FuelCellsWorks

• First a fuel cell, now combined heat and power modules and diesel engines for emergency standby gensets
• For the first time all three MTU Onsite Energy technologies integrated on a single site
• Clean, high-efficiency heat and power from fuel cell and CHP modules

Friedrichshafen– The specialist for propulsion and power solutions Tognum has recently won an order to supply three combined heat and power (CHP) modules and two standby diesel genset engines to the “Energiezentrale Gießen GmbH” company. The company, which was founded jointly by Rhön-Klinikum AG and the Stadtwerke Gießen (municipal utility company of the city of Giessen) is to supply the Giessen location of the University Clinic of Giessen and Marburg with power. The clinic had already purchased a fuel cell last year. The MTU Onsite Energy brand CHP modules will follow in mid-April and are scheduled to go into service in fall 2010. In addition to the CHP modules themselves, the scope of supply also covers machine and process control systems and acoustic enclosures.

At the University Clinic of Giessen and Marburg all three MTU Onsite Energy technologies for continuous, peak and emergency standby power generation will be going into operation for the first time at the same site. The natural-gas-powered Type GR 385 N5 CHP modules and the HotModule HM346 fuel cell will be combined to generate power, heat and cooling for the clinic with the fuel cell covering the base load and the CHP modules being automatically switched in or off as required. The electrical power will be fed into the grid whilst the thermal energy will be used to provide hot water, heating and air-conditioning (via absorption chillers). The overall level of efficiency achieved will be around 90%.

The emergency standby gensets powered by MTU 12V and 20V 4000 G23 diesel engines with an output of 1.42 and 2.2 MW will take over power generation for parts of the clinic if the public supply fails.

The University Clinic Gießen and Marburg GmbH is one of more than 50 hospitals run by Rhön-Klinikum AG, a group of companies which has already purchased three fuel cells and more than ten MTU Onsite Energy brand CHP modules.

A new catalyst that generates hydrogen from sea water has been developed by scientists in the US. This new metal-oxo complex displays high catalytic activity and stability, whilst being low cost, the researchers say.

Hydrogen is very attractive as a clean source of power. Currently, it is produced by natural gas reforming – where steam is reacted with methane in the presence of a nickel catalyst to form hydrogen – but this method produces the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.

Jeffrey Long and colleagues from the University of California, Berkeley, prepared a simple molybdenum-oxo complex that can serve as an electrocatalyst, reducing the energy required to generate hydrogen from water on a mercury electrode. As an abundant metal, molybdenum is much cheaper than precious metal catalysts where the costs associated with large scale hydrogen production would be high.

Long explains that the stability of the catalyst is due to a ligand that bonds to the molybdenum in five places (pentadentate) making it a very strong complex. ‘The molecule is very robust and is stable in aqueous conditions for long periods of time so we don’t see degradation of the catalytic activity over three days of running the reaction,’ he says.

Significantly, Long’s catalyst is also stable in the presence of impurities that can be found in the ocean, meaning that sea water can be used without pre-treatment. The team used a sample of California sea water in the system and found the results to be similar to the results obtained for water at neutral pH. In addition, no other electrolyte is necessary when using sea water, which helps reduce costs and removes any need for organic acids or solvents that could degrade the catalyst.

‘The work clearly demonstrates that the molybdenum-oxo complex explored shows good catalytic activity, with at least an order of magnitude higher turnover frequency [the speed at which a catalytic cycle is completed] than alternative catalysts quoted,’ says Bruce Ewan, an expert in hydrogen production and renewable energy at the University of Sheffield, UK.   ‘This new catalyst also opens up new possibilities as a catalytic agent in other proton reducing scenarios,’ he adds.

Long and his team hope to develop this system so that ‘in the future a catalyst like this could be used in conjunction with a solar cell to produce hydrogen,’ he explains. The team is now working on modifying the catalyst to reduce the potential at which the electrochemical reaction proceeds and make the system more efficient.

Mike Brown

By Christopher Cadelago

Burbank officials on Wednesday unveiled the first plug-in hybrid fuel cell bus in Southern California. The 35-foot-long bus, which emits water as exhaust and uses a hydrogen fuel cell instead of a gas or diesel engine, will be put into service on city routes beginning next week and can travel 250 miles before recharging, tripling the fuel economy of a diesel, officials said. The California Air Resources Board and state Energy Commission awarded the city $1.37 million to fund the roughly $1.7-million program. Burbank operates a hydrogen station and a stable of converted gas-to hydrogen Toyota Prius models, City Manager Mike Flad said. “Growing up in Burbank I can remember more days than not Stage 2 and Stage 3 smog alerts during the summers, and you would swim or play basketball and your lungs would burn and your eyes would burn,” Flad said. “It is such a great day when we are tackling not only air quality, but tackling traffic and then forging ahead with new innovation in the investment in hydrogen.” Sustainability, a repeated goal for the council, has manifested itself in the city’s range of public transit options, with every resident living within a 1 1/2 -mile radius of a public park or recreational open space. BurbankBus operates in and around the city on four fixed routes during morning and evening rush-hour periods. The system connects commuters at two area Metrolink stations and Metro’s North Hollywood Station to the Media District, downtown and Golden State areas of Burbank, a national test site for zero-emission public transportation.. The fleet is made up of 17 compressed natural gas busses running on CNG. The fuel cell bus, designed and manufactured by Colorado-based Proterra, can carry up to 67 passengers and recharge in as few as 30 minutes, Mayor Gary Bric said. While the typical commercial bus averages between three and four miles per gallon, the fuel cell vehicle gets abouit 10 miles per gallon, Bric said.