DAYTON--Governor Bob Taft today announced that UltraCell Corporation will build the world’s first high-volume fuel cell production line in the Dayton area. UltraCell, based in Livermore, California, will invest $74 million in Dayton and is expected to create 360 jobs in this region over the next four years. UltraCell develops and manufactures micro fuel cell systems for portable devices.
“Today’s announcement is historic for both Ohio and the Dayton region, as UltraCell establishes the world’s first high volume commercial fuel cell production line here,” said Taft. “Through efforts like the Third Frontier Project and tax reform, Ohio has demonstrated its commitment to attracting businesses that will create high-tech, high-paying jobs to our state.”
The Governor joined UltraCell Chairman, CEO and President James Kaschmitter; House Speaker Jon Husted; Montgomery County Commission President Charles Curran; and Dayton Mayor Rhine McLin for the announcement.
Governor Taft met with UltraCell executives earlier this month during a domestic trade mission to San Francisco and the Bay Area. Additionally, the Ohio Department of Development has worked with UltraCell to propose an incentive package that includes training grants for employees, roadwork development funds and a job creation tax credit.
“Ohio is dedicated to fuel cell technology and alternative energies,” said Lt. Governor and Development Director Bruce Johnson. “UltraCell’s decision to expand their operations in Ohio means that we will continue to raise our profile nationally as the premier location for alternative power research, development and commercialization.”
UltraCell, founded in 2002, currently employs 55 people worldwide. Earlier this year, the company announced that it has received a contract award for delivery of its XX25™, a 25-watt reformed methanol fuel cell system, to the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base for use as an airman power device.
11.09.2006
Rolls-Royce launches US fuel cell business
Rolls-Royce plc, a world leading provider of power systems and services for use on land, at sea and in the air, today announced that its fuel cell business has launched a subsidiary in the US. Fuel cells produce electricity from carbon-based fuels in a reaction rather like the reverse of a battery, and have extremely low emissions: Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems (US) Inc. has just formally established its US headquarters and technology center in Ohio and announced a partnership with Ohio-based American Electric Power (AEP).
Effective immediately, the company, will operate its business on the campus of the Stark State College of Technology, Canton, OH, where it will occupy the purpose-built Fuel Cell Prototyping Center constructed earlier this year.
Also announced, Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems Inc. will team with AEP to test and evaluate prototype fuel cell systems at the Dolan Technology Center and Walnut Test Facility located near Columbus, OH.
Charles Coltman, Chairman and CEO of Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems said: "Today's announcements underscore our focus on the future of fuel cell technology and continue our drive to develop highly efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly power systems. Ohio is at the forefront of fuel cell development and demonstration, and we are delighted to be working with an industry leader such as AEP."
Rolls-Royce began research into fuel cell technology in 1992 and in 2003 it established Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems Ltd. Last year, Rolls-Royce partnered with Singaporean consortium EnerTek to invest jointly US0 million toward developing a commercially-viable power system based on fuel cell technology.
The company has also opened a new facility at Loughborough University in the UK to pilot the production of ceramic components for use in fuel cell systems.
More on Rolls-Royce fuel cells:
Fuel cells generate electricity by combining fuel and air in an electrochemical reaction. They were first demonstrated in the 19th century, but to date have always been relatively large and expensive to manufacture, depriving them of any real commercial applications.
By using its aerospace technology skills, Rolls-Royce has designed an electrical power system that integrates a solid oxide fuel cell with a micro turbine. This power system promises to be significantly more efficient than any conventional gas turbine or reciprocating engine, with far less impact on the environment. The current objective is a stationary power-generation system providing around 1 megawatt of electricity, for market delivery some time before the end of the decade.
Effective immediately, the company, will operate its business on the campus of the Stark State College of Technology, Canton, OH, where it will occupy the purpose-built Fuel Cell Prototyping Center constructed earlier this year.
Also announced, Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems Inc. will team with AEP to test and evaluate prototype fuel cell systems at the Dolan Technology Center and Walnut Test Facility located near Columbus, OH.
Charles Coltman, Chairman and CEO of Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems said: "Today's announcements underscore our focus on the future of fuel cell technology and continue our drive to develop highly efficient, cost effective and environmentally friendly power systems. Ohio is at the forefront of fuel cell development and demonstration, and we are delighted to be working with an industry leader such as AEP."
Rolls-Royce began research into fuel cell technology in 1992 and in 2003 it established Rolls-Royce Fuel Cell Systems Ltd. Last year, Rolls-Royce partnered with Singaporean consortium EnerTek to invest jointly US0 million toward developing a commercially-viable power system based on fuel cell technology.
The company has also opened a new facility at Loughborough University in the UK to pilot the production of ceramic components for use in fuel cell systems.
