ISSN 1743-3029

THE Volume 1 Issue 2 Aug/Sept 2004

FUEL CELL
SOFCs target military markets
A faster take on fuel reforming
Stationary power ready to roll

REVIEW
Hydrogen codes and standards

COMPETITIVE INTELLIGENCE ON HYDROGEN AND FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGIES fcr.iop.org

Portable electronics:
fuel cells eye the prize
An IOP Emerging Technology Review
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EDITORIAL
Editor Joe McEntee
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Belle Dumé, Siân Harris, Hamish
Johnston

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THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004 3

 LEADER
Conference report
The headline view from Lucerne
There are encouraging signs that fuel-cell developers are getting their commercial priorities in order.
The organizers of the Lucerne Fuel Cell
MTU
Forum know how to give their delegates
what they want – and we’re not just talk-
ing about beer at lunchtime and scenic
evening cruises on Lake Lucerne. If it’s
hard technical information you’re after
on fuel-cell R&D, innovation and emerg-
ing applications, then the historic Swiss
city has established itself as the place to
head for when the summer conference circuit kicks in. Like
others before it, this year’s event provided plenty of scope for
attendees to get to grips with the fine detail of fuel-cell materi-
als, components and systems development (165 presentations,
60 poster contributions and 34 exhibitors from industry and
academia testify to that, as does a set of conference proceedings
running to 2200 pages).
Trouble is, sorting and evaluating the headline developments
in a sprawling programme like this is no easy task. Of course,
it helps to remember that there’s a bigger market picture in play
here and that, ultimately, fuel cells are a family of technologies
that will be driven not by the prejudices of the scientists or engi-
neers involved, but by the end-user. In this context, one of the
encouraging aspects of the 2004 conference was the emphasis
it placed on reporting field demonstrations and R&D projects
that are focused squarely on getting fuel-cell technology out of
the controlled confines of the laboratory.
Unsurprisingly, for an event with two parallel sessions on
solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs), close-to-market high-tempera-
ture systems were very much to the fore. Swiss company Sulzer
Hexis, for example, detailed an ambitious three-year pro-
gramme of field trials involving deployment of 110 of its
HX1000 Premiere units (based on a 1 kW SOFC system).
Working in partnership with the energy utilities, Sulzer has
been evaluating these “precommercial” prototypes for com-
bined heat and power applications in single-family homes, as
well as in public buildings, laboratories and multitenant apart-
ments. Now, with more than 500 000 h of accumulated operat-
ing experience, the technical performance has made impressive
strides. Since the beginning of testing, says Sulzer, malfunctions
have been reduced by more than 80%, while downtime is less
than 10% for 90% of systems tested since October 2002. On the
back of this, a next-generation SOFC heating unit is already in
the works and should be ready for delivery in 2005.
Moving up several notches to the 250 kW regime, it appears
that molten-carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) are emerging as a
credible, high-efficiency platform for decentralized cogenera-
tion of electricity and heat using biofuels like sewage gas and
landfill gas (see p32). What’s more, this sustainable slant on
MCFC technology could be ready for widespread commercial
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
application within the next five years, according to a presenta-
tion from MTU CFC Solutions of Germany. MTU boasts an
impressive pedigree in the development of integrated MCFC
systems. Its so-called HotModules have been put through their
paces in a field-trial programme that’s been running since 2001.
There are currently eight HotModule test sites across Germany,
including hospitals, industrial plants and telecommunications
exchanges (see photo, left).
Meanwhile, the US Army’s Construction Engineering
Research Laboratory (CERL) elaborated on a simple yet effec-
tive strategy for fuel-cell testing. Over the past decade, it has
implemented a “kick it, and kick it hard” approach to evaluat-
ing the performance of 30 200 kW phosphoric-acid fuel-cell
power plants and, more recently, 75 residential-scale polymer-
electrolyte-membrane fuel-cell systems – all of them deployed
at military and related facilities. CERL’s objective is to get away
from what it calls “the traditional approach of fuel-cell devel-
opers” who “conduct carefully designed, tightly controlled field
demonstrations”. The true test comes, it says, when the fuel
cells are put into normal everyday operation and expected to
deliver. The name of the game: to identify, in as short a time-
frame as possible, any shortcomings associated with the fuel
cells when they are exposed to a range of demanding conditions
(i.e. high altitude, ground-water contamination and extremes
of temperature/humidity).
Going forward, it’s clear that robust, no-nonsense approaches,
like that of CERL, are going to be mandatory, and will ultimately
enhance the commercial prospects of low- and high-tempera-
ture systems operating at all power levels. It will be intriguing to
see how much progress is made on this score by the time the fuel-
cell community meets up again in Lucerne next summer.
Subscriptions
Essential reading
Sign up now to secure your copy.
Wry soundbite of the summer award goes to Michael J Binder
of the US Army’s CERL. “There are a lot of people making small
fortunes in fuel cells today,” he told delegates in Lucerne.
“Trouble is, they all started out with big fortunes.” If you don’t
want to be one of the unfortunates in question, better make
sure you’re reading The Fuel Cell Review. But remember, if you
want to carry on receiving the magazine you must become a
subscriber. I urge you to subscribe today – using the card at the
front of the magazine or via our website.
Joe McEntee, Editor (joe.mcentee@iop.org)
5

