| Application Driven Fuel Cell Development 8:45 Department of Energy Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell R&D Activities Terry Payne, PhD, PE, Technology Development Manager, Hydrogen, Fuel Cell & Infrastructure Technologies Program, The U.S. Department of Energy Though the DOE Hydrogen Program emphasizes polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells in passenger vehicles, the program also supports fuel cells for portable power applications where earlier market entry would assist in the development of a fuel cell manufacturing base. This talk will provide an update on the status of DOE PEM fuel cell development particularly for portable power, ongoing efforts to eliminate barriers, and the path being pursued. 9:15 Portable Warfighter Power Technology H. Scott Coombe, PhD, PE, Chief, Power Technology Branch, Army Power Division, Research, Development, & Engineering Command (RDECOM), U.S. Army Abstract is not available at time of printing. Please come back later for the updates on the Program. 9:45 Reformed-Methanol PEMFC Systems: Advancing Toward Commercialization Dave Edlund, PhD, Vice President, PEM & Reformer System Development, Protonex Technology Corporation Liquid fuels are attractive for portable and remote fuel cell applications due to their ease and convenience of handling. Protonex has been aggressively developing a family of portable PEMFC systems, rated at 250 We, that incorporate a compact methanol / water reformer and integral hydrogen purifier. Both military and commercial applications are targeted. This paper will discuss the technical design and system specifications as well as testing that has been conducted to achieve acceptable levels of durability and ruggedness. 10:15 Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells: An Emerging Technology with Reduced Logistic Footprint for Military and Civil Applications Michael Krausa, PhD, Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology ICT, Germany* An important goal of replacing primary batteries by hybrids of rechargeable batteries and fuel cells is to reduce the logistic effort in power supply. Fuel cells using ethanol would be beneficial as ethanol offers a higher availability and easier handling compared to methanol. However, the performance of today’s DEFCs does not compete with that of commercial DMFCs. To improve this performance two approaches are currently pursuit, a multistep process in proton exchange membrane based DEFC and alkaline DEFC using anion exchange membranes. The current state of the art of both approaches will be presented and their advantages and disadvantages will be discussed.
*In collaboration with: Carsten Cremers, PhD, Fraunhofer ICT
10:45 Refreshment Break, Exhibit/Poster Viewing
DMFC for Mobile Electronics – from Technology through Application toward Manufacturing Infrastructure 11:15 Micro Fuel Cell System for Mobile Consumer Electronic Devices Shuji Goto, and Tadashi Senoo, Manager, Materials Laboratory, Sony Corporation, Japan We are developing micro fuel cell systems for mobile consumer electronic devices. The system consists of series-connected direct methanol fuel cells, a fuel pump, a fuel cartridge, a Li-ion polymer battery and a power management circuit. We have achieved high power output, high energy efficiency and overall system size reduction by the combination of material development, power management algorithm development and component downsizing. 11:45 Mobile DMFC: Enhancement of Stack and System Stability Inseob Song, PhD, Principal Manager-Fuel Cell Project, Samsung SDI Co, Ltd, Samsung, Korea* Recent advancements on mobile DMFC system will be presented. Stack and system stability regarding the commercial aspects of Note PC application will be mainly concerned. Unique structure of fuel flow field and sealing component of 15 W stack showed thermal stability in the range of user application. System design of 120 Wh DMFC system having robust fuel management and system loop for continuous 10 hour operation will be discussed. And the author would like to share the characteristics of power performance of system showing that this technology moves one step forward to commercialization. *In collaboration with: K.Choi, H.Cho, and H.Chang, Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology, Korea 12:15 Creating a Global Fuel Cartridge Manufacturing and Distribution Infrastructure Carl Kukkonen, PhD, CEO, Direct Methanol Fuel Cell Corporation, a VIASPACE Company No one will buy a fuel cell powered notebook computer or cell phone unless fuel cartridges are readily available. Similarly no company will bring out fuel cartridges unless fuel cell powered products are in the marketplace. Obviously the products must be coordinated. The presentation will address progress in developing and meeting safety standards, and obtaining regulatory approval to carry fuel cells and cartridges on airplanes. Cartridge standardization is another issue - will the industry develop similarly to printers where each printer has a separate cartridge design, or will it be more like disposable batteries with a few standard sizes. Global manufacturing and distribution issues will also be discussed, including economics, national preferences and language issues, and branding. It is important to remember that the portable electronics OEM is selling the fuel cell powered device, however the consumer that buys the notebook computer is the person that buys cartridges in the aftermarket.