More on Rolls-Royce fuel cells:
Fuel cells generate electricity by combining fuel and air in an electrochemical reaction. They were first demonstrated in the 19th century, but to date have always been relatively large and expensive to manufacture, depriving them of any real commercial applications.
By using its aerospace technology skills, Rolls-Royce has designed an electrical power system that integrates a solid oxide fuel cell with a micro turbine. This power system promises to be significantly more efficient than any conventional gas turbine or reciprocating engine, with far less impact on the environment. The current objective is a stationary power-generation system providing around 1 megawatt of electricity, for market delivery some time before the end of the decade.
PolyFuel Sets New Record For Portable Fuel Cell Performance -- Again
PolyFuel Sets New Record For Portable Fuel Cell Performance -- Again
New, Ultra-thin 20-Micron Membrane Material Beats PolyFuel's -- and Industry's -- Best by 40%
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PolyFuel, Inc., a world leader in engineered fuel cell membranes, revealed today that its new, ultra-thin membrane delivers over 40% more power than any fuel cell membrane previously available. The new 20-micron hydrocarbon membrane, when used in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) being developed for micro power applications such as notebook computers and cell phones, produces an unprecedented 200 milliwatts of peak power per square centimeter of material at 70C -- a level which allows for a significant reduction in the size, weight and cost of the fuel cell “stack”, a key component in the fuel cell system. Such small fuel cell power supplies are being developed by leading manufacturers to deliver the extended runtimes that consumers desire from their portable electronic devices.
Fuel cell membranes -- often called the “heart of the fuel cell” -- allow an electrochemical reaction to occur that generates electricity directly from a solution of fuel -- in this case a combination of readily-available methanol -- and water. Previous records in this area were set by another PolyFuel hydrocarbon membrane, one 45 microns thick, from which 140 milliwatts of peak power per square centimeter was obtained at similar conditions. Other materials, such as fluorocarbon membranes -- considered by many to be at their “end of life” stage -- have not been able to demonstrate such high power while maintaining acceptable efficiencies.
The new membrane also allows more than twice the amount of water to diffuse through it than previous membranes, which can simplify the design of the fuel cell. During operation, water in the fuel-water solution is consumed on one side of the membrane -- the anode -- only to reappear on the opposite side -- the cathode -- as a by-product. PolyFuel’s new membrane allows the water to diffuse back from the cathode to the anode, where it can once again participate in the reaction. This “molecular-level recycling” can eliminate the need for pumps, which are especially problematic in products intended for smaller applications such as cell phones or PDAs.
Samsung engineers indicated recently that the new membrane is a breakthrough from their perspective. They recently conducted a rigorous series of tests on every fuel cell membrane that they could find, and PolyFuel’s 20 micron material outperformed all of the others in terms of its combination of power and efficiency. Samsung is among the leaders in consumer electronics in trying to find alternatives to extend the runtime for portable electronic devices, which, with the rapid rise in consumer-demanded features such as video, are becoming increasingly power hungry -- beyond the capabilities of even today’s best available batteries.
Moreover, the recent unfavorable publicity that such batteries have received due to catching fire while in service in laptop computers -- and the resultant high-profile product recalls – is only hastening the search for alternative long runtime power supplies. Micro power fuel cells are viewed by many as the best, and increasingly viable, solution.
Said one of Samsung’s Principal Engineers, “A fuel cell can never deliver too much power, or be too efficient. We expect that the new material, plus the strong support that PolyFuel is providing, will enable us to achieve a new performance milestone.”
The market for handheld devices alone is currently estimated at over one billion units per year, and includes mobile phones, handheld industrial computers, printers, scanners, and various communications and surveillance devices used in homeland security applications. Each of these requires a reliable, long-running power source.
Because of this demand, coupled with recent improvements in fuel cell design and manufacturing technologies, it is widely believed that a commercial portable fuel cell market is imminent. A 2006 report from Frost and Sullivan, for example, has predicted that sales of consumer portable fuel cells will reach over 38 million units by 2009, with commercial product introductions projected to begin in the 2007 to 2008 timeframe. Virtually every major consumer electronics company and battery company worldwide has extensive, internal fuel cell development efforts underway.
PolyFuel was the world’s first company founded specifically to nano-engineer exotic membranes for fuel cells, and rapidly rose to a widely-acknowledged leadership position. Now, with the introduction of its ultra-thin, high-performing 20-micron membrane, fuel cell developers and manufacturers have a wide range of PolyFuel membranes to meet differing design criteria.
Unlike “legacy” fuel cell membranes made from fluorocarbon polymers such as the one found in non-stick Teflon®, PolyFuel’s higher-performing membranes utilize a hydrocarbon polymer chemistry. Jim Balcom, Chief Executive Officer of PolyFuel, commented: “The characteristics of PolyFuel’s hydrocarbon membrane chemistry, such as high power density, low methanol crossover, and now high water back diffusion, allow for significantly improved flexibility in the design of portable fuel cells.”