NEWS &
ANALYSIS
Transportation
They’re not cheap, but they are clean
While the underlying technologies continue to advance, the wide-scale commercialization of fuel-cell buses is some way off.
A study from the United Nations Global
Environment Facility offers a mixed bag of indi-
cators for pioneers of fuel-cell buses (FCBs).
First up, and most worryingly, the report con-
cludes that FCB hardware and software (such as
codes, standards and training protocols) have
“not progressed down the cost curve... in the
past two years as rapidly as originally antici-
pated”. In other words, FCBs are still way too
expensive – averaging out at around $2.3 m per
bus, including the refuelling station. On the up
side, the study claims that industry and govern-
ment investment in FCBs is being sustained,
with one key indicator of progress being the
doubling, between 2002 and 2003, of the cumu-
lative number of FCBs that were built and oper-
ated worldwide (the figure is now close to 70).
Urban transit buses provide an ideal testbed
for the optimization of fuel-cell-powered vehi-
cles. For starters, bus companies have central-
ized maintenance and fuelling depots, which
makes the absence of a distributed hydrogen-
fuelling infrastructure less of an obstacle than
it is for field trials of fuel-cell cars. Transit buses
also operate on regular – and very demanding –
duty cycles, which means it is easier for devel-
opers to compare the relative merits of differ-
ent fuel-cell configurations.
Ticket to ride
In the US, California is setting the pace on
FCBs. The state is a hot-bed of activity, thanks
to a decree that all of its transit authorities
must operate some zero-emission buses by
2010. The California Fuel Cell Partnership
(CaFCP), for example, is currently involved in
three different trials: the Santa Clara Valley
Transportation Authority in San Jose; the
Sunline Transit Agency in Thousand Palms;
and AC Transit in Oakland.
AC Transit, for its part, has been taking part in
FCB trials for several years. And despite the high
cost of prototype vehicles, the company
remains positive about the technology’s long-
term prospects, according to Jaimie Levin, AC’s
director of marketing and communications.
Since September 2003, the group has been run-
ning a 9 m long FCB which “has been quite
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
Get on the bus: Beijing commuters will soon be able to ride in zero-emission FCBs from Daimler-
Chrysler. The city will gain three hydrogen-powered Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses in 2005.
remarkable in its performance”, Levin says, cit-
ing the vehicle’s 82% availability-for-service rat-
ing. (AC Transit budgets for 85–90% availability
for its diesel buses.) The company has teamed up
with the fuel-cell provider UTC and ISE, a spe-
cialist in hybrid-electric drive systems, to con-
vert three diesel buses (supplied by Van Hool of
Belgium) to a fuel-cell/hybrid configuration that
will run on hydrogen at atmospheric pressure.
Yet Levin acknowledges that the production
and storage of hydrogen fuel is a fundamental
challenge for the transit authorities. “[Bus]
companies would rather not be involved in the
production of fuel; we would rather just buy it,”
he explains. Although he’s optimistic about the
future of FCBs, Levin does not expect AC
Transit to have a substantial fleet of fuel-cell
vehicles until about 2015. That view is in broad
agreement with the US Federal Transit
Administration (FTA), which wants 10% of
new US transit buses to be FCBs by 2015. While
there is a feeling in the industry that it may be
possible to produce a commercially viable FCB
by 2010 – Toyota and MAN have announced
their intention to do so – it appears that this
headline goal may be slipping.
Atakan Ozbek, director of energy research
at US-based ABI Research, believes there are
currently fewer FCB pilot projects under way
than anticipated several years ago. This means
that fuel-cell suppliers are not getting nearly
enough start-up manufacturing orders – a vital
Also in this section
8 Micro fuel cells in the mix
8 Sweden, China and SOFCs
9 Opinion: hydrogen safety
10 Field trials show the way
part of the commercialization process. He
reckons that the US target of 10% FCB penetra-
tion by 2015 is “a bit aggressive...When you
look at the technical developments, govern-
ment policies and commercial realities, it does
not look possible today”.
He continues: “No one believes that a fuel
cell will be on cost parity with a diesel engine
anytime soon. It won’t happen in the next 10 or
15 years. Given the current progress I would
expect to see, say, 100 buses in one city in 2012
or 2013.” That said, “the technology is pro-
gressing at a reasonable pace”, he adds, “with
GM, Toyota, Honda and Ballard all making sig-
nificant improvements and investments”.
Meanwhile, the FTA’s 10% penetration target
has encouraged FCB projects beyond California.
For example, UTC is developing a 200 kW poly-
mer-electrolyte-membrane (PEM) fuel cell for
FCBs in a project overseen by the Northeast
Advanced Vehicle Consortium. An FCB is
expected to be on the road in Connecticut by the
end of this year.
The largest and most comprehensive FCB
trials to date, however, are the European
Union’s Clean Urban Transport for Europe
(CUTE) and Ecological City Transport System
(ECTOS) programmes, which involve the use
of around 30 full-sized buses providing rev-
enue service in 10 cities. The cities vary greatly
in size – from sprawling London to compact
Reykjavik – and climate – from northerly
7
NEWS & ANALYSIS
Stockholm to as far south as Barcelona. In sev-
eral projects, hydrogen fuel is manufactured
locally. In Reykjavik, for example, hydrogen is
generated through electrolysis using hydro-
electric and geothermal energy. In Barcelona,
solar panels will supply the electricity, while in
Hamburg wind energy will be used. Porto and
Stuttgart will use hydrogen reformed from
natural gas and London will be the only city to
trial the use of liquid (as opposed to gaseous)
hydrogen generated at oil refineries.
All CUTE trials are using the Citaro FCB
from DaimlerChrysler. The 12 m bus has a
200 km range and can carry more than 60 peo-
ple. The vehicle is powered by a 205 kW Ballard
fuel cell supplied with hydrogen compressed at
350 bar. The fuel-cell unit and storage cylinders
sit in the roof of the vehicle and the electric
motor and transmission are located at the rear
of the bus. Delivery of the buses began in 2003,
and commercial services got under way in sev-
eral cities towards the end of the year.
In Japan, meanwhile, Toyota has teamed up
with the bus manufacturer Hino to develop
FCBs. The companies launched their first vehi-
cle in 1999, with a second generation of four
vehicles released in 2002. The latest buses are
10.5 m long fuel-cell hybrids, which employ
two 90 kW PEM stacks. Elsewhere in Asia-
Pacific, the Chinese government intends to
have 100 FCBs in service for the Beijing
Olympic Games in 2008. The Ministry of
Science and Technology is currently funding a
$106 m four-year programme to develop fuel-
cell and hybrid-electric vehicles, with private
companies expected to invest as much as
$300 m over the next five years. The fuel-cell
systems are being developed by Shanghai
Shen-Li High Tech and Dalian Sunrise Power.
The Shanghai Fuel Cell Vehicle Powertrain
Company is integrating the system in conjunc-
tion with Tsinghua University.
Hamish Johnston
Research
Working together
Sweden and China have teamed up on
the development of low-temperature
solid-oxide fuel cells.
Little over 12 months after it was set up, a Sino-
Swedish R&D collaboration looks to be mak-
ing significant headway on low-temperature
solid-oxide fuel cells (LTSOFCs), according to
results presented at the Sixth European Solid
Oxide Fuel Cell Forum in Lucerne, Switzerland,
earlier this summer.
The initiative, which involves 12 Chinese and
Swedish universities and research centres, is
8 THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
Portable power
Technology made easy
Standards bodies are working out the fine
detail of micro-fuel-cell power sources.
The International Electrotechnical Comm-
ission (IEC) has established a new working
group (WG10) to draw up a standard covering
interchangeability issues between micro fuel
cells. The group will sit within IEC TC 105,
which is the fuel-cell technologies technical
committee of the international standards body.
WG10’s objectives are to establish criteria
for interchangeability between micro-fuel-cell
power units and electrical devices, as well as
between fuel cartridges and micro-fuel-cell
power packs. Why is this important? Because
if a fuel cartridge is connected to an incorrect
fuel-cell power unit there could be a safety
problem, such as fuel leakage or an improper
voltage being supplied to an electrical device.
The same problems could occur if a micro-
fuel-cell power unit is connected to an incom-
patible electrical device.
Toshiba’s Fumio Ueno, project leader on
WG10, believes that the standardization of
micro fuel cells will yield considerable benefits.
“It will provide convenience for end-users who
wish to use micro fuel cells for their portable
electronic devices,” he said. “End-users [will be
able to] access the standard fuel cartridge at
any outlet and there’ll be no chance of using the
improper cartridge, which will help in terms of
the safety and performance of the device.”
He added: “As long as the reservoir is filled
with fuel, there is no limit in operating time and
the fuel reservoir allows products to be free
from the limitations of the design and energy
storage... but such a dream will be limited if you
cannot get a proper cartridge at any time.”
Toshiba’s provision of a project leader is not
developing ceria-based nanocomposite elec-
trolytes, which exhibit excellent ionic conduc-
tivities of 0.01–1 S/cm between 300 and 650 °C.
In parallel, the scientists are working on a family
of compatible nickel and copper-based elec-
trode materials. These electrolytes and elec-
trodes have been used “to construct LTSOFCs
that demonstrated a performance from 100 to
1000 mW/cm2 at temperatures between 400
and 650 °C”, say the researchers. “In some cases,
the LTSOFC could function at 300 °C.”
Another thrust of the work focuses on the
underlying mechanisms of LTSOFCs. This
includes internal reforming and electrochemi-
cal processes for operation with carbonaceous
fuels (such as gasoline, diesel, natural gas, coal
gas, etc); microstructural analysis and reaction
On the go: micro fuel cells will benefit from the
IEC’s latest moves on standardization.
the only Japanese link to WG10. Indeed, the
formation of the new group was proposed by
Japan, with heavy-hitters like Hitachi, NEC and
Sony also involved. The US, France, Republic
of Korea, China and the UK have said they will
contribute their own experts to WG10.
The 16 participating members of TC 105
voted at the end of July to establish the new
working group. WG10 joins two other work-
ing groups focused on micro fuel cells. The
first, WG8, was established in November last
year to deal with the safety aspects of micro
fuel cells. The second group, WG9, was set up
in June 2004 and is concentrating on fuel-cell
technical specifications and performance.
To ensure that the activities of the three work-
ing groups are coordinated, their meetings will
take place at the same locations and on the same
dates, according to a spokesperson for the IEC.
Meanwhile, the initial tasks of WG10, says
Ueno, are to tackle the core items required to
make fuel-cell power units interchangeable and
to specify the fuel cartridge needed. The new
group aims to produce a committee draft of the
standard in mid-2006. The full international
standard is planned for 2007. For further
details, e-mail fumi.ueno@toshiba.co.jp.
Siân Harris
dynamics at the electrode/electrolyte inter-
faces; and hybrid proton and oxygen-ion con-
duction and transport processes. These
activities are reinforced by a programme of
stack/system modelling and simulation.
Senior management at Stockholm’s Royal
Institute of Technology (the Swedish coordinat-
ing partner) is now looking to take things a step
further by establishing a Sino-Swedish joint
research centre, in which LTSOFCs will form
one of the main R&D programmes. The Chinese
partners in the LTSOFC initiative are Tsinghua
University, Beijing (coordinating partner);
Dalian Maritime University; Tianjin University;
University of Science and Technology, Hefei;
and Institute of Energy Sources, Guangzhou.
Joe McEntee, Lucerne

