December 2004

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SAN ANTONIO, TX - A glimpse of how Toyota sees its fuel cell future, calls for much more funding from both sides of the Atlantic, a good-sized number of new products and equipment, two- and four-wheeled scooters and cars at the obligatory Ride-and-Drive event kept participants in the 2004 Fuel Cell Seminar here informed, busy and entertained.

A DaimlerChrysler F-Cell underway during the Fuel Cell Seminar’s two days of Ride-and-Drive in the Alamodome parking lot. Visible at the curb are the Ford and GM fuel cell vehicles, out of action part of the time with mechanical problems.

An estimated 2,200 people turned out for the five-day event Nov. 1-5, roughly the same as last year’s gathering of the tribe in Miami (H&FCL Dec. 03). The gargantuan Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center, with its seemingly unending array of ballrooms, meeting halls, Texas-sized high-ceilinged airy foyers, lobbies and lounges - somebody quipped the place needed a golf cart to get around in - offered a telling contrast to Miami. There, exhibitors were stuffed into a low-ceilinged underground garage-type space that seemed more like a dungeon than a venue for exhibiting high technology.

The physical expanse contributed to a sense of optimism, underscored by a worldwide survey of the fuel cell industry released during the Seminar which reported a 41% increase in sales in 2003 over 2002 - from $240 million to $338 million last year. The survey was conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers among members of the U.S. Fuel Cell Council, Fuel Cells Canada, Fuel Cell Europe and the Fuel Cell Commercialization Conference of Japan.

With 43% of the 395 surveyed organizations responding, the survey also found that R&D expenditures increased from $764 million to $859 million, a 13% increase. Employment levels remained pretty much constant, 7,750 in 2002 and 7,748 in 2003.

Despite these encouraging signs, some industry watchers professed to detect signs of wariness, caution and retrenchment. One veteran Seminar participant noted that companies such as Ballard and Siemens Westinghouse which fielded big, impressive displays at past events, downsized this time to more spartan representation. Other major players such as Johnson Matthey and Engelhardt didn’t rent any booth space at all, but the guessing was many executives were busily dealing and wheeling in “lots of business meetings,” as he put it, away from the conference site.

“Some companies are careful to conserve cash,” one executive told H&FLC. With uncertainty where new funding is coming from, “they don’t want to fall off the cliff.” Said another, “Some people have 3-4 year cash horizons, and burn rates are high.” One result is that some companies, instead of exhibiting products at a dedicated fuel cell show, migrate to more vertically-structured venues such as industrial application trade shows, “where they hope to make sales.”

With 160 exhibitors on the official list, the official total was down slightly from the 170 last year in Miami. The actual number may have been a little lower even: at least one company, Nuvera, which was listed as exhibitor on the official program, pulled out on fairly short notice, leaving some people wondering about the reasons.

Emblematic of the mixed feelings currently pervading the industry, 2004 Seminar chairman Michael J. Binder, the U.S. Defense Department’s Fuel Cell Program Manager, wrote in his welcoming message, “despite tremendous technical advances and demonstrations of fuel cells in a wide variety of applications, commercial successes are still dependent on incentive programs and niche markets.” He added, “Every year at the Fuel Cell Seminar, we hear projections.....with regard to the time frame at which viable price points will be reached....inevitably based on some volume of sales.” Wrote Binder, “of course, the projected sales volume is never reached, and the economic projections are never reached.”

“It is time we stop relying on economies of scale to achieve needed cost reductions. These cost reductions have to be engineered out of the systems. This is going to take a concerted cooperative effort, with international government, industry and academia working closely together.”

“There will be plenty of opportunity for competition among manufacturers once fuel cell technology is firmly entrenched in the commercial world,” Binder wrote. “Right now, the fuel cell community is in desperate need of a commercial success - an application that is economically viable with respect to all alternative forms of energy supply.”

Robert Rose, executive director of the U.S. Fuel Cell Council, who was honored with the 2004 Fuel Cell Seminar Award, pretty much echoed Binder’s views, telling the audience the fuel cell community has to get its act together.

“It is time for plain talk and bold action,” he said in his acceptance speech. “Our industry faces opposition not just from entrenched interests but from many who should be our allies. Our nation faces determined and clever enemies who see our energy dependence as a fundamental vulnerability.”

To break that dependence and our addiction to oil, Rose proposes spending $50-60 billion over the next 15 years in the United States alone, and three to four times that amount world wide to move forward in this area (See sidebar, Proposal, p.5).

