NEWS

8Fuel Cells Bulletin June 2013

D’Couto, president of Neah Power. ‘The use and evaluation of PowerPlay within a Fortune 110 company will provide Neah Power Systems feedback to further optimise the product to meet this and other customer requirements.’

Neah Power’s mutually exclusive, paid development contract with Ion Geophysical was announced in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission in January. Ion Geophysical provides advanced seismic acquisition equipment, services, and data libraries to the global oil & gas industry.

This contract is for the development of a fuel cell based underwater application, in lieu of lithium-ion batteries and other power sources. As part of the contract, Neah has implemented a manufacturing partnership with a MEMS (microelectromechanical systems) foundry supplier for high-volume manufacturing of the PowerChip fuel cells. The company has also made significant progress on product design and development for Ion Geophysical.

Neah Power uses a unique, patented, silicon-based design for its Powerchip and PowerPlay micro DMFCs that results in higher power densities, lower cost, and compact form-factors, as well as the ability to run in aerobic and anaerobic modes. The company is exploring collaboration with Boeing to deploy the PowerChip technology to various distributed power sources on Boeing’s current and future aircraft and ground systems [FCB, November 2011, p4].

Neah Power Systems, Bothell, Washington, USA. Tel: +1 425 424 3324, www.neahpower.com

Ion Geophysical Corporation: www.iongeo.com

Intelligent Energy, Etisalat in portable device collaboration

UK-based fuel cell developer Intelligent Energy has announced

a collaboration with telecom company Etisalat Nigeria, to meet the increasing need for practical and cost-effective alternatives to powering portable electronic devices. The companies have already started work to test personal energy devices powered by Intelligent Energy’s proven PEM fuel cell technology, with an Etisalat user trial to commence this summer.

As electronic devices become more sophisticated, the requirement for portable power has increased exponentially. However, advances in battery power have lagged behind, leading to consumer disappointment and creating a need for

practical and cost-effective alternatives. Intelligent Energy’s portable power technology has been developed to address this need, providing greater amounts of ‘on-the-go’ power so that mobile operators can deliver better user experience and increase the average revenue per user (ARPU).

The scope of the Etisalat trial will include field-testing of a new solution, based on technology from Intelligent Energy’s consumer electronics division, with selected customers across various mobile energy devices.

‘Etisalat believes in providing our customers with up-to-date solutions that will improve their mobile experience,’ says Wael Ammar, chief commercial officer at Etisalat Nigeria, which is part of the UAE-based Etisalat Group. ‘Our customers will now be able to enjoy personal energy on the go, and are also able to use their portable devices at any time without the concern of running out of energy, thanks to this world-class technology.’

Earlier this year Intelligent Energy announced that it is collaborating with Cable & Wireless Communications to run a user trial of consumer electronic devices powered by IE’s fuel cell technology for various mobile devices across their market sectors [FCB, March 2013, p6].

Intelligent Energy is also commercialising its fuel cell technology in other applications [see the IE feature in FCB, August 2009]. These include backup power systems for telecom towers in India [FCB, November 2012, p10], and through its SMILE FC System joint venture with Suzuki Motor Corporation in Japan, which has established a ready-to-scale-up production plant for its PEM fuel cell systems in Yokohama [FCB, March 2013, p8]. Intelligent Energy also recently completed a three-year project with several UK partners that demonstrated a more than 30% increase in the power density of its fuel cell system, together with reliable cold-start performance down to –20°C [FCB, April 2013, p1].

Intelligent Energy, Loughborough, UK. Tel: +44 1509 271271, www.intelligent-energy.com

Etisalat Group, United Arab Emirates: www.etisalat.ae

Air Liquide hydrogen station for forklift fleet at IKEA in France

In France, Air Liquide is providing a hydrogen fueling station to the furniture

and home accessories retailer IKEA, to supply part of its logistic platform in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier, near Lyon.

The hydrogen station will supply around 20 electric forklift trucks powered by GenDrive® hydrogen PEM fuel cells produced by HyPulsion, the joint venture owned by Air Liquide’s subsidiary Axane and Plug Power in the US [FCB, May 2013, p1]. These forklift trucks offer extended runtime of a full 8 h working shift [see the Plug Power feature in FCB, December 2011].

