. Just one gram of a MOF is said to have the surface area of a football field. The researchers found that they can increase the material's storage capacity by modifying the rods in various ways. MOFs should prove superior to metal hydride alloys, adds Yaghi. "One of the problems with metal hydride is that the stored hydrogen is chemically bound to the metal. That means that you have to pressurize the material to charge it with hydrogen, and you have to heat the material to high temperatures to discharge the hydrogen. The process of charging and discharging under these extreme conditions ends up contaminating the metal and breaking the whole process down, so these materials have a limited lifetime. With MOFs, the hydrogen is physically absorbed, not chemically absorbed, so it's easier to take the hydrogen out and put it back in without much energy cost."
Energy security with hydrogen from coal?
US-based Delphi Corporation announced that they
will demonstrate a unique innovation by powering a solid oxide fuel cell using
gaseous hydrogen extracted from coal. The demonstration will take place at the
Power Systems Development Facility (PSDF) coal-gasification plant in
Wilsonville, Alabama under the Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA)
program. The SECA fuel cell should enable the economical co-production of
hydrogen and electricity from coal with near zero emissions. It is a part of the
U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) "FutureGen" initiative which is a
key component of the President's FreedomFUEL Program. "Most SOFCs need fuel
that is low in contaminants. Fuel purity is an issue, and this is
especially true for fuel from coal. Gas cleanup processes will also be tested at
the PSDF", says Dr. Jean Botti, chief technologist at Delphi's Dynamics
& Propulsion Innovation Center. "Since coal is an abundant
resource in the U.S., showing that a fuel cell can produce electricity from
gasified coal at a competitive cost would mean that the U.S. would become less
dependent on energy imports. After the demonstration, which explores what's
possible with this process, further R&D could prove-out the reliability and
effectiveness of high-power output from the fuel cell using gasified coal."
Coal is an abundant resource not only in the United States but also in Europe
and emerging markets such as China so that this technology should raise some
interest, in particular with regards to saving jobs and providing a perspective
to the industry.
Taking off with hydrogen: Several fuel cell aircraft programs underway
Several organizations are currently working on the development of a hydrogen
fuel cell powered aircraft. The NASA's Aeropropulsion Concepts Program is aiming
to produce an FC plane the size of a Boeing 737 with zero CO2 emissions.
According to the Space Center's estimates, around 4% of all carbon dioxide
pollutants are produced by aircraft, a figure that is expected to increase to
10% by 2050. Fuel cells could be the answer to this problem, says Peter
McCallum, deputy head of NASA's propulsion and power projects. 'We think that
fuel cells offer the greater long-term benefit ... because they have a higher
inherent thermal efficiency than conventional aircraft engines." After
three years and USD 21 million of research at NASA's Glenn Research Centre in
Ohio, several candidate systems have been taken forward for further development
this year. The technology will need to be adapted because aircraft require
lighter and more powerful fuel cells. The researchers are investigating SOFCs,
which use solid electrolytes rather than liquids and PEMs, which use liquid
hydrogen. The H2 fuel for the aircraft is stored in spherical tanks to keep it
at a sufficiently high pressure. This is a challenge for aircraft designers as
airliner fuel is normally stored in the wings. McCallum sees this development as
a long-term project, expecting the technology to be ready in 20 years. Taking
off a littler sooner will be the first fuel cell airplane for manned flight
developed by Boeing. UK-based FC manufacturer Intelligent Energy, which has been
selected as a partner in this project, released news about the timeline for this
undertaking. The plane's first flight is planned for December 2003. Already in
the air is AeroVironment's unmanned FC powered micro aircraft. The Californian
research company has been working with the NASA to develop and prove the
viablity of solar-electric aircrafts for high-altitude flight. Applications for
such aircraft include telecommunications, remote sensing and atmospheric
measurement. The micro FC plane will store the solar energy to provide power for
flying through the night. It is said to be capable of continous flight for
months at a time at altitudes of 50,000 to 70,000 feet (15,000-21,000m).
European Portable Fuel Cell Study: Last chance to participate
The European Portable Fuel Cell Study is in the final interview phase.
Organizations who are developing portable FC systems or peripheral technologies
and are not yet participating in the survey now have their last chance. The
questionnaire can be downloaded from www.freesen.de/h2report/study.htm
and has to be returned before June 20, 2003. The website also has a detailed
table of contents and information on pricing and ordering. Discounts are
available for participants in the study and members of the VDI, the VDE and the
NHA.
Talking business at Hydrogen Expo USA: Satisfied exhibitors speak up
"Hydrogen Expo USA was very good for our team, we had a lot of media and interaction. Great event and venue!" This is what Dr. Phil Chizek, Marketing & Sales Manger for the Fuel Cell Vehicles Program at Ford Motor Company had to say about the event that took place in Washington DC in March 2003. But Hydrogen Expo USA was not only good for the big guys. First-time exhibitor UST Umweltsensortechnik from Geschwenda in Germany landed an order as a result of their participation. Others were just as satisfied, having met with hundreds of opinion-leaders and decision-makers from North America, Asia and Europe during the 2 1/2 days of the event. The next Hydrogen Expo USA, held in Los Angeles, CA from April 26 to 29 is bound to even surpass this success. Organizer Freesen & Partner GmbH, together with their partner, the National Hydrogen Assocation (NHA) is already planning a program that will ensure maximum impact of Hydrogen Expo USA and the NHA Annual Conference. Exhibit space is again limited (this year's expo quickly sold out), therefore early booking is recommended. For more information go to: www.hydrogenexpo.com or call Ines Freesen at tel. +49-211-687858-11.
Mobile H2 refueling system to be demonstrated live at H2Expo in Hamburg
Exhibitor Air Products is bringing its mobile hydrogen fueling station to this year's H2Expo in Hamburg (www.h2expo.com). From October 9 to 11 visitors can see how safe and easy to handle the system is. The trend is towards mobile systems, says Air Products. There was a demand from customers for a low cost relocatable fueling system for their H2 powered vehicles. "These concepts are the spark for the future infrastructure", adds Katrin Meyer, Sales Manager for these applications in Germany. Units like the Series 100 combine low capital investment with minimal utility requirements. Depending on the hydrogen supply source, 2 to 10 kg of hydrogen a day can be dispensed and up to 20 automobiles and bus fleets can be supplied. On the H2Expo outdoor area the "complete package" technology will be demonstrated: compression, storage and dispension are integrated into the same unit, which can be relocated if required. The vehicles exhibited at the show will be able to refill with such a unit. Air Products' mobile fueling stations are designed to dispense 350 bar (5,000 psi) hydrogen but can be modified for 700 bar, too. The company offers its customers a "full service package" and in addition to keeping the stations filled and serviced can also assume responsibility for permits and training of the customer's personnel. Also at H2Expo, Air Products will run one of its one-day safety training courses. For more information about participation in the vehicle test drive and about the Know H2ow safety program contact sales@h2expo.com or call +49-211-687858-11.