“Our technical progress has been matched by an increasing focus on the challenges of hydrogen fuel, including the cost of the fuel and infrastructure, safety and consumer acceptance,” Rose added. “We have vocal and effective opponents. Their arguments are often wrong, usually inflammatory and too often badly motivated. In fact, much of this criticism is merely clever packaging, stimulated by defensive maneuvering by interests that would be displaced or that fear that their corner of the advanced energy universe will be overlooked.”

Declared Rose, “we are talking about nothing less than overhauling the engine of the world’s economy, making each nation safer, offering even those nations that have been left out of the oil century a chance for a better future.”

The need for much bigger r&d funding worldwide was also underscored by a European keynoter. Bernard Frois, director of the energy, transport, environment and natural resources department in France’s Ministry of Research and New Technologies, says cost is not really an issue: the energy cost in his wristwatch battery is somewhere between $5,000 and $10,000 a kilowatt, and “power in a hospital is not a cost issue.”

“When people say, hydrogen is a joke, I say people are willing to invest billions,” Frois declared. Citing estimates by the International Energy Agency (IEA), Frois said the global cost of a transition to a hydrogen economy over the next 30 years could be between $1 and $5 trillion.

This sounds “shocking”, he said, but it is only about one-third of one per cent of the world’s Gross National Product (GNP), and “what you will get out of it is going to be very good.”

Half wish list, half intriguing preview of what Toyota, unarguably one of the leaders in automotive fuel cell technology, is looking at in terms of better on-board fuel storage and fuel cell performance, a paper by four Toyota researchers reported on experiments with “Intermediate Temperature Fuel Cell and New Hydrogen Storage Materials.”

Presented by Satoshi Iguchi, the paper reported on storage work with both single-wall nanotubes, including restructured, purified and press-molded materials - and high-pressure metal hydride systems.

Treated nanotubes achieved by-weight storage capacities of close to 3%, and pressurized metal hydrides achieved a maximum of 7.3 kg of hydrogen in an 180 liter tank (TiCrMn alloys with AB2 lave phase). The effective uptake is 1.9%, but offers fast charging (11,000 NL/min) and low-temperature release (from minus 30 deg. C).

The bottom line, per Iguchi’s slide: “High-pressure MH system shows a realistic way to obtain adequate cruising range.” Single-wall nanotubes have been studied to clarify their potential, and the “uptake amount was increased by control of the structure,” but a “large gap to target performance” remains. To realize a hydrogen society, worldwide collaboration research is needed.

Intriguing is Toyota’s work on intermediate temperature fuel cells - around 500 deg. C - with an ultra-thin proton conductor electrolyte that would be suitable for use with an on-board reformer (use of existing fueling structures). PEMs don’t work with reformers needing higher temperatures, and SOFCs temperatures are too high, hence the intermediate-temperature idea, said Iguchi.

The ultra-thin proton conductor electrolyte (about 1 µm) is supported by a solid palladium “hydrogen” membrane (40-80 µm). The cathode doesn’t require precious metals, there are no liquid water management requirements - water for fuel reforming is obtained from steam in the cathode off-gas - and the concept permits easy high-density stacking, according to the presentation slides.

Single cells were operated at temperatures between 430 and 610 deg. C., the team paper said. One slide showed a schematic packaging together of the fuel cell with a reformer, into a “simple, compact” unit with an estimated system efficiency of 60%.

Spotted in the display area:

• IdaTech’s lunch box-sized portable PEM fuel cell generator.

  IdaTech, Bend, OR unveiled the prototype of a portable, fuel cell system scaleable from 100W to 500 W, complete with a built-in reformer. Intended for the U.S. Army as a field battery charger, the entire system measures 12 by 8 by 6 inches - the size of a large lunch box. The system shown in San Antonio produces about 150 W from a pre-packaged water methanol mixture, but the unit to be delivered to the military will generate about 250 W.

• PolyFuel’s side-by-side comparison setup with Nafion 117.

  Membrane developer PolyFuel, Palo Alto, CA was running a snazzy real-time side-by-side display - PolyFuel called it a “shootout” - between one of its new hydrocarbon-based direct methanol fuel cell membranes and DuPont’s Nafion 117 membrane materials, using identical test setups (H&FCL Nov. 04).

• Fideris displayed its CATStation.

  Fideris Inc, Lowell, MA, formerly Lynntech Industries, Inc., showed its new CATStation, a complete catalyst activation testing station. The device features mass flow control of up to ten reactant gases and two independent liquid delivery systems. The unit consists of a stationary docking station with line voltage, while the movable test cart allows the user to configure the test away from the testing area.