The Air Liquide fueling station will supply hydrogen at 350 bar (5000 psi), with refills in just 3 min. Replacing electric batteries with fuel cells provides greater flexibility and productivity, thanks to a longer operating range for users and a shorter downtime for refueling. IKEA’s 100 000 m2 distribution centre in Saint-Quentin-Fallavier is a key warehouse for the upstream logistics of IKEA stores in southern Europe, organising the receipt and storage of products delivered from all over the world. IKEA signed the contract with HyPulsion last summer [FCB, June 2012, p13].

‘This project, which is a first in Europe, proves the competitiveness and technical maturity of this solution for electric forklift trucks,’ says François Darchis, senior VP at Air Liquide. ‘And thanks to the cooperation between public and private partners, it is the opportunity to drive change in the regulations to allow the development of hydrogen energy in France.’

This project is the result of work carried out by the partners of the Horizon Hydrogen Energy (H2E) Program in France, funded by OSEO, the national agency for funding and supporting technological innovation, and the fruit of effective cooperation with public authorities.

The use of hydrogen as an energy carrier for logistic platforms has been developing in the US and Canada, with over 3000 forklift trucks currently running on hydrogen. The conversion of just 10% of the worldwide fleet of forklift trucks would represent a potential hydrogen market of E7 billion (US$9 billion), according to Air Liquide.

Air Liquide, Hydrogen Energy: www.airliquide-hydrogen-energy.com

HyPulsion: http://tinyurl.com/hypulsion

Axane: www.axane.fr

Air Liquide, Horizon Hydrogen Energy (H2E) Program: http://tinyurl.com/H2E-program

Plug Power: www.plugpower.com

Sandia, SRI advancing hydrogen, natural gas for transportation

In California, Sandia National Laboratories is joining forces with SRI

International, an independent research and innovation centre, to explore,

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June 2013 Fuel Cells Bulletin9

test and evaluate a broad range of hydrogen and natural gas fuel systems and components for transportation applications. Sandia has also made a key hydrogen report available on the OpenEnergyInfo wiki site.

The five-year Memorandum of Understanding with SRI is the first agreement in Sandia’s new Center for Infrastructure Research and Innovation (CIRI), an alternative fuel R&D facility whose goal is to accelerate hydrogen and natural gas infrastructure technologies into the marketplace. The collaboration will capitalise on research at Sandia’s renowned Combustion Research Facility (CRF). CIRI will be located at Sandia’s Livermore Valley Open Campus, adjacent to the CRF.

Under the MOU, Sandia and SRI International will focus on research in high-pressure system and component durability testing, destructive testing of components and systems, fire engulfment and impingement testing, life-cycle testing, risk assessments of hydrogen infrastructure, advanced storage technology, hydrogen and natural gas release experiments, and evaluation of material, component and system failure modes.

‘Together, Sandia and SRI will address the most challenging barriers associated with alternative fuel infrastructure, including cost, performance, and availability of the fueling systems,’ says Sandia’s hydrogen programme manager, Daniel Dedrick. ‘We’re excited to kick off this collaboration with SRI, and see it as a critical step toward a comprehensive gaseous-fuel research capability for the nation.’

In other news, Sandia’s Technical Reference on Hydrogen Compatibility of Materials has been made available on the Energy Dataset of OpenEnergyInfo (OpenEI). The guide has been available on the Sandia website for several years, but now the information found in the publication is more widely available and easier to access.

The Technical Reference focuses on compatibility issues between hydrogen and other materials, such as embrittlement in some materials. The guide provides detailed information on the effects of hydrogen on materials that might be used in equipment for storing hydrogen and delivering it to fuel cell electric vehicles. It consolidates an extensive review of reports and journal publications, as well as new Sandia research, on a range of compatibility issues that must be addressed to increase the cost-effectiveness and ease-of-use of hydrogen vehicles and their infrastructure.