Hydrogen safety
Cracking the codes, setting the standards
They are viewed as a costly annoyance by many executives, but widely adopted codes and standards will be
essential if hydrogen and fuel-cell technologies are to secure mainstream status.
One of the fundamental challenges holding
back commercialization of hydrogen tech-
nologies is “the lack of safety information on
hydrogen components and systems used in a
hydrogen fuel infrastructure, and the limited
availability of appropriate codes and standards
to ensure uniformity and facilitate deploy-
ment”. With no less an authority than the US
Department of Energy (DOE) pushing that
rather downbeat view, it’s probably time to lis-
ten up, especially as closer scrutiny reveals that
rising to the aforementioned challenge is likely
to be far from straightforward – and not just
where the US is concerned.
For the time being, hydrogen and fuel-cell
companies are caught between a rock and a
hard place, most obviously when it comes to
deployment of hydrogen systems in automo-
tive and stationary-power applications. For
starters, emerging technologies not yet recog-
nized within all-encompassing codes and stan-
dards are certain to experience difficulties with
insurance, and could well be vulnerable to hos-
tile lawsuits. A lack of understanding of hydro-
gen fuel and hydrogen systems among local
government officials, fire officers and the gen-
eral public hardly helps. And competition
between standards and code-development
organizations complicates things yet further.
It may look messy, but when The Fuel Cell
Review spoke to Bob Boyd, project develop-
ment manager, hydrogen energy, at The BOC
Group in the US, it found there are still reasons
to be optimistic that the hydrogen and fuel-cell
industry will be able to unify its efforts on
safety, codes and standards – and perhaps
sooner rather than later.
FCR: What is the commercial importance
of a coherent industry-wide approach to
legal codes and technical standards
relating to hydrogen safety – specifically
in terms of vehicle applications?
BB: It’s vital. Failure to develop harmonized
codes, standards and legislation covering the
use of hydrogen in the public domain would
prevent widescale adoption of hydrogen as a
fuel. Any organization wishing to sell hydro-
gen-fuelled products on a commercial basis
must be able to demonstrate that the safety risk
has been managed properly. At BOC, for exam-
ple, we are participating in various working
groups, committees and demonstrations that
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
NEWS & ANALYSIS
“Any organization wishing to sell hydrogen-
fuelled products on a commercial basis must be
able to demonstrate that the safety risk has
been managed properly,” says BOC’s Bob Boyd.
contribute to establishing a harmonized frame-
work supporting the whole supply chain –
from production to application.
Excluding the changes being proposed to
existing codes, we currently have codes and
standards for industrial hydrogen systems,
natural-gas-vehicle (NGV) fuelling applica-
tions, and traditional small and standby power
systems. But it is a big headache having to use
the industrial-hydrogen standards and existing
building codes and standards to secure per-
mitting for demonstration fuel-cell projects.
How much progress has been made, and
remains to be made, in this context?
In terms of vehicle and hydrogen-fuelling
infrastructure, North America appears to be
on track to have codes and standards in place
for a major nationwide roll-out of fuel-cell
vehicles by 2015. Here, much of the develop-
ment on codes and standards going on today
has been an outgrowth of the work of the
California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP).
Through the CaFCP, almost all of the major
OEMs have found a forum to learn and collab-
orate on both vehicle-development issues and
hydrogen infrastructure standards.
Elsewhere, Japanese OEMs seem to be further
along towards an earlier commercialization of
hydrogen vehicles – certainly, they are ahead on
commercial hybrid-electric vehicles (see The Fuel
Cell Review June/July 2004 p7). In terms of codes
and standards, the general feeling is that there
are fewer roadblocks to commercial implemen-
tation in Japan. ISO standards for compressed-
and liquid-hydrogen-powered vehicles are
being developed, although at about the same
pace as in North America.
What role are the car makers playing?
DaimlerChrysler, Ford, GM, Peugeot, Hyundai
and the Japanese OEMs are focusing on 35 and
70 MPa on-board storage systems, leveraging
the composite storage-tank technology devel-
oped for compressed NGVs. BMW and the
Opel division of GM have been the only OEMs
that have shown an interest in on-board storage
of liquid hydrogen. Both of these companies
have done a lot of development work, but there
has been little interest in on-board liquid hydro-
gen outside Germany.
How important is government influence
in the development of relevant hydrogen
safety codes and standards?
The DOE and National Renewable Energy
Laboratory (NREL) are doing a great job, with
fewer resources than we would wish, to coor-
dinate codes and standards development over a
wide range of organizations. Non-govern-
mental agencies and industry-sponsored
organizations, such as the National Hydrogen
Association (NHA) and Compressed Gas
Association (CGA), also play a vital role, work-
ing with the DOE and NREL to bring the tech-
nical issues and main players to the table.
At the same time, commercial companies –
like BOC – are contributing the man-hours
needed to support the code-development
efforts. Some of that effort, to be sure, is there
because these companies see commercial
opportunities [that require new codes], but the
hydrogen economy will not develop unless
there is hope of commercial viability.
Clearly, many interested parties are
involved in the development of hydrogen
safety codes and standards, with different
and sometimes competing agendas. Do
you think that’s a problem?
I think that the ad hoc approach is working
about as well as we could hope. There is quite a
diverse bunch of interested parties and the sup-
port from DOE and NREL has been well
focused on systems that support collaboration
▲
and harmonization.
9
NEWS & ANALYSIS
What codes and standards already exist
covering the industrial applications of
hydrogen? And how relevant are these to
the storage and delivery of hydrogen for
automotive applications?
Existing industrial codes and standards are rel-
evant in that they are where you start today
when permitting a fuelling station. The flip side
is that they also present many challenges. For
starters, the 25–75 ft set-back distances specified
for traditional hydrogen-storage systems from
common exposures can be very difficult to
accommodate in a commercial setting. At the
same time, today we must use compressed-
NGV codes and standards as a basis for com-
pressed-hydrogen vehicle systems – a weak
position in front of an AHJ [the local Authority
Having Jurisdiction], as the material-handling
properties of hydrogen are unique.
Perhaps the most problematic issue of all is
that the high-pressure type 3 and type 4 NGV
storage tanks, which can currently be used as
350 bar (hot-filled to 437 bar) on-board
hydrogen-vehicle storage systems, still can-
not be used for commercial transportation of
compressed hydrogen or for ground storage
at fuelling stations. That’s despite the fact that
both tank formats are approved by the US
Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE),
ANSI-CSA America and ISO standards for
compressed-hydrogen vehicle systems.
How does the implementation of legal
codes and permitting work with respect
to hydrogen safety in the US?
There are now two code bodies – the National
Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the
International Code Council (ICC) – developing
what are called “model codes”, which in turn
compete for adopters. The competition
between the two model-code developers some-
what complicates the whole issue, although
there is a significant degree of harmonization
between ICC and NFPA, and various “interested
parties” are proposing changes in the model
codes that address the needs of the hydrogen
and fuel-cell community.
Every municipal area has an AHJ and code-
enforcement officials. Depending on the
budget and preferences of local agencies, each
will adopt versions (typically not the latest
version) of the combination of codes they pre-
fer. In some cases, whole states will adopt a
series of model codes. In other cases, there are
differences at the county or city level, particu-
larly regarding what “revision year” of a code
has been adopted by the AHJ. It’s a very frag-
mented situation.
The primary organizations that I see driving
these code changes are the CaFCP, the CGA,
CSA America, DOE, ISO, NHA, NREL and the
10
Real-world experience is what really counts
BOC describes itself as a provider of “safe
engineering services” to the emerging
hydrogen and fuel-cell energy market. “This is a
natural fit for BOC because of the knowledge
and experience gained from building and
operating [industrial] hydrogen plants around
the world,” said Stewart Dow, manager,
hydrogen energy and fuel cells for BOC Group
UK. “It is imperative that every installation is as
safe as it can practically be for this embryonic
industry to succeed.”
The company is involved in a number of
high-profile hydrogen and fuel-cell projects
around the world. In South Africa, for example,
its local subsidiary Afrox worked with UK fuel-
cell company Intelligent Energy on one of the
region’s first fuel-cell installations. The
hydrogen fuel cell provides primary power to
an essential reservoir-level monitor.
