FuelCellsWorks

We spend a lot of time talking about the possibilities for a large scale battery electric vehicle charging infrastructure, but what about hydrogen fuel cell vehicles? They’re a little further out from commercialization–the first vehicles will hit the market in approximately 2014–but they offer plenty of advantages: quick filling time (it takes three minutes to fill up a car), a range of over 300 miles, and fuel prices that are comparable to gasoline (the equivalent of $2.50 per gallon). Solar-powered hydrogen fueling startup SunHydro has a simple plan to build out a hydrogen infrastructure before these cars become commercialized: stick fueling stations in ubiquitous oil change and quick lube stations across the U.S.

SunHydro and sister company Proton Energy Systems (the company that makes the hydrogen fueling equipment) have been in preliminary talks with the Automotive Oil Change Association about the potential to install fueling stations in some of the AOCA’s 15,000 oil change and quick lube centers across the country.

The conversation began after the AOCA saw coverage of Proton’s grand opening for its hydrogen fueling station in October of last year (Proton has been involved in 16 fueling stations, while SunHydro has one). The organization had been looking at alternative revenue streams, explains R. Scotti Lee, an AOCA board member. “Right now, it’s just grassroots. We’re starting to shake the trees, telling [AOCA members] that you don’t have to get this set up for tomorrow, but start setting aside money and areas you can use for fueling.”

Ultimately, the decision to install a hydrogen fueling station will be up to individual AOCA members. And while SunHydro and Proton would like to get started as soon as possible, there are no concrete business or branding plans yet. “[The stations] could be branded SunHydro, we could do co-branding with a particular fast lube owner, or we could put down Proton Hardware,” says Mark Schiller, Proton’s VP of business development.

Make no mistake: SunHydro and Proton don’t have grand dreams of crushing the battery electric car revolution. “We think there is definitely a market opportunity for a mix of both [hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and EVs]. At the end of the day, they’re both electric cars–one is a battery, one is hydrogen.”

DLR and Airbus test electric nose wheel in taxiing test at Hamburg airport

One of the test engineers in front of the electric the nose wheel

On 30 June 2011, DLR’s A320 ATRA (Advanced Technology Research Aircraft) taxied around Hamburg Finkenwerder Airport propelled by an electric nose wheel. In the taxiing tests, researchers and engineers from the German Aerospace Center (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt; DLR), Airbus and Lufthansa Technik demonstrated a fuel cell-powered electric nose wheel. When installed in airliners, such nose wheels could significantly reduce noise and emissions at airports.

Up to 19 percent savings in pollutant emissions while on the ground

DLR fuel cell system

An airliner fitted with a fuel cell-powered nose wheel can, for example, move from its stand to the end of the runway without emitting pollutants and without using its engines. “This means that up to 17 to 19 percent of the emissions produced in airports can be saved and almost all noise can be eliminated during taxiing,” explained project leader Josef Kallo from the DLR Institute of Technical Thermodynamics (Institut für Technische Thermodynamik) in Stuttgart. DLR is still working on detailed models for the calculation of potential savings at airports. “The potential saving at Frankfurt Airport from the use of electrically-driven nose wheels for Airbus A320 class aircraft is about 44 tons of kerosene per day,” said Thorsten Mulhouse from the DLR Institute of Flight Guidance (Institut für Flugführung).

The fuel cell system installed on the ATRA for the tests delivers enough electrical power to move the 47-ton aircraft across the apron. To accomplish this, the fuel cell system powers two electric motors that are built into the rims of the aircraft nose wheel. As a direct electrochemical energy converter that generates electricity from hydrogen and oxygen, the fuel cell operates with significantly greater efficiency than an internal combustion engine coupled with a generator. During the tests in Hamburg, the researchers faced a number of technical challenges: “in order to get the airliner moving, a very large torque must be transmitted without making the wheel spin,” commented Josef Kallo, regarding the task the engineers had to master in the tests. The drive motor synchronisation required for the nose wheel proved not to be a problem in testing.