• Voller Energy Ltd. CEO Stephen Voller, left, looks pretty happy after demonstrating his new VE100 v2 portable fuel cell system to another Fuel Cell Seminar exhibitor.

  Britain’s Voller Energy Ltd., launched a new portable generator and battery charger that can run off internal metal hydride canisters for limited use, developed by Energy Conversion Devices which, Voller’s release says, have been approved by the U.S. Transportation Department. For longer run time, Voller recommends compressed hydrogen canisters. The company expects to introduce an LPG reformer in two years, permitting the generator to use propane, butane, liquid petroleum gas or camping gas. Nominal output is 100 W (200 W peak) either at 230 V/50Hz or 110V/60 Hz AC. In the United States, the unit is already being offered by fuelcellstore. com at $3,600, plus shipping.

Outside, on a sunny parking lot next to the nearby Alamodome, fairly long lines of amateur test drivers were itching to take fuel cell cars from DaimlerChrysler, General Motors and Ford, for a spin (The GM HydroGen3 and Ford Fuel Cell Focus were temporarily sidelined with mechanical, non-fuel cell problems). Also available for test rides were early battery-powered versions of a yet-to-come fuel cell scooter that Vectrix USA, Newport, RI and Parker-Hannifin Corp., New Britain, CT plan to produce in two or three years. Originally announced at last year’s Fuel Cell Seminar (H&FCL 03), the battery version was supposed to be showroom-ready this year, but apparently there are delays. A couple of days before the Seminar, Parker Hannifin and fuel cell developer Protonex, Southborough, MA announced a strategic partnership agreement under which Protonex will develop and manufacture the 500 W PEM fuel cell for the scooter’s hybrid power system.

Sidelined: The Juelich DMFC hybrid ATV, awaiting a new methanol pump.

Germany’s Juelich Research Center turned up with a four-wheeled 1.3 kW (nominal) direct methanol fuel cell hybrid all-terrain vehicle (ATV), but the cute buggy was also disabled when its methanol pump quit. The plucky Juelich crew had a new one flown in overnight from Germany and installed it the next day.

Some noteworthy papers:

• A paper by researchers from Atofina, King of Prussia, PA and Johnson Matthey, West Chester, PA and Reading, UK reported on the ongoing development of what hopefully will be a low-cost, durable membrane and MEA. The novel membranes are made from an alloy consisting of Kynar® polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) and a proprietary polyelectrolyte, needed because pure PVDF doesn’t conduct protons, reported Atofina’s Kev Adjemian. So far the membranes have demonstrated better mechanical properties, less fuel crossover and improved thermal stability compared to conventional PFSA materials.
• Two scientists from UTC Fuel Cells, S. Windsor, CT and DuPont Fuel Cells, Wilmington, DE, Thomas Jarvi and Eric Teather, reported on work to achieve 40,000 hours of PEM stack durability without increased costs via targeting cell stack failure modes. Recent tests of a 20-cell stack have achieved 7,500 hours.
• Ballard Power Systems researcher Charles Stone reported PEM fuel cells now perform “efficiently and reliably” over 1,000 hours, but more research is needed to reduce costs and increase operational flexibility. Key areas are sub-zero temperature startup and the ability to withstand very aggressive driving cycles. In response to a question from an audience member after his presentation, Stone said he believed costs of less than $1,000/kW will be achieved in 2-3 years, but that systems integration is a more important issue. Breakdowns typically are due to failures by supposedly near fail-proof items such as pumps and other mechanical equipment, he said.
• A paper by TIAX LLC’s Stephen Lasher and Stefan Unnasch on hydrogen infrastructure, energy, costs and transition indicates that hydrogen-fueled internal combustion engine vehicles can potentially achieve 20-40% fuel economy improvement without extra modifications such as weight reduction and hybridization. These improvements could be achieved by very lean operation combined with innovative engine management strategies, they said. They said preliminary analyses also indicate that hydrogen produced from natural gas can reduce automotive greenhouse gas emissions by about 50%, depending on a number of assumptions, possibly even more with more aggressive assumptions.
• Jerry Martin, Mesoscopic Devices LLC, Broomfield, CO described a lightweight 75 W portable SOFC generator for use as a battery charger his company is developing together with the University of Utah and Materials and Systems Research, Inc., both in Salt Lake City. Developed with support by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), the first unoptimized system weighs 6.3 kg - stack mass is 1.8 kg - but models for the second generation, to be built next year, project a system weight of 2.6 kg and system efficiency of 28% (net power to load/LHV of fuel in). Typical fuel conversion is better than 98%. Overall BOP efficiency was 83% in the first cut and expected to reach 88% or better in the second generation.