The performance results achieved by PolyFuel’s new 20 micron membrane were obtained using a commercially-available Johnson Matthey catalyst, and commercially-available gas diffusion layers (GDLs). Total catalyst loading was 5.6 milligrams of platinum per square centimeter
New, Ultra-thin 20-Micron Membrane Material Beats PolyFuel's -- and Industry's -- Best by 40%
MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--PolyFuel, Inc., a world leader in engineered fuel cell membranes, revealed today that its new, ultra-thin membrane delivers over 40% more power than any fuel cell membrane previously available. The new 20-micron hydrocarbon membrane, when used in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) being developed for micro power applications such as notebook computers and cell phones, produces an unprecedented 200 milliwatts of peak power per square centimeter of material at 70C -- a level which allows for a significant reduction in the size, weight and cost of the fuel cell “stack”, a key component in the fuel cell system. Such small fuel cell power supplies are being developed by leading manufacturers to deliver the extended runtimes that consumers desire from their portable electronic devices.
Fuel cell membranes -- often called the “heart of the fuel cell” -- allow an electrochemical reaction to occur that generates electricity directly from a solution of fuel -- in this case a combination of readily-available methanol -- and water. Previous records in this area were set by another PolyFuel hydrocarbon membrane, one 45 microns thick, from which 140 milliwatts of peak power per square centimeter was obtained at similar conditions. Other materials, such as fluorocarbon membranes -- considered by many to be at their “end of life” stage -- have not been able to demonstrate such high power while maintaining acceptable efficiencies.
The new membrane also allows more than twice the amount of water to diffuse through it than previous membranes, which can simplify the design of the fuel cell. During operation, water in the fuel-water solution is consumed on one side of the membrane -- the anode -- only to reappear on the opposite side -- the cathode -- as a by-product. PolyFuel’s new membrane allows the water to diffuse back from the cathode to the anode, where it can once again participate in the reaction. This “molecular-level recycling” can eliminate the need for pumps, which are especially problematic in products intended for smaller applications such as cell phones or PDAs.
Samsung engineers indicated recently that the new membrane is a breakthrough from their perspective. They recently conducted a rigorous series of tests on every fuel cell membrane that they could find, and PolyFuel’s 20 micron material outperformed all of the others in terms of its combination of power and efficiency. Samsung is among the leaders in consumer electronics in trying to find alternatives to extend the runtime for portable electronic devices, which, with the rapid rise in consumer-demanded features such as video, are becoming increasingly power hungry -- beyond the capabilities of even today’s best available batteries.
Moreover, the recent unfavorable publicity that such batteries have received due to catching fire while in service in laptop computers -- and the resultant high-profile product recalls – is only hastening the search for alternative long runtime power supplies. Micro power fuel cells are viewed by many as the best, and increasingly viable, solution.
Said one of Samsung’s Principal Engineers, “A fuel cell can never deliver too much power, or be too efficient. We expect that the new material, plus the strong support that PolyFuel is providing, will enable us to achieve a new performance milestone.”
The market for handheld devices alone is currently estimated at over one billion units per year, and includes mobile phones, handheld industrial computers, printers, scanners, and various communications and surveillance devices used in homeland security applications. Each of these requires a reliable, long-running power source.
Because of this demand, coupled with recent improvements in fuel cell design and manufacturing technologies, it is widely believed that a commercial portable fuel cell market is imminent. A 2006 report from Frost and Sullivan, for example, has predicted that sales of consumer portable fuel cells will reach over 38 million units by 2009, with commercial product introductions projected to begin in the 2007 to 2008 timeframe. Virtually every major consumer electronics company and battery company worldwide has extensive, internal fuel cell development efforts underway.
PolyFuel was the world’s first company founded specifically to nano-engineer exotic membranes for fuel cells, and rapidly rose to a widely-acknowledged leadership position. Now, with the introduction of its ultra-thin, high-performing 20-micron membrane, fuel cell developers and manufacturers have a wide range of PolyFuel membranes to meet differing design criteria.
Unlike “legacy” fuel cell membranes made from fluorocarbon polymers such as the one found in non-stick Teflon®, PolyFuel’s higher-performing membranes utilize a hydrocarbon polymer chemistry. Jim Balcom, Chief Executive Officer of PolyFuel, commented: “The characteristics of PolyFuel’s hydrocarbon membrane chemistry, such as high power density, low methanol crossover, and now high water back diffusion, allow for significantly improved flexibility in the design of portable fuel cells.”
The performance results achieved by PolyFuel’s new 20 micron membrane were obtained using a commercially-available Johnson Matthey catalyst, and commercially-available gas diffusion layers (GDLs). Total catalyst loading was 5.6 milligrams of platinum per square centimeter
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