Fuel and maintenance savings

DLR research aircraft ATRA with electric nose wheel

Through the use of fuel cells, the time for which the aircraft’s main engines are operated can be reduced, and hence the engine maintenance interval can be extended. On short-haul services, with up to seven take offs per day, using an electric drive for ground manoeuvring allows for a reduction in engine operating time of up to two hours per day.

Fuel cells have additional potential use in airliners and thus for reducing pollutant emissions. In another research project, DLR and Airbus are working on replacing the Auxiliary Power Unit (APU) with a fuel cell system. The APU supplies the on-board electrical and compressed air systems – among other things, the air conditioning – when the engines are not running.

DLR has been working under contract to the German Federal Ministry for Economics and Technology (Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Technologie; BMWi) on emission-free on-ground propulsion systems for aircraft for about three years. As part of the aeronautical research programme ‘LuFo IV’, DLR has collaborated with partner Airbus Deutschland GmbH to develop a fuel cell system suitable for aircraft and with Airbus and Lufthansa Technik to develop an electric nose wheel drive for an Airbus A320.

Hydrogen-fueled vehicles and power systems could be feasible in Turkey by 2020, says Mustafa Hatipoğlu, managing director of the UN’s International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies in Istanbul. Since it was established in Istanbul eight years ago, the International Centre for Hydrogen Energy Technologies (ICHET), a project of the United Nations International Development Organization, has been developing a series of small, experimental hydrogen energy projects. But Turkey is beginning to lay the infrastructure for a much larger hydrogen economy, according to the man at the head of ICHET, Mustafa Hatipoğlu.

In an exclusive interview, Hatipoğlu sat down for an exclusive interview about the future and progress to date of hydrogen energy in Turkey.

The advantages and limitations of hydrogen as an energy carrier are well illustrated by the most significant project ICHET has completed so far, the EkoKaravan.

Released last year, the EkoKaravan is a mobile home that runs off wind, solar, battery, and hydrogen energy systems and could be used for anything from disaster relief situations to tourism. It’s also the first vehicle to combine four energy systems, according to Hatipoğlu. A 1kW wind turbine and 1.7kW solar array are the caravan’s primary sources of energy, and 17kWh batteries hold about three days’ worth of energy in the bottom of the vehicle. A hydrogen fuel cell converts excess energy into hydrogen so that if all these sources are depleted, the hydrogen can be converted into electricity by the same fuel cell. Hydrogen extends the range of the vehicle, in other words, but is not its primary fuel.“The energy storage capacity of batteries, even with the latest technology, is very low compared to hydrogen’s storing capacity,” says Hatipoğlu. “So for now, we can say that hydrogen fuel cells are useful as range extenders for battery-powered vehicles.”

For comparison, regular petroleum has an energy storage density of about 12,000 watt-hours per kilogram. A lithium-ion battery stores just 180 Wh/kg. But hydrogen packs 33,000 Wh/kg. In a regular-sized passenger car, this enables the car to run farther than it can on a battery alone, without requiring significantly more space. General Motors’s hydrogen-electric hybrids, for example, use hydrogen fuel cells to boost their cruising ranges up to 480 kilometers.

This high energy density is hydrogen’s main advantage — and it’s why Hatipoğlu thinks hydrogen fuel cell technology will eventually be used to fuel vehicles and even power buildings worldwide.

Current projects

A few weeks ago, Turkish daily Today’s Zaman reported that Turkey could become an international center for hydrogen energy production if a proposed second canal was built in Istanbul, diverting ship traffic from the Bosphorus. According to that article, the flow of the Bosphorus could instead be used for electrolyzing hydrogen, which could be pumped into cars and ships at fueling stations along the shore of the strait.

That plan may not be so feasible after all, according to Hatipoğlu. Transportation ferries would still travel along the Bosphorus, meaning that any hydrogen production activity would have to occur within 15 meters of the shore, where the current isn’t sufficiently fast.

However, a fueling station is currently in the works off the shore of the Golden Horn, a branch of the Bosphorus that bisects the European side of the strait. For now, hydrogen will be electrolyzed there with electricity from the grid. Eventually, however, Hatipoğlu hopes the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality will invest in a solar array for the station, which would enable totally clean, renewable hydrogen production. ICHET is also beginning to plan a second fueling station in Ankara, Turkey’s capital.