———————————————————————————————————————— 12:45 Luncheon Sponsored by The Knowledge Foundation Technology Commercialization Alliance
———————————————————————————————————————— SOFC 2:00 ONEBAT: Micro-Solid Oxide Fuel Cells for Battery Replacement in Portable Electronics Jennifer L.M. Rupp, PhD, Institute for Nonmetallic Inorganic Materials, Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Switzerland* In the Swiss ONEBAT project micro-Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (µ；-SOFCs) for replacement of batteries in portable electronics are fabricated. These are miniaturized solid oxide fuel cells in which the active fuel cell components - anode, electrolyte and cathode - exist as thin films forming a free-standing membrane on a substrate. The total thickness of the fuel cell membrane is less than 1 µ；m in thickness and of 200 µ；m in diameter. First fuel cell membranes delivered more than 150 mW/cm²； at 550°C, and gave by their obtained theoretical open circuit voltage of 1.06 V the proof-of-concept for the technology. These ONEBAT µ；-SOFCs are integrated in a larger system with reformer, post-combuster and insulation, and will later operate on propane buthane fuel mixtures from gas-lighters. *In collaboration with: D.Beckel, H.Galinski, A.-B.Hütter, U.P.Mücke, R.Tö；lke, T.Ryll, B.Scherrer, and L.J.Gauckler 2:30 Adaptive Materials and Portable SOFCs: Military Applications Aaron Crumm, PhD, President, Adaptive Materials Inc. Adaptive Materials has been aggressively developing micro-tubular solid oxide fell cell technology for military applications over the last seven years. Often overlooked at the lower power levels, Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology offers a key advantage for use in portable applications； commercially available hydrocarbon fuels. AMI systems operate at energy densities in excess of 1200 Wh/kg, with the potential opportunity to exceed 1500 Wh/kg. These metrics far exceed current battery technologies and offer a significant weight reduction for individual soldiers and critical equipment. This presentation will outline AMI’s system development efforts and military field trial results. PEM / Hydrogen - from Technology to Application 3:00 Methodology for Robust Design of Small Fuel Cell Systems: Application to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles Tom Fuller, PhD, Professor, Director of the Center for Innovative Fuel Cell and Battery Technologies, Georgia Institute of Technology* Aircraft and fuel-cell systems are strongly coupled in UAVs. A methodology is developed for modeling, design, and control of fuel-cell systems that is computer-based, application-integrated, parametric, and optimizeable. By embedding the design structure matrix into an optimization scheme, the optimizer can better identify configurations, design rules, families of high performance fuel-cell aircraft. Demonstration flight data and characterization of a fuel cell powered aircraft are presented. In addition, sample experimental results from HiL testing of the powertrain of a long endurance fuel cell powered UAV are presented with discussion. *In collaboration with: T.Bradley, Mech. Engineering/GaTech 3:30 Refreshment Break, Exhibit/Poster Viewing 4:00 Fabrication of 3D Micro Fuel Cells for Cell Phones Allison M. Fisher, PhD, Principal Staff Scientist, Motorola Labs - Energy Technologies Lab, Motorola Cell phones are a particularly challenging application for fuel-cell based power systems because of volume limitations. A fuel cell/battery hybrid power source of the same volume as a current cell phone battery (10 cm³； - 2.5 Wh) requires a smaller battery and a fuel cell with high power density and efficiency in order to achieve an overall energy density higher than that of the battery alone. Traditional planar fuel cell system approaches are not expected to be able to meet these requirements. Motorola is developing an alternative fuel cell design based on a three dimensional membrane electrode assembly. The high aspect ratio of this design provides a high surface area for hydrogen oxidation/oxygen reduction, and is fabricated using semiconductor processing methods combined with self-assembly and other wet chemical methods. In this design, thousands of 3D micron-sized fuel cells can be fabricated in a 1 cm²； footprint. This presentation will describe our progress toward the fabrication and testing of these unique fuel cells. *In collaboration with: R.C.Koripella, R.Krishnan, K.Eisenbeiser, J.Hallmark, and J.Jaskie