“The safety challenge with the project was
that it demanded the installation of compressed
hydrogen in a non-industrial, non-secure,
unmanned environment,” explained Dow. “It
was felt that the only sustainable solution was
to put hydrogen cylinders into a secure cabinet,
despite this not being normal procedure.”
In the absence of specific codes for fuel cells,
the safety case for the installation was made by
the careful use of technology (excess flow
valves, hydrogen detection, pressure relief
valves and assessment of ventilation
requirements) coupled with a detailed hazard
and operability study. The team also worked
closely with the local fire service to address any
concerns they might have had. Dow added:
“Such an approach is acceptable for one-off
installations but could never be justified on an
SAE. Two of the most significant initiatives are
being taken forward by the SAE, which is
developing on-board vehicle-hydrogen stan-
dards and dispenser-to-vehicle interface stan-
dards, and CSA America, which is developing a
hydrogen-fuelling-station standard based on
the NGV standard. The CSA work is moving at
a very fast pace to get an early first version out
to support the current DOE demonstrations,
beginning in early 2005.
The ICC recently announced a series of
updated codes relating to hydrogen
storage. How significant is this?
The changes being written into the 2004 ICC
codes are very important as they will form a
reference document that code officials and
hydrogen-fuelling-station designers can use to
enable some of the most current thinking. For
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
Power to the people: as part of its work on the
CREST project in the UK, BOC deployed a
hydrogen installation for a private house
(above). Its team worked with the architect,
the owner and health and safety officials.
economic basis for a large number of
installations. The need for sensible codes and
standards is clear.”
He says that BOC always, as part of its
internal procedures, develops a full safety case
and risk analysis for installing any hydrogen
system. “The rules and guidelines for hydrogen
safety were developed for industrial
applications,” said Dow, “though these same
rules need to be adapted for the new hydrogen
and fuel-cell industry – and the best way to do
that is through demonstration projects.”
A case in point is the company’s involvement
in the EC-sponsored CUTE (Clean Urban
Transport for Europe) bus project (see p7). In
collaboration with BP, engineers from BOC
designed and constructed a hydrogen refueller
on the BOC Hackney gases site. The refueller
provides hydrogen for London’s three
fuel-cell-powered buses.
example, the new code has wording that will
allow the underground storage of liquid hydro-
gen, thus opening one door that may lead to
reduced set-back distances.
The suggestion that the compressed-hydro-
gen storage at a hydrogen fuelling station can
be mounted overhead, either on top of the dis-
penser canopy or on top of the convenience
store, is sensible, while the changes with
respect to metal-hydride storage systems will
also help to remove the barriers to commercial
application of this technology.
Further reading
A useful summary of hydrogen codes and
standards from the North American perspec-
tive can be found at www.eere.energy.gov/
hydrogenandfuelcells/codes/guidelines.html.
Joe McEntee
R&D FOCUS
A survey of cutting-edge research, development and innovation.
Hydrogen storage is a complex affair
Upton, NY: Researchers at the US
Department of Energy’s Brook-
haven National Laboratory and the
New Jersey Institute of Technology
have taken a big step towards under-
standing how titanium reacts with
sodium alanate, a hydrogen-stor-
age material, to catalyze the release
and reabsorption of hydrogen.
The results, published in the
journal Applied Physics Letters (19
July), may help scientists to learn
how similar catalysts work, which
could lead to improved perform-
ance and possibly the development
of more efficient storage materials
for hydrogen fuel cells.
In the late 1990s, it was discov-
ered that adding a small amount of
titanium to sodium alanate allows
the latter to reversibly release and
reabsorb hydrogen. In a sense, the
titanium dopant acts like a molec-
ular “key” to facilitate hydrogen
absorption. Until now, however,
Nanofabrication
senses new goals
Albany, NY: Albany NanoTech,
one of the world’s largest centres of
excellence in nanotechnology
research, is extending its hydrogen
and fuel-cell activities. With more
than $250000 of new funding in the
bank – around 80% of it from the
US Department of Energy (DOE) –
the centre has initiated a pro-
gramme to develop a range of opti-
cal sensors for fuel-cell applications.
The DOE cash will support the
development of nanoscale chemi-
cal sensors to monitor minute
amounts of hydrogen and other
hazardous gases in solid-oxide
fuel-cell systems (operating at
500–1000 °C). The rest of the funds
(just over $60 000 from the New
York State Energy Research and
Development Authority, or
NYSERDA) will be channelled into
R&D on nanofabricated (20 nm
thick) palladium alloy films, the
optical properties of which will
form the basis of all-optical hydro-
gen-safety sensors.
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
Key reactions: Brookhaven
physicist Jason Graetz hopes his
work will lead to more efficient
forms of hydrogen storage.
the nature of that reaction was not
well understood.
“We found that the titanium
resides on the surface of sodium
alanate as a titanium–aluminium
compound called titanium alu-
minide, rather than entering the
Plankton fuel cells take the plunge
Newport, Ore: Over the past two
years, scientists have successfully
tapped the chemical reactions from
decomposing organic matter on
the ocean floor to create demon-
stration fuel cells that provide low
levels of electrical power for many
months. Earlier this summer,
though, Oregon State University
(OSU) researchers moved things
forward by harnessing the same
power-producing decomposition
activity from plankton taken from
the upper water column.
“We’ve only had the experiments
running for about four weeks,” said
Clare E Reimers, a professor in the
College of Oceanographic and
Atmospheric Sciences at OSU, “but
it is clear that we can use plankton
as a fuel source and that the water
column is rich in microorganisms
adept at shuttling electrons to fuel-
cell electrodes.”
The seafloor fuel cells that OSU
developed previously are station-
ary and designed to provide power
for equipment that doesn’t move –
bulk material and replacing other
atoms or occupying empty spots
within the lattice,” said the study’s
lead author, Brookhaven physicist
Jason Graetz.
Graetz and his collaborators first
prepared two titanium-doped sam-
ples by mechanically mixing tita-
nium chloride and sodium alanate
using a planetary mill, a device that
grinds substances together using
marble-sized metal spheres. They
then prepared four additional sam-
ples, two from each of the main
doped samples: of these, one batch
was dehydrided (containing no
absorbed hydrogen) and the other
hydrided. The researchers were
then able to study the titanium’s
properties before and after hydro-
gen absorption. This gave them one
more way to evaluate titanium’s
role in the reaction.
The group probed the samples
with high-energy X-rays at the
Plankton power: OSU’s research
on biological fuel cells is funded
by the US Department of Defense.
like the hydrophones used by the
US Navy or by OSU researchers for
listening for earthquakes.
“But by harnessing plankton
power,” Reimers added, “we could
potentially fuel autonomous,
mobile instruments that would
glide through the water scooping
up plankton like a basking shark,
and converting that to electricity.
Such instruments carry sensors
and are used today to map the
changing chemical and physical
properties of the ocean.”
National Synchrotron Light Source
at Brookhaven. From the resultant
X-ray absorption spectra, they were
able to determine that the titanium
chloride reacted with sodium
alanate to form titanium aluminide.
“Our finding is the first step
toward an even more interesting
discovery: determining exactly
how titanium aluminide helps the
hydride release and reabsorb
hydrogen,” Graetz added. “Under-
standing that mechanism may help
us identify better catalysts for the
sodium-alanate system and help us
find dopants for new compounds
that are currently impractical
energy-storage materials, due to
the high temperatures and pres-
sures required for the release and
reabsorption of hydrogen.”
● For a detailed review of hydrogen-
storage materials, see “Hydrogen
storage: the grand challenge” in the
June/July issue (p17).
In three seafloor experiments to
date, OSU researchers and col-
leagues at several US institutions
have tested prototype fuel cells
consisting of graphite anodes shal-
lowly embedded in marine sedi-
ments and connected to graphite
cathodes in the overlying seawater.
They found that power was gener-
ated both by the direct oxidation of
dissolved sulphide – which is a
by-product of microbial decom-
position – and by the respiration
processes of microorganisms that
attached themselves to the anode.
Over the past couple of months,
OSU has been testing the fuel
capacity of plankton. Using the
same principle as the seafloor fuel
cells, the researchers have so far
managed to direct about 10% of the
energy associated with plankton
decomposition into a usable
power source. Reimers added:
“Our focus is on developing power
for oceanographic equipment.
Who knows what spin-offs will
develop beyond that?”
13
PATENTS
The pick of the latest international patent applications.