The fueling station will supply fuel to a hybrid battery/fuel-cell boat that is also currently being built, Hatipoğlu says, which will carry tourists up and down the Golden Horn. At least one municipal bus that runs on a similar hybrid engine has already been completed, and others will be furnished upon the municipality’s request.

ICHET has also invited consortia of academic and private industry groups to participate in several design competitions, out of which innovative models of hydrogen-fueled vehicles have come. On one of the Marmara Sea islands near Istanbul, ICHET has also tested a backup hydrogen-generated power system for the governor’s house.

Hydrogen’s future in Turkey

These are all just first glimpses at a hydrogen economy. They showcase the potential of the technology, which Hatipoğlu hopes will galvanize private companies to start serial production of hydrogen vehicles. To achieve that, he acknowledges, “you need a lot of tests, a lot of experiments.”

But he is hopeful that by 2015, or 2020 at the latest, electricity from hydrogen will begin to be demanded on a much larger scale. It must, he says, because “customers will eventually see that the range of battery power is not sufficient, and will ask for more distance in their vehicles.”

For now, it is cheapest to generate hydrogen from natural gas or biomass regasification, according to Hatipoğlu. These aren’t the cleanest ways, of course, although they are at least 30 percent cleaner than conventional energy generation from natural gas. As renewable resources become cheaper to harness, however, 100% clean, sustainable hydrogen electrolysis will become much more feasible.

Hydrogen may or may not live up to Hatipoğlu’s vision. Much depends on how much the government subsidizes the necessary infrastructure, and how much the price of fossil fuels rises. But if hydrogen does become widely used around the world, Turkey will undoubtedly be a major center of production, thanks to ICHET’s work.

Julia Harte writes for GreenProphet, from where this article is adapted.

It is fair to say that it is still early days for the hydrogen fuel cell concept, as a solution for providing an alternative and clean power source.

But according to the boss of a German fuel cell developer, the hydrogen fuel cell is starting to make its presence felt, and should gain greater market impact within the next two to three years.

And now is the time that data centre owners and operators should be examining the technology to see how it can play a vital role in reducing their carbon emissions. Google for example is reportedly testing the tiny fuel cell boxes, dubbed the Bloom box, from Bloom Energy.

Slow Arrival

Over on this side of the Atlantic, fuel cells have a somewhat limited presence in data centres, but this could be about to change.

According to Thomas Melczer, CEO at Proton Power Systems, the fuel cell has traditionally gained a lot of traction in both the commercial vehicle sector and the maritime industry. For commercial vehicles Proton supplies hydrogen fuel cells for city buses and fork lift trucks, whereas as in the maritime sector, fuel cells are now been utilised for ships and boats as a power source while they are in harbour.

Fuel cell systems are considered to be an much cleaner and attractive option for the generation of electrical energy in the near future. The advantage is that they can be used to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and thereby cut CO2 emissions dramatically. The downside at the moment is cost, but this should come down as uptake increases.

“We have been in business since 1996 but we are a small specialist company with around 50 people that started out providing fuel cells for the automotive sector,” explained Proton Power’s Melczer. “We are focused on providing a product platform with a multi purpose system, so our fuel cells can be used to provide power for HGV vehicles, or auxiliary power supply for ships. But we now also offer 50 kilowatt systems for data centres that can be run in parallel, depending on the data centre power requirements.”

“We try not lose track of our of our industrial past. We try to focus ourselves on suitable alternative uses of fuel cells, but we don’t want to be too focused on one application,” said Melczer. “We work closely with our industrial partners in the light and heavy duty vehicle market; the backup power market, and the ship designer sector.”

Backup Power

In the data centre or IT context, the hydrogen fuel cell would commonly be utilised as an alternative backup power solution.

At the moment the UPS (uninterruptible power supply) industry is predominantly using lead acid batteries in data centres and server rooms as a standby power source. And in data centres they are using diesel generators, or battery-based UPS, or even flywheel technology.

But there are associated problems with all of these options.