4:30 Development of Micro-Fuel Cells Using Carbon Monoliths Hanna Rajantie, PhD, Research Scientist, Johnson Matthey, United Kingdom* We have developed a micro fuel cell for portable applications using carbon monoliths to replace flow-fields and gas diffusion layers on the anode side. An air-breathing prototype hydrogen fuel cell has been constructed and performance proven. Using methanol as a fuel, the monolith porosity can be tuned to allow high concentrations of methanol to be used. For different power requirements different cell configurations, including bipolar, monopolar and variants of these, are preferred to optimise the volumetric power density. *In collaboration with: J.Sharman, D.Thompsett, Johnson Matthey Plc； D.Brown, MAST Carbon Technology Ltd, UK； B.Sowerby, et al, C2 Chandler Consulting, UK 5:00 From Concept to Product - Development and Scale-Up Production Implementation for myFC’s FuelCellSticker™； Technology Bjö；rn Westerholm, CEO, and Anders Lundblad, PhD, CTO, myFC AB, Sweden Fundamentals for industrialization in micro fuel cells: What needs to be accomplished to be able to start the commercialization wave? The FuelCellSticker™； has proven to be an outstanding technology in terms of performance, conformability and cost. Today, its performance has reached 600 mW/cm³； with a lifetime of over 2000 h. Design conformability is demonstrated through a radius smaller than 6 mm. Cost target can be reached via cheap and effective production technology. Interest from market is created via myFC’s FuelCellPlatform development, as exemplified in designed chargers that are suitable for mass production. Proof of concept demonstration projects are currently realized through industrial collaboration projects. The talk will discuss technological advances versus market demands and how they are met in the development and industrialization process that myFC is currently pursuing. 5:30 Selected Oral Poster Highlights 5:45 Concluding Discussion, End of Day One
———————————————————————————————————————— Friday, May 2, 2008 8:15 Exhibit/Poster Viewing, Coffee and Pastries DMFC - Performance, Application, Commercialization 9:00 Technological Advancement vs. Platinum Cost Optimization Paradigm for DMFC Detlef Stolten, Professor, Dr-Ing, Director, Institute of Energy Research / Fuel Cells, IEF3, Jülich Forschungszentrum, Germany* DMFC system originally developed for a class 2 lift truck is used as a prototype for stack and system design optimization and for outlining the cost analysis for small-to-medium size DMFCs. The DMFC system has been proven to work for 500 hours under dynamic operation. It was completely fitted into the battery trough including all of the peripheral components, electronics and control. Future full costs for operation have been evaluated and compared with a hydrogen fuel cell solution and the conventional lead acid battery system. Using a DMFC for this application turned out to be viable for the easy handling of the liquid methanol over hydrogen and the investment and labor intense re-charging process of batteries. The drawback of comparably high platinum investment with DMFC stacks is resolved by a stack rental model. Though, cost of the system over life-time, interest considered, is affordable if not attractive, the higher investment for platinum in the first place may be considered an obstacle by customers. A side-by-side multi-parameter analysis of the stack and systems design vs. performance and cost will be presented. *In collaboration with: J.Werhahn, J.Mergel 9:30 Passively Operated Vapor-Fed Direct Methanol Fuel Cells for Portable Applications Christopher Hebling, PhD, Head of Department Energy Technology, Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems ISE, Germany* The impact of structural parameters and operating conditions has not