First up was Mark Davis of NIST, presenting their TRYNSYS empirical modelling work on residential PEM fuel cell efficiency. TRYNSYS is a comprehensive model which links not only the performance of the fuel cell but also other ancillaries such as thermal storage and pumps. The work simulated expected household heat and electricity loads for two individual fuel cell systems. NIST plans to use their empirical models to validate a proposed rating methodology for residential fuel cell systems for a variety of applications and climate regions in order to gain a greater understanding of the economic feasibility of residential fuel cell systems, including SOFC systems. As we move closer towards full market deployment of fuel cells, the need for this kind of enabling work will become increasingly important and the work of NIST has the potential to provide a valuable service to all developers acting in this field.

Gordon Calundann of PEMEAS was up next. His topic was high temperature PEM fuel cells, the performance and durability of the PEMEAS Celtec MEA, and the latest commercial developments concerning their Celtec product. Celtec-P is their first commercially available MEA for high temperature PEM fuel cells, and is aimed at stationary power supply, UPS and APU applications. PEMEAS use a gel-based polymer which allows them to produce rolled films with a high acid content which can potentially be made in large volumes at relatively low costs. The viability of these films is currently in the region of 99% and above, and they continue to try and raise this proportion. The chief benefits of this system, besides ease of production, is its high CO tolerance, low humidification (and thus low water management requirement) and robustness against temperature fluctuations. PEMEAS are currently working with Vaillant, Plug Power, ClearEdge Power, and UltraCell. They are currently developing a successor to the Celtec P-1000 MEA, which will be called… the Celtec P-2000.

At this point I looked behind me and the auditorium was now fairly full! Looks like it was just a slow start today.

Next was the turn of Nippon Oil’s work on development of a 1kW PEMFC fuel cell system based on hydrogen production from kerosene. Kerosene is available nationwide in Japan, especially in colder northern regions where it is used mainly as a heating fuel. Kerosene has a longer hydrocarbon chain than NG, so the steam reformation reaction rate is lower. Consequently, a higher reforming temperature is needed. Nippon Oil have been using a ruthenium-based catalyst in order to achieve higher hydrogen yields for operation in the 500-600 degrees C range. In March 2006 they developed a commercial SOFC system in collaboration with Ebara with the great name of the “Eneos Ecoboy”. This is a 950W system with integrated power management, a power generation efficiency of 35%, and a very impressive total conversion efficiency of 81%. The impact of the energy management system is immense, raising system efficiency by up to 10%.

The last presentation before the break was by Karl Foger of Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited (CFCL). CFCL is based in Melbourne, Australia, and have a staff of around 100. As an interesting aside, Karl said that CFCL are considering setting up a fabrication plant somewhere in Europe as they see markets for their products there are nearer than in other parts of the world. CFCL develop small SOFC systems based on a fuel cell generator and essential balance of plant products aimed primarily at the domestic market but they are also considering going into APUs.

The focus of the presentation was based on the idea of distribution energy networks and the great need to increase the efficiency of domestic energy use. Karl stressed the need to examine home heating and electricity trends and to consider carefully what future domestic loads are likely to look like. Modern new-build housing regulations have radically altered heat requirements especially (the trend has been downward), so when considering a domestic fuel cell system for the future, it is important that heat output is not excessive. CFCL are focussing on flexible SOFC designs, a low heat-to-power ration, high operating hours and grid connectivity using existing fuelling infrastructures. The choice of SOFC fuel cells at CFCL is based on their high generation efficiency, which can be as high a 50% given careful system optimisation.

Karl ran out a list of advances in CFCL’s current product. In the stack, electrical efficiencies of up to 50% have been achieved, with a fuel utilisation of up to 85%. In the BoP, 75% less air is required than in their prototype model, the burner is 60% smaller, and the steam generator is 50% smaller, easier to manufacture, with lower cost. The heat exchanger is 40% smaller, more efficient and cheaper, and the insulation has 50% lower heat losses. These are impressive figures, but perhaps a better measuring stick would be to compare their product against comparable and contemporary rival products.

After the break, Masahiro Ogawa of Toshiba outlined the Toshiba PEM Demonstration Programme. Toshiba can currently deliver 50 units per month, and they are developing a system concept to be introduced into multi house dwellings equipped with a central hydrogen generator as well as a hydrogen station for automobiles.

Shinji Nishikawa of the New Energy Foundation (NEF) then presented the current status of the Large Scale Stationary Fuel Cell Demonstration Programme in Japan. Shinji presented policies and targets for the diffusion of fuel cells up to 2020. METI and NEDO have been funding the programme since April 2005, with NEF in a coordinating role. The purpose of the Programme is to determine PEFC commercialisation problems by analysis of individual house data, and to expedite the transition to mass production.

The Programme has a detailed set of requirements for participating fuel cell technologies. The 1kW class PEMFCs for residential installations must have a demonstrable durability over 2 years, and the manufacturers must be able to supply at least 30 units per year. I noted at this point that 1kW sounds like a rather small capacity for residential applications. Maybe Japanese homes are more energy efficient than those in the West?

In FY2006, 1200 units will be deployed in 777 sites including 75 which run off kerosene. In FY2007, over 1000 demonstration sites are planned. By any measure, this is a massive demonstration programme.

The last presentation of the FC Seminar 2006 was by Scott Kenner of Concurrent Technologies Corporation. He talked about component failure analysis from the US Army ERDC-CERL Residential PEMFC Demonstration Programme. Not an easy task; as Scott pointed out, he was the only thing between delegates and the beaches of Hawaii.

The Programme has seen the installation of 91 PEM units at 56 sites – contribute data over a series of 12 month demonstration periods. The aim is to assess the role of PEMs in DoDs missions, and is in some ways similar to the DoD UTC PC-25 PAFC demonstration programme which took began in the late 1990s.

Each installation in the PEM demonstration programme was provided by manufacturers, who had to provide turn-key packages. They have to have a minimum of 90% availability, come with a comprehensive maintenance contract, and manufacturers had to provide detailed monthly reports.

3 generic systems were tested in 2 categories: primary power based on natural gas and LPG, and backup power systems based on hydrogen which did not provide any CHP and which operated for only 2 hours or so per day. Logan Energy was the major contractor, also Nuvera, Plug Power, and others. System availabilities in FY01 and FY03 approached 90%. System outage times varied markedly depending on where units were located and therefore on how rapidly the contractor could access them and bring them back online. Analysis is ongoing, and the project will be wrapped up in next 12-18 months, with more systems contributing data over a broader range of products.

And that completes the final day of the Fuel Cell Seminar 2006. I have enjoyed it, learned a lot, and am not looking forwards to the 22 hour journey home.

Mahalo! (Thanks!). 

Mike