The problem, according to Melczer, with flywheels (a mechanical device that provides kinetic energy) is that flywheels can only provide power for some minutes, and will still need a battery power source. The problem with batteries, Melczer says, is that they contain toxic materials and can be expensive and take up a lot of room. They also have a lot of thermal runaway and need to replaced every five to seven years.

Melczer also points to the environmental problems with the diesel generator, commonly used as a backup power solution at data centres.

He believes the drawbacks with the generator engine is that it generates noise as well as fumes (and hence carbon emissions). And the price of diesel is pretty high as well.

“The fuel cell provides very long backup time, and we have worked hard to simplify our system so that it can be refuelled by a data centre technician,” said Melczer. “Our system can also use gas canisters containing hydrogen. A bundle of say six canisters can be used to generate 6 kilowatts which would provide 12 to 20 hours of backup power.”

Hydrogen Pipelines

“The problem you have always is what amount of power you are actually talking about,” said Melczer. “Frankly speaking, today diesel generators might be the only solution for 12 to 20 megawatt solutions. That said, the fuel cell does also have limitations as it needs hydrogen, but that can easily be done if the infrastructure is in place.”

“For example, in Germany we have a 1,300 km hydrogen pipeline located in industrial areas, so data centre managers should start considering locating or building their data centres near hydrogen pipelines,” said Melczer. “Hydrogen is a by-product  of the chemical industry and, until now, that hydrogen was never used. It typically costs between €0.70 (£0.63) and €1 (£.90) for 1 kg of hydrogen compared to diesel which can cost €1.50 (£1.35) per litre.”

“In Germany we have so much hydrogen from the chemical industry you could support the entire public sector transport buses with that hydrogen without making anymore,” Melczer said. “When people are planning their next colocation data centre, in Europe you can be flexible as to where you can locate it. So why not build it near to a chemical plant and see if you can utilise their hydrogen pipelines?”

Green Solution

“We currently have industrial systems up to 100 kilowatts. But if the the client wanted 1 megawatt, then they would simply install ten 100 kilowatt cabinets,” said Melczer. “You will still need some battery capacity, because the fuel cell takes about one minute to become operational. But then it can provide energy for hours and hours. The fuel cell is very interesting because unlike diesel there is no emissions, and it is very green.”

“We are just in the process of finalising a deal with a hardware provider in Germany, as three to four data centres are equipping their sites with fuel cells,” said Melczer. “As I said before, our fuel cell is very green as it is a pure hydrogen fuel cell, that produces water and oxygen, and nothing else.”

Peak Power Alternative?

“One of the problems with some standby power solutions is that you cannot easily stop them, which makes them unsuitable for data centre backup,” said Melczer. “Our fuel cell you can turn off and on, and it is also suitable for powering equipment during peak times as well. If, for example, you arevery close to a hydrogen pipeline then during peak times it would make sense to disconnect from mains electricity and run our fuel cells for three hours during peak loads to save on high electricity costs.”

“The lifetime expectation of our fuel cells is 5,000 hours, but with regular servicing this could be longer,” said Melczer. “We need less space than other traditional battery-based systems and some of our solutions are modular.”

But what about the cost of fuel cells?

“We are aware that for data centres cost is always a major issue, and when you are comparing fuel cells against diesel generators it is hard, because diesel systems are cheaper,” said Melczer. “But we are trying to increase volume which should in turn bring down the cost of fuel cells. The IT industry should expect fuel cell costs to drop when the volume increases.”

“Our partnerships allows us a certain volume, but in two to three years we expect prices to come down because volumes will increase,” concluded Melczer. “Fuel cells are increasingly a viable alternative and it would be very interesting for IT managers and data centre managers to get experience of fuel cells now. They need to start to understand them and how they would be used in their environment, so now is a good time to experiment with fuel cells. You can start small, with say 5 to 10 kilowatts tests, which would not cost the world.”

myFC AB, the developer of unique high power density hydrogen based fuel cells, raises USD 6.7 million to commercialize and launch the company’s first consumer product PowerTrekk, a fuel cell charger for mobile phones. The product will be shipped in Q4 2011 in Europe and Q1 2012 in USA. Among the investors in this round are KTH Chalmers Capital and the Sixth Swedish National Pension Fund.