Magnetic attraction is not a distraction array of permanent magnets

Scientists at the Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique, France, have proton electrolyte active layer
developed a fuel cell that exploits a magnetic cathode and a
static-pumping configuration to generate electrical power from
N S
oxygen and hydronium ions (H3O+). According to international
patent application WO 2004/054018, the cathode comprises an
active layer and a proton electrolyte, with the latter sitting between N S
the anode and cathode. The invention also contains a network of fuel oxygen
permanent magnets to increase oxygen diffusion. Ideally, the centres N S
of the magnets are distributed in a plane “that is disposed at the
interface between the electrolyte and the active layer... In this way, all N S
of the poles of one polarity (S) are surrounded by the active layer, all anode cathode
of the poles of the opposite polarity (N) by the electrolyte”.

Superheating unit could well be hot stuff with a cathode enzyme. Redox polymers serve to “wire” the respective
FuelCell Energy, US, has developed a fuel-cell-stack end unit that enzymes to their electrode, while the cathode enzyme operates under
contains an integrated heat exchanger for superheating fuel gas before physiological conditions. The inventors say that their fuel cell does not
delivery into the stack (WO 2004/061998). It’s a set-up in which heat is require a membrane seal or case.
transferred from the hot cathode outlet stream to the cool fuel inlet
stream in a space adjacent to the stack’s end plate. The end unit – There’s more than one right answer
designed as a hollow box to form a shell around the heat exchanger – Two US companies have come up with
has openings that allow fuel-cell process gas to be taken directly from different takes on the storage and delivery of
the stack without the need for piping or duct-work to be attached to liquid fuels for portable electronic devices
thin manifolds. According to the filing, “separate chambers are powered by polymer-electrolyte-membrane
provided for both the cathode-outlet and anode-outlet gas, thereby fuel fuel cells. Silicon Valley-based PolyFuel, for
allowing all process connections to be made at one end of the stack”. bladder example, detailed a removable fuel cartridge
The end unit also features a current-collection post that is separated (shown left) comprising a flexible bladder, an
from the end cell of the stack by a number of members. These members expandable pressure member (to maintain a
provide structural support for the end unit and more uniform pressure member positive pressure on the bladder) and a
collection of electrical current than a single, large current post. scalable exit port for the fuel
(WO 2004/051781). The delivery system channels fuel from the exit
Deionization helps to keep things cool port to the fuel side of the polymer membrane. Meanwhile, Foamex of
A device for deionizing the cooling medium that circulates through Pennsylvania revealed an orientation-independent fuel reservoir
a fuel-cell stack is detailed in international patent application comprising a fuel container; a wicking structure from which the fuel
WO 2003/061044 (revised 8 July 2004). Developed by BASF may be metered (such as by pumping); a retainer to hold the wicking
Aktiengesellschaft, Germany, the deionizing unit sits within the fuel structure in a desired orientation; and a fuel outlet that links to the
cell’s cooling circuit in such a way that a liquid deionizing agent can wicking element (WO 2004/027243).
act upon the cooling medium on an intermittent basis. The
deionization device can comprise static mixers, with membrane Cathode protection can combat corrosion
separators connected downstream. A fuel-cell design incorporating a corrosion-resistant and protected
cathode catalyst layer is described in international patent application
Material magic yields new-look membranes WO 2004/061999, filed by UTC Fuel Cells, US. The cathode catalyst
Researchers at Creavis Gesellschaft für Technologie und Innovation, layer includes a platinum oxygen-reduction catalyst and an oxygen-
Germany, have published details of a new class of proton-conducting evolution catalyst. The latter, selected from the group that is more
ceramic membrane based on zirconium phosphates active than platinum, can either be uniformly applied within the
(WO 2003/069712; revised 1 July 2004). Processing begins with the catalyst layer or non-uniformly applied to high-corrosion areas. UTC
production of nanoscale zirconium phosphate in a microjet reactor. says the cathode catalyst may include heat-treated carbon support
This material is then applied as a suspension onto a flexible carrier, material and/or a heat-treated carbon black.
after which it undergoes solidification. The result is a flexible
cation/proton-conducting membrane that is impermeable to other In fabrication, simplicity equals success
materials. Creavis claims that the new materials can form the basis of a A simplified method for bonding and edge-sealing a fuel-cell
membrane-electrode assembly “without any problem”. membrane-electrode assembly (MEA) has been revealed by 3M of
the US (WO 2004/062015). The key steps look like this: providing
Inner space: biological fuel cells power up a suitable MEA lay-up; positioning an annular layer of thermoplastic;
Therasense, US, has unveiled details of a miniature biological fuel cell and applying pressure and heat sufficient to impregnate the
that it claims could one day find applications as a power source thermoplastic into the fluid transport layer(s) of the MEA lay-up,
implanted inside the human body (WO 2003/106966; revised 1 July simultaneously bonding those layers to the MEA’s polymer membrane
2004). The invention comprises an anode in electrical communication (which may be perforated in its outer sealing area). 3M is also seeking
with an anode enzyme and a cathode in electrical communication patent protection for MEAs made using the new approach.

THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004 15

 FEATURE: COMPONENTS & SYSTEMS

Researchers redefine
the DMFC roadmap
P IOTR P IELA AND P IOTR Z ELENAY
A two-part special report on direct-methanol fuel cells kicks off with a review of the R&D advances that
have pushed the technology into the first phase of commercialization for portable power sources.

Mobile markets: but further innovation will be needed if electronics manufacturers are to fast-track the uptake of DMFC technology.

IS FUEL CELL technology on the verge of going mainstream?
Could be – at least if the world’s leading consumer electronics
manufacturers get their way. Heavyweight players such as
Sony, Toshiba and Nokia are investing serious money in the
development and commercialization of the direct-methanol
fuel cell (DMFC), a system in which methanol fuel is electro-
oxidized directly, without any preprocessing, to generate elec-
trical power. They’re betting that the payback will be a
next-generation power source that revolutionizes the per-
formance and ease-of-use of all sorts of portable electronic
gadgets – including mobile phones, laptop computers, video
cameras and plenty more besides. And what makes all this
even more intriguing is the fact that some of these companies
are talking in terms of months rather than years when it comes
to DMFC-based new product launches (see p25).
To put the emergence of the DMFC into context, however, it’s
worth revisiting a few of the fundamentals of the fuel cell itself
– in particular, the relative merits of different fuels. After all,
from the electrochemical and specific-energy (energy per gram
of fuel) point of view, hydrogen is the most suitable fuel for fuel
cells. The hydrogen oxidation reaction is a simple electro-
chemical process, in which a diatomic molecule (H2) is con-
verted to two hydrated protons (2H+aq). The process takes place
efficiently on different electrode materials, of which platinum
(Pt), palladium (Pd) and nickel (Ni) are the best performers.
Unfortunately, hydrogen turns out to be difficult to store, espe-
cially in portable applications.
No efficient, practical method of storing hydrogen for fuel-
cell applications currently exists.1 So while liquefaction leads
to a form of hydrogen that’s potentially attractive for use in
larger fuel-cell systems, the energy density is low
(2.70 Wh/cm3) because of the ultralow gravimetric density of
the fuel. Furthermore, once the energy expended during the
liquefaction process is taken into account, the energy density
is lowered still further, by as much as 40%. On the fringes of the
technology spectrum, reversible storage of hydrogen in metal
hydrides has been limited to date in terms of the achievable
specific energy (Wh/g hydride).
▲

THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004 17

COMPONENTS & SYSTEMS

Equation 1. DMFC anode reaction Fuels for direct-feed polymer-electrolyte fuel cells
Fuel Fuel-cell reaction Specific Energy
Low pH: CH3OH + H2O → CO2 + 6 H+ + 6 e energy density
(Wh/g) (Wh/cm3)
High pH: CH3OH + 6 OH– → CO2 + 5 H2O + 6 e
CO2 + OH– → HCO3– Hydrogen H2 + 0.5 O2 → H2O 33.0 2.7*
Carbon C + O2 → CO2 9.1 19.2
Methane CH4 + 2 O2 → CO2 + 2 H2O 14.2 6.0*
Equation 2. DMFC cathode reaction Propane C3H8 + 5 O2 → 3 CO2 + 4 H2O 13.3 6.6*
Decane C10H22 + 15.5 O2 → 10 CO2 + 11 H2O 12.9 9.4
Low pH: 1.5O2 + 6 H+ +6 e → 3H2O
Methanol CH3OH + 1.5 O2 → CO2 + 2 H2O 6.1 4.8
High pH: 1.5O2 + 3 H2O + 6 e → 6 OH–
Ethanol C2H5OH + 3 O2 → 2 CO2 + 3 H2O 8.0 6.3
Ethylene glycol C2O2H6 + 2.5 O2 → 2 CO2 + 3 H2O 5.3 5.9
It’s all about the fuel
The problems associated with hydrogen generation and stor- Formaldehyde CH2O + O2 → CO2 + 2 H2O 4.8 3.9*
age have led the R&D community to focus on developing alter- Formic acid HCOOH + 0.5 O2 → CO2 + H2O 1.7 2.1
native, mostly organic, fuels for use in polymer-electrolyte fuel Oxalic acid C2O4H2 + 0.5 O2 → 2 CO2 + H2O 1.0 2.0
cells (see table, “Fuels for direct-feed polymer-electrolyte fuel
cells”). There are two main ways to utilize such fuels in a low- Ammonia NH3 + 0.75 O2 → 0.5 N2 + 1.5 H2O 5.5 3.9*
temperature polymer-electrolyte fuel-cell system: Hydrazine N2H4 + O2 → N2 + 2 H2O 5.2 5.3
● On-board processing, which involves extensive, multistep * Based on the density of liquefied gas
purification of the fuel, after which the resulting
hydrogen-rich gas mixture is supplied as a feed stream to
the fuel cell. (though being highly oxygenated, they are less energy-dense).
● Direct electro-oxidation of the fuel at the fuel-cell anode.
Health and environmental issues are likely to exclude the final
two options, ammonia and hydrazine, from widespread use in
The former typically involves several catalytic reactors in series, fuel-cell systems. Of all the partly oxygenated fuel molecules
a system often seen as too complex for reliable power delivery that undergo complete electro-oxidation at low temperatures,
over long timeframes and reasonably broad conditions of oper- methanol is the one that exhibits the best combination of energy
ation. The latter approach is far simpler as it requires only one cat- density and rate of electro-oxidation.
alytic converter – the fuel cell itself. Nevertheless, there are major
challenges, as high-rate, direct electro-oxidation of a carbona- DMFC processes
ceous fuel molecule at the fuel-cell anode is far more demanding In a DMFC, methanol (typically together with water) is supplied
catalytically than the electro-oxidation of dihydrogen. to the anode, where it undergoes electro-oxidation to CO2 with
When it comes to the choice of fuel, the energy content per the release of six electrons to the load (figure 1). To date, most
unit weight or volume is one of the key figures of merit. Of the of the systems described in the open literature involve a liquid
first five options listed in the table above, the four carbonaceous methanol–water feed, although in some platforms the
fuels can be oxidized only at temperatures much higher than methanol fuel can be supplied to the DMFC anode as a vapour.
100 °C, and even then not without problems. Of the two alco- Electrons are subsequently transferred via the external circuit
hols next on the list, methanol can be electro-oxidized all the (which includes the load) to the cathode, where they are utilized
way to CO2 at temperatures well below 100 ºC, but ethanol can- in the reduction of oxygen supplied to the cathode from air.
not. This has been explained by the catalytically more demand- The reactants and mobile species in the electrolyte are inti-
ing C–C bond activation in the case of ethanol. mately tied to the pH of the fuel-cell electrolyte. At low pH lev-
Even so, other molecules with C–C bonds have been shown to els, water is consumed in the anode process together with
electro-oxidize completely to CO2 at temperatures well below methanol, while protons are transported from the anode side
100 ºC – one example being ethylene glycol.2 The big difference across the electrolyte and consumed in the cathode process to
seems to be the higher degree of “oxygenation” of the fuel mole- form water. This is the case for the polymer-electrolyte fuel cell,
cule, reflected by an atomic oxygen:carbon ratio of ≥1. This as it is based on a proton-conducting poly(perfluoro-sulphonic
apparent condition is fulfilled for methanol and ethylene glycol, acid), known as poly(PFSA), membrane.
but not for ethanol; and while the former two fully electro-oxi- In high-pH systems, on the other hand, the effect is reversed:
dize to CO2 at low temperatures, the ethanol does not. Further water is now consumed on the cathode side of the cell in the
down the list are two substances – formaldehyde and formic oxygen-reduction process, forming hydroxyl ions. These ions
acid – that are essentially partly oxygenated methanol. Both are are transported across the cell to the anode, where they are con-
easy to oxidize to CO2 at low temperatures, as is oxalic acid sumed together with methanol fuel to form CO2. Equations 1

