All fuel cell systems feature BOP-components in order to carry out necessary processing and control of inlet and outlet streams.

Under a contract with Ceres Power, Prototech is in the process of completing the supply of a BOP unit to be installed at Ceres Power’s test and development facility in London. The unit will be used as a platform for laboratory testing and development and this is reflected in the modular system design being very different from the expected system layout of a commercial unit.

The BOP-unit includes all components necessary for processing the inlet fuel and air streams as well as the exhaust from the fuel cell. The unit comprises a steamer, heat exchangers, a catalytic reformer, catalytic burners in addition to instrumentation for monitoring and control.

The project has been a collaborative effort between the two companies built on the individual expertise of both. The system layout is based on the specific requirements of Ceres Power whilst the individual design of each BOP-component has been undertaken by Prototech.

The unit, excluding the fuel cell stack, has been successfully tested at Prototech and is ready for shipment.

Ceres Power, based in Crawley, UK, is targeting a range of global market applications for its world-beating fuel cell, including residential combined heat and power (CHP), stand-alone generators and auxiliary power units for transport.  Critically, the technology uses low cost materials and existing mass production techniques. And unlike many others, Ceres fuel cell systems can run on natural gas and liquid propane gas as well as hydrogen.

Ceres already has agreements with British Gas and the global industrial gases giant BOC to commercialise its technology.

Since its formation in 2001, Ceres Power has raised over £25 million of funding through two rounds of private equity and a public flotation in November 2004. The company has many blue chip City institutions as financial backers including Fidelity, Morley, Cazenove and Jupiter.