FuelCellsWorks

Brunnthal/Munich, Germany, and Calgary, AB, Canada– SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG, technology and market leader for mobile and off-grid power solutions based on fuel cells, and Evergreen Energy Technologies Inc., a start-up company in Calgary, Canada, announce their further partnership to market clean fuel cell energy for the oil and gas industry in Canada.

With the innovation and strength of the two companies a reliable and environmentally friendly fuel cell stand-alone power solution for remote monitoring and service of oil and gas well sites has been created. The “Power Pod System”, developed by Evergreen Energy Technologies, is a completely new and eco-friendly approach which is used to replace pneumatic devices at well sites. For reliable autonomous operation, the system is powered by a hybrid combination of SFC’s EFOY Pro fuel cell and solar. This innovative solution powered by the EFOY Pro fuel cell just received a funding award of $50.000 under the “Alberta Innovation Voucher Pilot Program” by the Government of Alberta, that funds projects with environmentally friendly and energy efficient technologies in Western Canada.

So far, equipment used to monitor and service well sites and pipelines uses thermoelectric generators, diesel generators, the pneumatic power of venting propane or natural gas coming from the well, or solar power. Drawbacks to each of these systems are cost of fuels, cost and logistics of refuelling, effects of harsh weather conditions, and high greenhouse gas emissions. Powered by the EFOY Pro fuel cell the “Power Pod” generates reliable power for an electronically controlled solenoid injection pump, as well as other equipment. The system easily retrofits on existing well sites and provides automatic site electrical power, in extreme weather conditions with significant economic, environmental, and safety benefits. The cost and environmental advantages are enormous compared to regular pneumatic devices at well-sites, with typical 2.5 year breakeven, and 60% IRR (after tax) and increasing safety due to reduced combustible and toxic gas emissions at the production site. In this application, GHG emissions reductions of over 99% are achieved which corresponds to 170 tonnes CO₂ per year per pump.
”The EFOY Pro fuel cell is the solution of choice for Evergreen’s Power Pod System due to its decisive advantages: reliable, zero emission power supply at extremely low fuel consumption“, says Darryl West, President of Evergreen Energy Technologies Inc. “In combination with solar it creates one of the most innovative and green remote energy supply solutions for on-site oil and gas industry available with enormous advantages in total cost of ownership. The system is able to address a significant oil and gas industry problem: the use of gas venting pneumatic pumps and instruments resulting in lost revenue and high greenhouse gas emissions”.

“We are very pleased to join forces with Evergreen Energy Technology to adapt clean fuel cell technology for use at remote oil and gas well sites in Canada”, says Dr. Peter Podesser, CEO of SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG. “Evergreen’s Power Pod system ideally combines the advantages of the EFOY Pro fuel cell and solar: the solar cell provides power when it can, and is backed up by the fuel cell during times of low solar flux. It is the perfect solution for remote oil and gas well-sites, but it is only one example for the potential of the EFOY Pro fuel cell as enabling technology for reliable power supply of many more remote industrial applications”.

Trade visitors can experience the “Power Pod System” and EFOY Pro fuel cells at Global Petroleum Show in Calgary, AB, Canada, booth 9220, June 8-10, 2010

More information at www.sfc.com, www.efoy.com and www.evergreen-eti.com.

About SFC Smart Fuel Cell
SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG (www.sfc.com) is market leader in fuel cell technologies for mobile and off-grid power applications serving the leisure, industrial and defense markets.  As one of Germany’s technology pioneers, SFC has won numerous innovation awards.  SFC has alliances with leading companies in a wide range of industries. Unlike most other fuel cell manufacturers, who are in the research and development phase or run subsidized demonstration projects, SFC has shipped more than 17,000 fully commercial products to industrial and private end users for more than five years, and has created a convenient fuel cartridge supply infrastructure. SFC is DIN ISO 9001:2008 certified. SFC is based in Brunnthal, Germany, and has a sales and technical service office in the U.S. SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG is listed in the Prime Standard on the German stock exchange (WKN 756857).

About Evergreen
Evergreen Energy Technologies Inc is a small start-up company focused on bringing fuel cell technology to the oil & gas industry in Western Canada. Formed in 2009, Evergreen has developed the Power Pod system as a platform to supply electrical power at remote well sites for a variety of uses, reducing operating costs and GHG emissions. Applications include chemical injection, SCADA communication, and many others. For further details, please visit the web site at www.evergreen-eti.com .

The first high speed taxiing tests were successfully carried out on the Rapid 200-FC “zero emission” aircraft between 10 and 18 December of last year. The next step for the European team, coordinated by Professor Giulio Romeo of the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the Politecnico di Torino, will involve obtaining the flight permit from the aeronautical authorities and then conducting the first test flight. The aircraft has an entirely electric 40 kW propeller: power is supplied to the propeller through 20 kW hydrogen gas fuel cells. In order to guarantee absolute safety of the operations, the aeroplane also has a second source of energy that consists of a set of 20 kW lithium polymer batteries which are able to guarantee alternative or supple-mentary power during take off and initial climbing.

The electric engine is fed through the generation of high energy currents in an ioniza-tion and hydrogen re-combination system (PEM) which has a final product of 100-110 Amps of electrical current at 200-240 V, plus air and water vapours emitted at envi-ronmental temperature.