been researched yet for vapor-fed operation of a DMFC at near-ambient conditions. Thus, a detailed parameter study that included reference cell measurements to assess anode and cathode losses separately was performed. Among other parameters like temperature or air stoichiometry, different opening ratios that controlled evaporation of methanol into the vapor chamber were examined. Water management was found to be a critical parameter for a vapor-fed DMFC. Depletion of water inside the anode catalyst layer, especially at higher current densities, decreased performance of the fuel cell substantially. Back diffusion of water from the cathode to the anode was examined. A micro-structured cathode electrode that increased water back diffusion due to a reduced mass transfer resistance was developed and investigated. *In collaboration with: S.Eccarius, F.Krause, T.Manurung, C.Agert, Fraunhofer ISE； K.Beard, U. South Carolina 10:00 The Crucial Step: From Prototypes to Commercial Product Jens Müller, PhD, CTO, SFC Smart Fuel Cell AG, Germany* The step from prototypes and field trials to real products is still a major challenge. Only very few fuel cell players have managed to show real market traction so far. This presentation will discuss the success factors which enabled SFC to sell more than 7,000 fuel cell systems to date - on a truly commercial basis. The presentation will feature SFC’s product portfolio including the company’s latest portable fuel cell systems, as well as several of the industrial applications in which SFC fuel cells are used worldwide. *In collaboration with: P.Podesser, C.Boehm 10:30 Refreshment Break, Exhibit/Poster Viewing DMFC - The Materials and Components Challenge 11:00 Advances in Hydrocarbon Membrane Development Philip Cox, PhD,Vice President of Product Development, PolyFuel Inc. PolyFuel’s current generation of hydrocarbon fuel cell membranes exhibit methanol crossover levels that are 1/2 to 2/3 of those of competing fluorocarbon membranes. PolyFuel’s membranes are being incorporated into a rapidly increasing share of DMFC systems that have been demonstrated by the leading portable fuel cell system developers. While pleased with this accomplishment, PolyFuel recognizes that there is still room for continued improvement, and with the support of funding from the Advanced Technology (ATP) Program within the National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST), PolyFuel has embarked on a 24 month program to reduce the level of fuel crossover by a further 75% from PolyFuel’s current low levels, without negatively impacting the electrochemical performance of the fuel cell itself. PolyFuel will provide an update on the progress toward the development of this next generation hydrocarbon membrane for portable DMFC applications. 11:30 Low Cost Membrane and Catalyst Development for Portable Fuel Cells Arumugam Manthiram, PhD, Professor, Electrochemical Energy Laboratory & Materials Science and Engineering Program, The University of Texas at Austin Direct methanol fuel cells are appealing to replace lithium ion batteries in portable devices, but their commercialization is hampered by high cost, durability, and operability problems, which are in turn linked to severe materials challenges. This presentation will focus on the development of novel low cost polymeric membranes that exhibit suppressed methanol crossover as well as low cost nanoalloy catalysts for oxygen reduction reaction that exhibit high tolerance to methanol. 12:00 Advanced DMFC Electrocatalyst for Portable Applications Hanwei Lei, PhD, DMFC Project Leader, Cabot Fuel Cells, Cabot Corporation Cabot has developed a new electrocatalyst platform based on spray conversion. Superior carbon supported catalysts have been developed to address the commercialization barriers for DMFC portable applications. Cabot PtRu/C catalysts have unique aggregate morphology with small crystalline size, high degree of alloy and high dispersion of the active phase, which results in MEA’s higher power, better durability and lower costs. Recent technological advancements in Cabot DMFC catalyst and MEA development and implementation will be discussed.