18 THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004


1. DMFCs: they’ve got the power
Operational principle of the proton-conducting, polymer-electrolyte DMFC. Methanol is supplied to the anode, usually with water,
where it undergoes electro-oxidation to CO2. Electrons pass to the cathode, where they are used in the reduction of oxygen.
and 2 describe, correspondingly, the anode and cathode reac-
tions at both low and high pH levels. The overall methanol fuel-
cell reaction, as shown in the table, is identical to that for
combustion of methanol by direct reaction with oxygen.
High-pH electrolytes can promote higher rates of methanol
oxidation at a given temperature, because an alkaline environ-
ment facilitates the formation of the active surface-oxygen
species required for completion of the methanol electro-oxi-
dation process. However, a serious obstacle associated with
high-pH fuel cells is the absence of a hydroxyl-ion-conducting
membrane offering conductivity and reliability as good as that
of the poly(PFSA) membranes. Furthermore, the introduction
of the liquid-alkaline electrolyte brings its own challenges:
chiefly, the formation of bicarbonate ions (see equation 1).
As a consequence, most recent DMFC development activity
has focused on the proton-conducting polymer-electrolyte
configuration shown in figure 1. The membranes in question
have been primarily of the poly(PFSA) type, such as Nafion,
although alternatives do exist at various stages of development
and supply. One example of the latter is the Z1 membrane from
PolyFuel, based in Mountain View, California, US.
Methanol at the anode
Electro-oxidation of methanol is a six-electron process (see equa-
tion 1) that, like other complex electrochemical reactions involv-
ing multi-electron transfer, proceeds via a reactant adsorption
step at the electrode surface, followed by a one-by-one transfer
of electrons from the molecule to the electrode. While providing
sufficient bonding of a methanol molecule, Pt allows fast
removal of the four hydrogen atoms from the adsorbed molecule
onto adjacent Pt metal sites (dehydrogenation step), a process
facilitated by the high affinity of Pt metal sites to hydrogen atoms.
Thanks to this high level of dehydrogenation activity, the
onset of electro-oxidation of methanol on pure Pt takes place
at a potential as low as 0.2 V on the hydrogen reference scale.
However, this initial process is limited to dehydrogenation
alone and is therefore not sustainable at such a low anode
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
COMPONENTS & SYSTEMS
CH3OH(aq) O2 (air), H2O
e–
HH2O
O
CH OH
CH3OH + H2O CH 3OH
3 6H+ + 1.5O2 + 6e–
+
H+
H
CO2 + 6H+ + 6e– 3H2O
Electroosmotic
electro-osmotic
drag
drag
anode cathode
potential. The adsorbed CO moiety, remaining on the Pt cata-
lyst surface following the initial dehydrogenation step(s), can
be electro-oxidized at a Pt electrode only at a significantly
higher electrode potential.
Consequently, continuous electro-oxidation of methanol to
CO2 can be sustained at a Pt electrode only above 0.6–0.7 V. At
these higher potentials, surface oxide (or hydroxide) starts
forming on the Pt surface from adsorbed water. This surface-
oxygen species is crucial for the completion of the methanol
oxidation process, as it converts the adsorbed CO intermediate
remaining after methanol dehydrogenation to CO2. The widely
accepted mechanism of methanol oxidation on Pt reflects this
sequence of methanol dehydrogenation followed by electro-
oxidation of adsorbed CO, as shown in equation 3 overleaf.
Meanwhile, the search for a methanol electro-oxidation cat-
alyst exhibiting higher activity than that of Pt has been directed
at materials which, as well as maintaining high methanol dehy-
drogenation activity, facilitate the rate-determining step of the
reaction (i.e. CO electro-oxidation). Researchers have focused
primarily on alloys of Pt with metals possessing a higher affin-
ity with oxygen, with the most successful composition discov-
ered to date being a binary alloy of Pt with ruthenium (Ru).
At 70 °C, for example, Pt–Ru alloys in which the atomic frac-
tion of Ru varies between 0.3 and 0.6 will support complete,
sustained methanol electro-oxidation at an anode potential of
0.25–0.30 V. That’s well below the anode potential required for
the same process at a pure platinum catalyst. This methanol
anode-potential range corresponds to an anode loss (DMFC
cell voltage loss due to the anode) of 0.20–0.25 V. And consid-
ering the “direct” nature of the fuel cell (no losses in fuel pro-
cessing steps upstream of the fuel cell), such an efficiency loss
due to the anode (≤20% of total fuel energy content) is suffi-
ciently low to make DMFC technology commercially viable.
So how does adding Ru to Pt lower the potential for complete
six-electron methanol oxidation, compared with that found
using Pt alone? One explanation that has been put forward is
the so-called bifunctional effect. This considers the significant
19
COMPONENTS & SYSTEMS

Equation 3. Mechanism of methanol oxidation on Pt

Dehydrogenation
Pt(electrode) + CH3OH → Pt(electrode)–COH + 3H+ + 3e
Pt(electrode) – COH → Pt(electrode)–CO + H+ + e

CO electro-oxidation (rate-determining step)

Pt(electrode) + H2O → Pt(electrode)–OH + H+ + e
Pt(electrode) – CO + Pt(electrode) – OH→ 2 Pt(electrode) + CO2 + H+ + e