Stockholm, Sweden–myFC is delighted to announce that they have now finalized the second tranche of their expansion funding round and have now raised $6.7 million to bring their fuel cell charger PowerTrekk to the market.

“We see this funding round as an important validation and a great step on the way to awaken a market for fuel cells and prove the excellent performance and durability of the technology. We will now be able to provide end users with a better mobile experience”, says Björn Westerholm, CEO myFC.

The investment, that was divided into two tranches, will enable myFC to finalize the commercialization, kick-start the marketing efforts and launch the Company’s first consumer product, PowerTrekk, by the end of this year. The charger will address the increasingly tangible ‘power gap’ – the gap between the amount of power that users demand and what is actually available. A gap caused by the ever increasing number of functions and applications on mobile phones. This charger initiative is directly related to global consumer demands.

“We see huge interest in our product both from media, the outdoor and ITC industries and consumers. As a result of this, we currently cannot even meet the market demand for the product. We understood that we were addressing an immense market opportunity but we never fully understood the extreme market demand for a fuel cell charger such as PowerTrekk. Each year, around 2 billion mobile phone chargers are sold and the travel charger segment, which is the fastest growing sub-segment, is valued at more than €11 billion”, says Björn Westerholm.

The market

European consumers will soon have the convenience of a single charger for mobile phones produced by major manufacturers, thanks to new standards promoted by the European Commission. Manufacturers have agreed to adopt the ‘micro-USB’ connector as the new common phone charger standard. The agreement, involving 14 mobile phone manufacturers, will come into effect 2012 and the charger should be commonplace by 2013.

“The new standard will change the way in which mobile phone chargers are bought as they will be sold over the counter instead of coming in the box together with the handset. This opens up a good sales opportunity for us. Consumers will choose between different types of chargers, in different colors and for different purposes. Next year you will have one white charger in your home, one black in your car and one green PowerTrekk charger in your bag.”, says Björn Westerholm.

Two billion chargers are sold each year through the mobile phone charger market. The travel charger sub-segment is the fastest growing charger segment with an estimated market value of more than €11 billion. myFC’s strategy is to establish sales in this market.

“In addition to the latest funding we round, we have already been approached by international investors and will be working with our advisor GP Bullhound to open the door to an additional expansion round later in 2011, once we have launched our first product” says Björn Westerholm, CEO of myFC.

For further information: www.myfc.se, www.powertrekk.com

Contact Information

Björn Westerholm, CEO, Phone +46 706 56 20 07, Email bjorn.westerholm@myfc.se

Kristina Lindholm, Marketing Manager, Phone: +46 735 08 30 48, Email: kristina.lindholm@myfc.se

About myFC

myFC is an innovative Swedish fuel cell technology company that develops and industrializes solutions for powering portable electronics. Having secured numerous patents around proprietary shape-flexible fuel cell systems with record high power density, myFC is now launching its own commercial portable charger under the PowerTrekk brand. Current partners to myFC include high-tech developer and manufacturer Nolato. Among the investors are The Sixth AP Fund (Sjätte AP-fonden) and KCC. myFC is a privately owned company, headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. The company was founded in 2005

About PowerTrekk
PowerTrekk is a 2-in-1 solution that is both a portable battery pack and fuel cell. The portable battery pack can be operated on its own as a ready source of power or storage buffer for the fuel cell. The fuel cell enables instant charging from a depleted battery state without ever needing a wall charge. Users simply insert a fuel pack and add water. To charge portable devices – for example mobile phones, cameras and GPS devices – users connect a device to Power Trekk via a USB port. One charge is gives you 4 Wh, which is comparable to charging one smart phone battery.

“PowerTrekk has a competitive edge over traditional portable chargers. Fuel cell power is generated immediately and charging is not impacted by weather or the position of the sun, as for solar panels. Compared to battery powered travel chargers, PowerTrekk offers reliable charging as the fuel packs do not deplete as batteries do,” said Björn Westerholm, CEO at myFC, the company behind PowerTrekk.

The centre based in Langen, Germany will develop and test residential fuel cells for green energy generation in consumer households in Europe

First Leading Cable Industry Organization to Use Company’s Alternative-Energy Solution