The aircraft and the electric and energy system have been developed, according to a design by Professor Romeo, and tuned by the team which consists of the 10 compa-nies and enterprises involved in the European Community “ENFICA-FC” project (Envi-ronmentally Friendly Inter City Aircraft powered by Fuel Cells). The team is made up of the Politecnico di Torino (IT) (Design of the modified aircraft and experi-mental test flights), Skyleader (CZ) (constructor of the aircraft), Intelligent Energy (UK) (designer and constructor of the hydrogen fuel cells), APL (UK) (in charge of the tanks and supply of the high pressure hydrogen), Mavel Elettronica (IT) (designer and constructor of the inverter and electronic control of the power) and the University of Pisa (IT) (laboratory tests on the electric system).

The exceptional and sophisticated power electronics system was specifically developed by Mavel to guarantee the supply of the 40 kW of power necessary for take off while satisfying the difficult requirement of limiting weights (less than 15kg) and encum-brance so that it could be installed on the airplane.

The ENFICA-FC project was chosen by the aeronautical and space planning committee from among hundreds of other programmes presented. The overall cost of the project is 4.5 million Euros of which 2.9 million Euros is financed, for the first time in Europe, with public funds allocated by the European Commission.

Summarising, Romeo says that “… the objective is that of building an aeroplane that works on hydrogen, taking advantage of the “fuel cell” technology at present available to create a demonstrator aircraft that is able to connect cities through flights while to-tally eliminating the environmental impact. The work plan financed by the EC is di-vided into two stages: modification of a light-weight two-seater airplane with an elec-tric engine completely supplied by hydrogen; the test flights on this are aimed at identifying the technical advantages and improvements in performance obtained with the new generation electrical energy.

At the same time, more theoretical type studies have been carried out (in collaboration with the Israel Aircraft Industry, Université Li-bre de Bruxelles and Evektor (CZ) partners). These will not have an immediate practi-cal application in the initial stages because of the present technological limits, but have the aim of using zero emission propellers in the future to equip aircraft for 20-30 passengers in the regional and intercity sector”.

Commander Marco Locatelli, to whom the test flights have been entrusted, has under-lined that a maximum velocity of 120 km/h has been reached, that the maximum in-ternal temperatures of the electric system do not reach 60° C at maximum power and that the only fluid in the fuel cell supply circuit are the 8 litres of distilled water con-tained in the tank on the right wing.

The project, which began in 2006, foresees finishing positively with the final test flights in the months of February and March 2010; for this reason, the Politecnico di Torino research group, headed by Professor Romeo (Engineers Fabio Borrello, Gabriel Correa and Marco Pacino), has been offered hospitality at the Reggio Emilio airport.

The entire electric and energy system underwent intensive laboratory testing on a bench model in the first six months of 2009, in collaboration with the Department of Electrical Systems and Automation at the University of Pisa. The starting up, function-ing under power and taxiing tests of the aircraft with its definitive propeller have in-stead been carried out along the 1400 metre runway at the Reggio Emilia airport over the last few weeks. The hydrogen at high pressure (350 bar), the 20 kW LiPo battery set and the electric engine have proved to be reliable and offer continuity of supply of the more than 40 kW power necessary for take off. The sophisticated electronic con-trol system ensures redundancy and makes both sources of energy available to the pi-lot in order to guarantee the safe functioning of the single propeller, even in the case of breakdown of the hydrogen current generators.

The airplane (whose final lay-out was achieved with the technical assistance of the Italian Skyleader importer – T&T Ultralight) has a wing opening of about 10 metres; with the systems at present available, the airplane has autonomy of 1 hour and can reach a cruising speed of 150-180 km/h, thanks to the hydrogen alone. If this objective is reached during the next tests, the aircraft will establish the world speed and flight duration record.

LIVERMORE, Calif. — Sandia National Laboratories will host a workshop April 28 for industry and code development organizations designed to address research barriers to hydrogen-powered forklifts and other near-term fuel cell market applications.

The workshop will include a number of participants, including industry leaders from Plug Power, Nuvera Fuel Cells and Air Products who will address challenges they face in deploying new products. Plug Power develops, manufactures, integrates and services proprietary fuel cell solutions for pallet trucks, counterbalance rider trucks, narrow-aisle reach trucks and other industrial trucks. Nuvera Fuel Cells provides innovative fuel cell products for the material handling market, as well as cost effective on-site hydrogen generation and refueling equipment. Air Products is the world’s largest supplier of merchant hydrogen and an industry leader in hydrogen fuel infrastructure.

“This workshop is a rare opportunity for equipment manufacturers and integrators to come together with the code development community to discuss the challenges of a new, nonautomotive application space for hydrogen fuel cells,” said workshop organizer Daniel Dedrick, program manager for hydrogen codes and standards at Sandia. “Our intent is to populate the code development effort with those companies actually developing products and services, as those companies are the ones who really understand the operating environment and the technologies in question.”

Presentations by Plug Power, Nuvera Fuel Cells, and Air Products are expected to focus on product utilization and market transformation to hydrogen fuel cell systems. Code development agencies such as the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Underwriters Laboratories (UL) and CSA Standards will provide insight into existing gaps in hydrogen codes and standards.

The expected outcome of the workshop, said Dedrick, is for the code development organizations, the industrial stakeholders, and the R&D community to collectively identify the key areas of R&D that are necessary to enable the deployment of hydrogen fuel cell systems for a variety of everyday applications.

For more information on the workshop, code developers and hydrogen fuel cell systems, stakeholders may contact Sandia’s Daniel Dedrick at 925-294-1552, email dededri@sandia.gov.

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Sandia National Laboratories is a multiprogram laboratory operated by Sandia Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of Lockheed Martin, for the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration. With main facilities in Albuquerque, N.M., and Livermore, Calif., Sandia has major R&D responsibilities in national security, energy and environmental technologies, and economic competitiveness.