fce, enbridge in ‘ultra-clean’ hybrid power plant deal

NEWS

September 2005 Fuel Cells Bulletin9

Avalence wins follow-upfunding for electrolyzers

The US Department of Energy hasawarded a Phase II Small Business

Innovation Research (SBIR) grant worth $750 000 to Connecticut-basedAvalence, to support the company’sdevelopment of electrolytic hydrogengenerators that will culminate in theinstallation of a renewably poweredhydrogen fueling station in Emeryville,California for AC Transit.

The company completed work relating to itsPhase I research grant in the spring, followingthe award of funding last summer [FCB, August2004]. The Avalence Hydrofiller requires onlyelectric power and water to produce hydrogengas, eliminating infrastructure barriers. In addi-tion, the unit does not need a mechanical com-pressor to produce and deliver hydrogen at thehigh pressures required for transportation appli-cations, and does not need power conditioningequipment when fed by renewable power.

AC Transit plans to install the hydrogen fuel-ing station at its Emeryville transit depot, whereit will be linked to a photovoltaic array todemonstrate the production of ‘green’ hydro-gen. The system will service several of the light-duty fuel cell vehicles that AC Transit will beoperating, and is a likely candidate as a stationon California Governor Schwarzenegger’sHydrogen Highway network.

Contact: Avalence LLC, Milford, Connecticut, USA.Tel: +1 203 701 0052, www.avalence.com

FCE, Enbridge in ‘ultra-clean’ hybridpower plant deal

Calgary-based energy transportationand distribution company Enbridge

and FuelCell Energy of Connecticut haveentered into an exclusive product devel-opment and distribution agreement fora new multi-MW product, the DirectFuelCell–Energy Recovery Generation™(DFC-ERG™). The product is specificallydesigned for natural gas pipeline appli-cations in the US and Canada.

The DFC-ERG power plant is a combinedcycle generation system that combines an FCEDirect FuelCell® power plant and an unfiredexpansion gas turbine for natural gas pipeline‘letdown stations’ where pressure reductions arerequired for local delivery. The DFC-ERG

provides the heat necessary to prevent freezing asa result of the pressure reduction process at theselocations, eliminating the combustion-based sys-tem used today. There are hundreds of these let-down stations across North America, which aretypically in areas with large commercial andindustrial customers and/or in large cities.

The new product is a way to recover currentlyunutilized energy from pipeline operations andimprove on the DFC power plant’s efficiencyand emission reduction benefits. Because it is acombined cycle power plant, the electrical effi-ciency of the DFC-ERG is approximately 60%.The companies are planning a MW demonstra-tion plant as part of a commercialization pro-gram for products sized from 1 to 10 MWe.The final location for the demonstration hybridplant is currently being finalized.

Enbridge, Canada’s largest natural gas distrib-ution company, has identified the potential formore than 40 MWe of DFC-ERG power plantswithin its own operating system in Ontario.The companies will initially target this market,as well as the six US states – California,Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, New York andPennsylvania – that qualify fuel cell powerplants operating on natural gas as an eligibletechnology under their Renewal PortfolioStandards (RPS) programs.

Contact: FuelCell Energy Inc, Danbury, Connecticut,USA. Tel: +1 203 825 6000, www.fuelcellenergy.com

Or contact: Enbridge Inc, Calgary, Alberta, Canada.Tel: +1 403 231 3900, www.enbridge.com

Proton Energy, Sanswirecollaborate on fuel cellairship project

Florida-based Sanswire Networks hassigned a Cooperative Research and

Development Agreement (CRADA) withProton Energy Systems of Connecticut,under which Proton will provide assis-tance in developing a regenerative fuelcell (RFC) energy storage system forSanswire’s high-altitude ‘Stratellite’Remotely Operated Airship.

The agreement calls for Proton to provideprototype RFC equipment and specialized tech-nical support to Sanswire for the company’sdevelopment and flight-testing of the Stratellite.Sanswire will provide the airship platform fortesting, and engineering inputs to tailor theRFC solution.

Proton’s PEM-based RFC system would gen-erate hydrogen by day using solar energy, andregenerate it into electricity to power the airshipovernight, enabling the Stratellite to stay in

I N B R I E F

Chemix quick-assembly fuel cell to aid R&DTokyo-based fuel-cell firm Chemix Co hasdeveloped a small direct methanol fuel cell thatcan be assembled or broken down in 5–10min, much faster than the 30 min normallyneeded. According to the Nikkei BusinessDaily, the company thinks the device will helpdeepen researchers’ understanding about thestructure of fuel cells.

The new cell is designed to integrate anouter frame and a fuel tank into a single unit,so that assembly/disassembly can be faster andeasier. Measuring 4.6 × 4.6 × 3 cm, the DMFCis able to produce 50 mW of electricity operat-ing on a 10% methanol solution.

Starting in mid-July, Chemix will promotethe product to universities and companiespreparing to conduct R&D on fuel cells. Thecompany aims to sell 5000 units annually,priced at ¥33 000 (US$300) each.

Mitsubishi Materials devises method toremove CO2 from reformateThe Nikkei Business Daily reports thatMitsubishi Materials Corporation has devel-oped a cheaper, less energy-intensive way toremove and recover CO2 from mixed gases.The company plans to create a prototypebased on the technology by 2007, to test in theproduction of high-purity hydrogen frompetrochemicals for use in fuel cells.

Conventionally, amine liquid is used toabsorb CO2 from the mixed gases (reformate).When the pressure of the amine liquid is low-ered, the CO2 escapes as a gas and is then recov-ered. However, for storage and transport this gasmust then be reliquefied by pressurizing it.

In the new technology, CO2 is absorbed fromthe mixed gases using an ionic liquid. SinceCO2 can be recovered from the ionic liquidwhile still in a liquid state, there is no need tochange the pressure, which means the separa-tion/recovery process uses 60–80% less energy.

HyWays project calls for Euro partnersThe European Commission-funded HyWaysproject, for the development and detailed eval-uation of a harmonized ‘European HydrogenEnergy Roadmap’, is seeking a further four tosix member state partners for the period fromJanuary 2006 to March 2007. The objective isto increase the representativeness of the tenta-tive draft roadmap, currently based on themember states France, Germany, Greece, Italy,The Netherlands and Norway, for publicationby October 2005.

Energy agencies or other recognized neutralinstitutions in European (and associate) mem-ber states are encouraged to apply for this call.

More details of the call are available at:www.cordis.lu/fp6/projects_call.htm

The HyWays website is at: www.hyways.de/call