Sandia National Labs, Combustion Research Facility,

Hydrogen Program: http://tinyurl.com/sandia-crf-h2

SRI International, Hydrogen Safety Research Program:

http://tinyurl.com/sri-h2-safety

OpenEI, Technical Reference and Technical Database for Hydrogen Compatibility of Materials: http://en.openei.org/datasets/node/927

Sandia, Technical Reference for Hydrogen Compatibility of Materials: www.sandia.gov/matlsTechRef/

ITM Power grant for large-scale alkali PEM energy storage stack

In the UK, ITM Power has received notification from the Department

of Energy & Climate Change (DECC) of a £500 000 (US$770 000) grant to scale up its low-cost alkaline PEM electrolyser stack for Power-to-Gas energy storage.

ITM’s alkaline PEM technology [FCB, December 2011, p10] is a low-cost electrolyser platform being scaled up to the 1 MW level, using 16 individual stacks, for Power-to-Gas (P2G) energy storage applications [see the feature on ITM Power’s membrane technology in FCB, July 2012]. The company recently won a competitive tender process to supply a 360 kW Power-to-Gas energy storage plant for a project with the Thüga Group in Germany [FCB, April 2013, p9].

‘We are delighted to have secured the support of DECC for the scale-up of our innovative low-cost alkali PEM stack technology,’ says Dr Graham Cooley, CEO of ITM Power. ‘This development project further strengthens our partnership with AEG Power Solutions, which will provide the power electronics.’

ITM has also announced that it made its first sales of products to South America and Hungary, at the recent Hannover Messe in Germany. These two reference plants built on the HPac platform are the first sales to these territories; ITM also saw an increased level of interest in its products from Eastern Europe. As last year, ITM provided its HFuel hydrogen refueling station to refuel the fleet of fuel cell electric vehicles at the event.

The company also had a lot of enquiries in Hannover about utility-scale energy storage applications, in the form of both Power-to-Gas and Power-to-Gas plus Methanation. ‘Power-to-Gas energy storage is seeing intense interest from European energy companies, and ITM Power’s technology is well positioned as a result of the Thüga contract win,’ says Cooley.

ITM Power, Sheffield, UK. Tel: +44 114 244 5111, www.itm-power.com

PEM fuel cell tech allows long-distance shipping of fresh fish

San Francisco-based Global Fresh Foods has successfully ocean

freighted 40 000 lb (18 tonnes) of fresh salmon from Lirquen, in the Bio-Bio Region of Chile, to the Port of Long Beach, California without the use of polystyrene or ice. Instead, GFF employed its patented, controlled atmosphere, PEM fuel cell-based technology to keep the fish fresh for the entire journey.

The event marks the first time that a full 40 ft (12 m) container of non-frozen salmon has been shipped to the US via ocean freight. Global Fresh Foods worked closely with US distributor, Lusamerica Fish, to bring the salmon to California.

‘The industry now has a viable alternative to expensive and environmentally harmful air-freight for transporting fresh seafood,’ says Mark Barnekow, CEO of Global Fresh Foods. ‘With our technology, seafood distributors can now assure their retail customers they will have an uninterrupted supply of fresh seafood, with far less impact on the environment.’

Global Fresh Foods’ SAF-D® technology system uses patented oxygen management techniques to create and maintain an all-natural controlled atmosphere environment that extends the shelf life of perishable proteins (patent US 8187653, ‘System and methods for transporting or storing oxidatively-degradable foodstuff,’ L.D. Bell et al., published 29 May 2012). The system maintains a controlled atmosphere with high CO2 and low oxygen (less than 200 ppm), activating the PEM fuel cell as required to convert residual oxygen to water vapour. This creates an environment perfectly suited for the natural preservation of fresh proteins for more than 30 days, and significantly extends the shelf life of fresh food.

This breakthrough technology allows suppliers of fresh protein products to ship by ocean rather than more expensive airfreight and still deliver a fresh, high-quality product to customers, while eliminating the need for polystyrene in the seafood supply chain. GFF can now offer salmon producers worldwide the ability to expand into new geographies, and opens the door to reach customers in Asia and Europe.

Global Fresh Foods, San Francisco, California, USA. Tel: +1 415 858 4126, www.globalfreshfoods.com

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