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PEM / Hydrogen — Advances in Technology and Application 2:00 Military Fuel Cells for Tactical Power Generation and Battery Charging Eric Simpkins, Vice President, IdaTech, LLC IdaTech has developed two small fuel cell systems for commercial, defense and civil applications. A fully integrated 250 Watt portable fuel cell power plant has applications as a battery charger or stand-alone power plant. This system is commercially available, and will be hardened for defense applications. A fully integrated 3 kW fuel cell system has been developed for the Army, that is fueled with flightline jet and diesel fuels. 2:30 Remote Surveillance System Powered by PEM Fuel Cell Vesna Stanic, PhD, Senior Research Scientist, EnerFuel, Inc. EnerFuel has developed a Remote Surveillance System (RSS) that is able to send images wirelessly through the existing cellular network. The RSS can operate independently from months to a year depending on the frequency of image generation and sending. A hybrid power system that includes a battery, solar cell and PEM fuel cell system, provides the power for the RSS’s independent operation. However, the key elements for the reliable and long run time are PEM fuel cell and hydrogen system. At the presentation the performance data of the RSS, and more specifically PEM fuel cell and hydrogen system, will be presented and discussed in details. 3:00 Molecular Relaxations and Morphology of Perfluorosulfonate Ionomers for Fuel Cell Applications Kirt A. Page, PhD, Polymers Division, National Institute of Standards and Technology Perfluorosulfonate ionomers (PFSI’s) are of great importance in polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) applications. In order to optimize membrane performance, it is essential to understand the development of morphology and the structure-property relationships in these materials. Since the influence of the electrostatic interactions in these ion-containing polymers governs the developing structure, the overall goal of these studies has aimed to expand our fundamental understanding of the influence of electrostatic interactions on chain dynamics and developing morphology in PFSI materials. 3:30 Refreshment Break, Exhibit/Poster Viewing 4:00 Development of Direct Hydrogen Micro Fuel Cell Technology Sukhvinder P.S. Badwal, PhD, Chief Research Scientist, CSIRO Energy Technology； and Oreion Energy Australia Pty Ltd., Australia* Direct hydrogen fuel cell (DHFC) technology is under development for a range of applications with power demand in the 1 to 200 W range at Oreion Australia Energy (in collaboration with CSIRO). In this presentation the benefits of DHFC over direct methanol fuel cells, applications, the developmental program, micro fabrication technologies used for large volume manufacturing and performance of micro-fabricated components and stacks will be discussed. *In collaboration with: S.Giddey, B.A.Sexton, F.L.Glenn, F.T.Ciacchi, R.E.Clarke, and D.Fini 4:30 Rechargeable, Low-Pressure, High-Density Hydrogen Storage for Portable Fuel Cells Michael Zelinsky, Director, Hydrogen Systems, Ovonic Hydrogen Systems LLC No single hydrogen storage solution is likely to solve the needs of all fuel cell applications as each technology has its own unique combination of advantages and disadvantages. This presentation will contrast various hydrogen storage methods, focusing on reversible metal hydrides. We will investigate how the technology works and examples of commercial fuel cell applications where it has been successfully deployed. 5:00 A Microfluidic Fuel Cell with Flow-Through Porous Electrodes Erik Kjeang, PhD, Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic), University of Victoria, Canada A membraneless microfluidic fuel cell architecture incorporating flow-through porous electrodes is demonstrated. The proposed architecture solves the transport limitation of previous laminar flow-based microfluidic fuel cells. Improved performance is exhibited, including power densities up to 131 mW/cm²； at room temperature. The flow-through cell architecture concurrently enables high levels of fuel utilization and cell voltage, reaching an overall energy conversion efficiency of 60% per single pass, and facilitates in situ regeneration of fuel and oxidant. 5:30 Concluding Discussion, End of Conference |