Equation 4. Final two steps of methanol electro-oxidation on Pt–Ru

Ru(electrode) + H2O → Ru(electrode)–OH + H+ + e

Pt(electrode)–CO + Ru(electrode)–OH → Pt(electrode) + Ru(electrode) + CO2 + H+ + e

methanol and, particularly, hydrogen affinity of Pt electrocat-
alysts in aqueous environments and, on the other hand, the
facile oxidative water decomposition on Ru to form a surface
oxygen species in aqueous electrolytes.3 Accordingly, the
bifunctional mechanism involves the initiation of the surface
process at a Pt–Ru catalyst with the dehydrogenation steps tak-
ing place at Pt surface sites, whereas Ru sites assume the role of
providing the oxide/hydroxide species required to complete the
oxidation of surface CO. The overall anode process at Pt–Ru is
the same as in equation 3 down to the final two steps, which in
the case of the Pt–Ru alloy are described by equation 4.
Electronic effects provide another possible interpretation of
the observed benefit of adding Ru to Pt.4 According to this the-
ory, added Ru lowers the electron density in the 5d band of Pt,
resulting in a shift of electronic charge from adsorbed CO to the
metal catalyst and thereby facilitating oxidation of the
adsorbed CO. Of the two interpretations offered, the formation
of a bifunctional surface – with discrete sites of high dehydro-
genation activity and of high surface-oxygen formation activity
– is generally believed to be the more important.
As equation 4 suggests, the electrocatalytic process of anodic
oxidation of methanol takes place on metal sites. What’s more,
there’s compelling experimental evidence – collected on the
highly dispersed, unsupported Pt–Ru catalysts employed in
DMFC anodes – that the significant amounts of various Ru
oxide species present in such dispersed alloy samples have no
active role in the methanol electro-oxidation process. In fact,
excess oxide coverage on the Pt–Ru metal alloy sites inhibits the
rate of methanol electro-oxidation – as evidenced, for example,
by the benefits produced by prereduction treatments.5
Finally, it’s worth noting that the rate of methanol oxidation
on Pt–Ru is strongly dependent on temperature, with high per-
formance obtained near and above 100 ºC.6 Such a temperature
regime, however, is not compatible with simple stack/system
hardware and long-term performance stability – and is partic-
ularly impractical for smaller, portable power sources. If suffi-
cient methanol oxidation rates at 40–80 ºC are to be achieved,
the active surface area of the anode catalyst needs to be fairly
high, which in turn requires significant loading of Pt–Ru (typi-
cally used in the form of a “black” or unsupported catalyst).
When aiming for maximum power, the Pt–Ru loading is of
the order of several mg/cm2 of cross-sectional (geometric) area
of the electrode. Since similar precious-metal loading has been
required to date for the cathode as well, the overall precious-
metal loading can be as high as 10 mg/cm2. However, the emer-
gence of alternative DMFC membrane-electrode assemblies
(MEAs) – such as those developed at Los Alamos National
Laboratory – could allow system designers to cut down the cat-
alyst loadings significantly, with relatively small losses in out-
put power. This is possible because the power-output
dependence on catalyst loading in polymer-electrolyte DMFCs
is highly nonlinear, with ever-decreasing incremental gains in
power for incremental increases in catalyst loading at a total cell
loading exceeding 1 mg/cm2.
The dynamics of the cathode
Just like in a hydrogen fuel cell, the cathode reaction in a DMFC
(equation 2) requires platinum to act as the oxygen-reduction
electrocatalyst. But while the major rate-limiting factor in the
cathode process of hydrogen fuel cells is the sluggish interfa-
cial kinetics of oxygen reduction, the DMFC cathode is addi-
tionally challenged by penetration of methanol and water
through the membrane from the anode side of the cell. High
methanol permeability in proton-conducting membranes is
the source of so-called “methanol crossover”. Once on the cath-
ode side of the cell, methanol typically reacts with oxygen at the
cathode catalyst to form CO2 and water. This amounts to a
“chemical short” across the fuel cell, with the methanol
crossover corresponding to lost fuel.
In addition to the loss of fuel, the cell current at some given
cathode potential (i.e. some given DMFC voltage) is lowered by
a value corresponding to the current of methanol crossover at
that cell voltage. The result is a loss of output power. However,
the flip side of the methanol crossover phenomenon is that it

20 THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004


Performance matters: fuel-cell test set-up at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Inside the chamber is a high-power-density 23-cell
DMFC stack, designed and built at Los Alamos. On the right is a close-up of the DMFC stack inside the test chamber.
can be used for two beneficial purposes: water generation
within the cell when operating with 100% methanol feed (see
“DMFCs power up for portable devices”, p25), and heat genera-
tion to hike the temperature of the cell and bring it, at a higher
rate, to some design temperature above ambient.
The permeation of water through the membrane and into the
cathode is another cause for concern in DMFCs fed by
water/methanol liquid. Around 20 molecules of water appear in
the DMFC cathode per single methanol molecule oxidized at the
anode, mainly as a result of electro-osmotic drag of water across
the membrane by protons. But a high water flux can easily
“flood” the cathode, leading to performance loss. Consequently,
effective removal of cathode water requires significant air flow at
non-zero pressure – such that the air pump (compressor) can be
the largest source of parasitic energy loss in the DMFC system.
This also means that, to maintain the overall water balance, the
significant mass of water leaving the cathode exhaust has to be
returned to the anode using condensers and pumps.
Alternative membranes
One of the fundamental challenges confronting DMFC pio-
neers is the realization of proton-conducting polymers with
reduced methanol permeability – particularly relevant for
“mainstream” DMFCs based on water/methanol anode feeds.
In these conventional designs, the high methanol permeabil-
ity of poly(PFSA) membranes means that the local fuel con-
centration in the anode flow field has to be maintained at levels
of less than 1 M methanol. This is necessary to achieve a suffi-
ciently high ratio of cell current to crossover current, and
thereby secure acceptable fuel utilization.
Yet operation with such a dilute solution was previously con-
sidered impossible, based on a methanol permeation rate equiv-
alent to about 0.1 A/cm2, measured across a 175 µm-thick Nafion
membrane (Nafion 117) in 1 M solution at approximately 70 °C.
This rate of permeation is similar to the DMFC current densities,
suggesting at first glance an unacceptable fuel utilization of no
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
COMPONENTS & SYSTEMS
better than 50%. Further work, however, has revealed that the
rate of methanol crossover can be cut significantly when the cell
is under current, provided that the cell anode is designed to adjust
the concentration of methanol between the flow field and the
membrane surface without, at the same time, generating a too-
severe limitation on mass transport.7
By lowering the crossover in this way, it is now possible to
achieve fuel utilizations as high as 90% with commercial
poly(PFSA) membranes such as Nafion, provided that the feed
concentration is dropped to ≤1 M. On this basis, a number of
companies have reported rapid and encouraging progress in
terms of the development and manufacture of viable DMFC
sources. Still, it’s clear that further significant advantages will
accrue if the R&D community can come up with membranes
that combine lower methanol permeability with Nafion-level
protonic conductivity. Such membranes will enable more con-
centrated anode feeds; less exacting control of methanol con-
centration in the anode feed loop; and an ability to maintain
high fuel utilization under dynamic load conditions.
The key is going to be overcoming the strong tie between pro-
tonic conductivity and high methanol permeability in polymer
membranes (both properties scaling with water content). The
schemes attempted so far have been mostly based on either
“seeding” the poly(PFSA) membrane with highly dispersed
hydrophilic oxide, or varying the polymer nanopore network
structure by modifying the polymer’s chemical nature to
achieve essentially the same effect of enhancing the proton-to-
methanol mobility ratio.
After several years of work along these lines, a number of
groups have reported promising results. In 2003, PolyFuel
announced that it was ready to manufacture its proprietary Z1
membrane.8 Compared with the most commonly used
Nafion 117, the Z1 membrane is characterized by a threefold
reduction in both methanol and water permeation, without a
significant decrease in proton conductivity.
Elsewhere, a joint effort between Virginia Polytechnic
21
COMPONENTS & SYSTEMS
Institute (Blacksburg, Virginia, US) and Los Alamos National
Laboratory has resulted in the successful development of
DMFC membranes based on fully aromatic poly(arylene ether
sulphone) copolymers, with comparable proton conductivity
to that of the reference Nafion polymer, but almost three times
lower methanol permeability. In-cell testing of partially fluori-
nated derivatives of poly(arylene ether sulphone) copolymers
showed excellent interfacial compatibility of such cell mem-
branes with Nafion-based catalyst layers – a prerequisite for
advancing from membrane to complete MEA – resulting in bet-
ter DMFC performance and comparable long-term stability to
that of the reference Nafion polymer.9
Performance stability
Work on advanced catalysts and membranes notwithstanding,
it is the long-term stability and durability of DMFCs that will
go a long way towards determining the success or otherwise of
commercial products out in the marketplace. As with other
fuel-cell systems, however, the extensive study of DMFC per-
formance decay over, say, 103–104 h of operation is very much a
work in progress.
Figure 2 illustrates the measured drop in current with time of
a single-cell DMFC operating at 75 ºC with a 0.3 M methanol
feed. The total loss of about 40% of the initial current after 3000
h can be resolved into recoverable and unrecoverable losses,
where the recoverable portion is defined as the loss that can be
reversed by interrupting the steady-state operation of the
DMFC. The following phenomena have been identified as being
responsible for the degradation of DMFC performance over
extended operating periods:
● Surface oxidation of the cathode catalyst (recoverable);
● Cathode flooding;
● Ru migration from anode to cathode and subsequent
deposition of Ru at the cathode; and
● Loss of active-catalyst surface area on either electrode.
Let’s take a look at each of these contributory factors in more
detail. When a DMFC is operated at a higher voltage targeting
a high conversion efficiency (as in figure 2), the cathode poten-
tial is sufficiently high (≥ 0.8 V) to encourage a slow, continuous
process of Pt surface oxidation. This Pt surface-oxide build-up
(and/or “ageing”) has been shown to significantly accelerate
with temperature at a given cathode potential inside the
“Pt-oxide range”. Such surface-oxide formation inhibits the rate
of oxygen reduction at the cathode, reflected in a gradual drop-
off in DMFC performance over time. This decay-causing
process can be reversed, however, by very short, periodic low-
ering of the cathode potential (i.e. by brief lowering of the cell
voltage), resulting in electroreduction of the surface oxide and
regeneration of active Pt sites. This component of the decay is
consequently recognized as being (a) recoverable, and (b) less
likely to have similar magnitude at lower cell voltages.
The phenomenon of cathode flooding, meanwhile, has been
amply documented for low-temperature fuel cells in general. It
results from slow accumulation of water at the cathode catalyst
22
2. Performance versus time
Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory recently
performed a 3000 h lifetime test on a single-cell, liquid-fed
DMFC. Cell temperature was 75 °C; cell voltage was 0.5 V. The
current spikes are caused by short interruptions in the steady-
state operation of the cell, resulting in the reversal of
“recoverable” performance loss.
layer and/or gas-diffusion layer (backing), often caused by a
mismatch between the water-generation rate under high cur-
rent operation and the air flow/pressure; a temperature drop
that causes local condensation; or, particularly, by gradual loss
of the hydrophobic properties of the backing. Flooding can be
partially reversed by stopping the cell and letting the cathode
dry for a while, possibly assisted by a stream of dry air. And
while some of the performance loss is unrecoverable, because
of the generally irreversible nature of the change in the
hydrophobic properties of the cathode backing, it’s likely that
further improvements in overall design and wet-proofing of
the backing layers will help to mitigate the problem.
Migration of Ru through commonly used DMFC mem-
branes and its deposition at the cathode is another perform-
ance-loss mechanism that was recently studied in detail at Los
Alamos National Laboratory.10 Ru negatively impacts on the
cathode performance, as the Ru-covered Pt surface is an infe-
rior electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction and a better catalyst
for oxidation of crossover methanol than pure Pt. Both effects
typically lead to a lowering of the cathode potential (cell volt-
age) by as much as 40–50 mV, but in extreme contamination
cases, possibly resulting from cell “maltreatment”, this loss
can reach 200 mV.
Ru migration appears to be caused by the nature of the active
Pt–Ru blacks (unsupported catalysts) commonly used in the
DMFC anode. In liquid-fed DMFCs with significant net water
flux from anode to cathode, Ru species, most likely nanoparti-
cles of RuO2 (abundant in Pt–Ru black catalysts), tend to leach
from the anode catalyst, and ultimately end up on the other side
of the cell. The resulting cathode contamination by Ru is largely
irreversible. Evaluation of the phenomenon suggests that fur-
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
 COMPONENTS & SYSTEMS

