Hannover – Day 4

Nick
Stuart Jones from ABSL Power solutions, another business exhibiting in Innovation Alley, took the time to talk to me about fuel cell use in military applications. Currently portable fuel cell power packs to replace battery technology become weight effective once the mission length becomes greater than 24 hours, explains Stuart. In addition to improving the power density the challenges facing ABSL’s system are similar to those that are being faced by most in the industry including getting the stack started below minus 20 degrees Celsius, reducing the start up time to under 10 minutes and meeting military heavy rain testing standards. However there is light at the end of the tunnel for ABSL, their next generation unit has addressed these issues and 10 units will be tested by the UK military in February 2009.

Acumentrics on the other hand is aiming to serve the US military’s needs, initially with a 250 W and 1 kW unit. CEO, Gary D Simon explains as battery technology is improving their strategy is to provide quiet light weight and easy start power units that can be used to recharge the batteries used in recon exercises. As far as the US military is concerned it is important to develop a system that can run on JP8 fuel, this is where Acumentrics’ solid oxide system has an advantage, because the fuel does not have to be reformed to the same levels of purity required for PEM, they can offer greater efficiency.

Hydrogenics explained how they are pursuing yet another strategy in an interview on Wednesday, because they have competencies in electrolysis to produce hydrogen, they are using vehicle alternators to power hydrogen production in the field.

Another Interesting interview was conducted with Dr Vera Ingunn Moe, from StatoilHydro Hydrogen, about Norway’s hydrogen highway plans. Dubbed Hynor, the project aims to be completed by May 2009 and will cover around 600km from Oslo to Stavanger. To add to the 15 vehicles the scheme already has introduced to the roads, HyNor have an agreement with Mazda to deliver a further 30 ICE vehicles by the launch and are actively looking for participants to utilise the vehicles. So if you live in Norway and you fancy yourself in a hydrogen vehicle, they could welcome your contact. To mark the completion of the project HyNor are organising a race along the distance of the hydrogen highway, it is open to all hydrogen and electric vehicles. Likewise, if you are interested in participating, I am sure they will be eager to hear from you.

Kerry-Ann
Ok, who let the general public in? Footfall has been very high today but to be honest the increase has mainly been made up with people asking “what is a fuel cell”. In between the few chats I have had with companies focusing on the issues surrounding manufacturing (very interesting but not something we can write about….) I have a continued my conversations with companies that have technology that I personally find interesting. Apologies now to anyone I leave out here.
Starting with Acta, Acta make catalysts for fuel cells and have now branched out into electrolysers. Traditionally alkaline units have had the majority share of the electrolyser market with PEM units starting to come through over the last few years. Companies such as Acta are leading an alkaline fight back, in this market at least. The new twist for the company is its recent start of the promotion of Ammonia as a rich hydrogen carrier. Whilst some wince at the idea of using Ammonia, after all it is toxic, Acta have, they claim, come to the conclusion that in terms of efficiency it is the best fuel for their product. Their sweet spot is the development of an electrolyser that functions in a system where ammonia is produced as a waste product, in one go turning to a problem into a benefit.

I have also had the pleasure to spend time with a number of residential fuel cell developers. For one reason or another I like the idea of a fuel cell in the home. To me a lot of this makes sense but talking to the developers it is clear that there is a lot of work to be done, and a lot of it is not in the development of the stack. Guido Gummert from Baxi Innotech put together a very eloquent case for the need to work together in the soft infrastructure areas to allow any chance of market diffusion of residential fuel cells when they are ready. Issues such as installation training, house design and codes and standards need to be sorted if fuel cells for the home in any other country that Japan and Germany have a chance to diffuse. Baxi is not just developing fuel cells but a range of mCHP products but they do see in many cases fuel cells being the best option. Driven by carbon reduction legislation due to come out of the European Union in 2012 homes will need to reduce their carbon footprint. Baxi’s test fuel cell have shown a per home reduction of 30-50% running of a natural gas in a not fully optimised system. This current unit produces around 1kWe and 6kWth. 2010 will see the release of the next generation of unit.

Hexis are also looking at the residential market with 2011 / 2012 commercialisation. The company produces its one stacks and catalytic POX reformer technology integrating it into a 1kWe unit (22kWth, with back up burner) for a single family home. Hexis is also developing units to run of Natural Gas and sees central Europe as its initial market. In the coming year we will see the launch of a new large scale field test and a new funding round for the company.

Finally from me today is IRD technology. Up until very recently information on the company was as rare as hens teeth. Based in Denmark the company is now starting to come out of the shadows with its DMFC and PEM technology. A lot more on this and Nordic Power Systems (a developer of diesel reformers and diesel based fuel cell systems) in the full report when we have the pictures to include!

Jon
Component manufacturers have been conspicuous at this year’s show, particularly in Innovation Alley, as we reported on yesterday. SEAL are one of these, and make fuel cell materials including gas diffusion layers and high temperature membrane support layers. They have been producing specialist textiles for the chemical industry for over 70 years and specialises in coating materials for use in high and low temperature fuel cells. They are currently ramping up production to produce continuous rolls of gas diffusion membranes for customised fuel cell applications. As the fuel cell industry’s demands for components grow, companies like SEAL are set for an interesting future.

I managed to catch up with SFC Smart Fuel Cell, right on the edge of the fuel cell display area, but with some mightily impressive fuel cell kit of their own. I got to test-drive their DMFC mobility assistance vehicle (a shopmobility vehicle designed for older people) on the road outside the Hall, reaching speeds of 20 km an hour and alarming pedestrians. SFC also had a fuel cell scooter on their stand, four of which they have sold this week. What is exciting about SFC is that they are selling truly commercial products, – i.e. their EFOY fuel cell product that comes with service and warranty agreements, are government approved and, most importantly, have an accompanying fuelling infrastructure. SFC distributes its methanol cartridges through around 1,000 outlets across Europe (mainly camping shops and marinas) and their 5 litre methanol cartridge retails at 16 Euros – not bad for a cartridge that gives up to 2 weeks of power for your campervan or boat. SFC shipped over 1500 units in the first quarter of this year (according to its last quarterly report) and looks set for further growth this year. We will be reporting on this in more detail in our Niche Transport survey in the summer.

That’s all for today. Look out for our report on the fifth and final day tomorrow.