ther optimization of the anode catalysts – for example, reduc- better dispersion of catalyst particles and advanced design
tion in “loose” Ru oxide species in the anode catalyst – should of electrode layers.
help to minimize any migration. ● Synthesizing polymer-electrolyte membranes with

Finally, it’s worth noting that the active surface area of both significantly reduced permeability to methanol and water,
electrodes can be halved in less than 2000 h of cell operation while maintaining high levels of protonic conductivity
under the operation conditions shown in figure 2. And while and performance durability.
surface-area loss of the anode is associated with a relatively
small performance loss, a similar decrease in the surface area When it comes to the catalyst, current DMFC MEA fabrication
of the cathode leads to a larger performance penalty. techniques do not allow for utilization greater than 50–60%.
What’s more, the possible advent of ultra-high-surface-area cat-
Taking stock alysts may actually lead to a further drop in utilization unless
Polymer-electrolyte DMFCs have advanced on many fronts in more sophisticated catalyst-layer-preparation techniques are
recent years. Alongside fundamental progress on the core elec- developed. Theoretical modelling of catalyst nano-array spatial
trocatalyst and MEA technologies, particularly Pt–Ru-based geometry will almost certainly shed light on this problem ini-
anodes, an innovative approach to cell and system design has tially, while further ahead the experimental use of nanotechnol-
helped developers get to grips with the problem of methanol ogy tools for fuel-cell fabrication will open up all sorts of
crossover – even when employing the “leaky”, but commer- intriguing opportunities for DMFC researchers.
cially available, Nafion membranes.
As a result, it is now possible to reach an areal power density Further reading
of 50 mW/cm2 at a relatively high cell voltage of 0.5 V (figure 2); 1. R Harris, D Book, P Anderson and P Edwards 2004 “Hydrogen
a maximum areal power density (of between 200 and storage: the grand challenge” The Fuel Cell Review June/July 17–23.
250 mW/cm2) is achievable at a voltage roughly 0.2 V lower at 2. E Peled, T Duvdevani, A Aharon and A Melman 2001 Electrochem. Solid-
the same cell temperature. This corresponds to a DMFC stack State Lett. 4 A38.
3. M Watanabe and S Motoo 1975 J. Electroanal. Chem. 60 275.
with a potential power density and efficiency combination of
4. Y Tong, H S Kim, P K Babu, P Waszczuk, A Wieckowski and E Oldfield
150 W/dm3 and 30%. Figures of merit like this suggest that 2002 J. Am. Chem. Soc. 124 468.
DMFCs can provide a portable-power technology that is supe- 5. H Dinh, X Ren, F Garzon, P Zelenay and S Gottesfeld 2000 J. Electroanal.
rior to incumbent rechargeable batteries (see p25). Chem. 491 222.
In summary, DMFCs are now about to enter the first phase of 6. X Ren, M S Wilson and S Gottesfeld 1996 J. Electrochem. Soc. 143 L12.
commercialization as small-scale power sources. Yet while that 7. X Ren and S Gottesfeld 2001 US Patent No. 6 296 964.
counts as a big leap forward, there is still plenty of scope for fur- 8. P Cox, S-Y Cha and A Attia 2003 Fuel Cell Seminar Book of Abstracts
ther progress – especially with respect to the kinetics of both 977–980. Presented at 2003 Fuel Cell Seminar, Miami Beach, FL, US.
electrode reactions. As far as fundamental research goes, the 9. Y S Kim, M J Sumner, W L Harrison, J S Riffle, J E McGrath and B S
following aspects need to be prioritized by the multidiscipli- Pivovar J. Electrochem. Soc. In press.
nary teams tasked with moving things forward. 10. P Piela, C Eickes, E Brosha, F Garzon and P Zelenay J. Electrochem. Soc.
In press.
● Designing better and more stable anode catalysts that

increase the rate of methanol oxidation, lower the

precious-metal loading and lower the cost.
● Developing methanol-tolerant cathode catalysts with
Pt-level activity.
● Increasing catalyst utilization through a combination of
Piotr Piela is a postdoctoral fellow and Piotr Zelenay is a technical project
leader in the Materials Science and Technology Division at Los Alamos
National Laboratory, New Mexico, US. The authors would like to acknowledge
the contribution of Shimshon Gottesfeld, vice-president and chief technology
officer at MTI MicroFuel Cells, in drafting this article.

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 FEATURE: TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER

DMFCs power up
for portable devices
S HIMSHON G OTTESFELD
Innovation in systems design and engineering will be critical if direct-methanol fuel cells are to
make the final transition from prototype demonstrations into mass-market power sources.

FUEL-CELL POWER sources have reached a defining moment on

the long and winding road to commercialization – at least as far
as portable applications are concerned. In this low-power mar-
ket segment, it’s now fair to say that micro fuel cells are meeting
with serious market pull, driven by consumer electronics man-
ufacturers, incumbent battery suppliers and the US military.
For each of these interested parties, the end-game is the same:
a next-generation power source with an energy density that sig-
nificantly exceeds that of today’s leading-edge battery tech-
nologies. In terms of the numbers, that means a source that
offers an energy density well beyond 400 Wh/dm3 (0.4 Wh/cm3)
and/or a specific energy of 200 Wh/kg (0.2 Wh/g), while also
providing the power required for the full dynamic range of the
load in a given device.
Advanced power sources able to meet and beat those specifi-
cations will allow greatly extended run times per recharge
(refuel) for mobile phones, laptop computers and digital cam-
eras – and the same goes for electronic gadgetry like night-
vision goggles, global positioning systems and laser-targeting
units in the military arena. Perhaps even more significantly,
higher-energy-density power sources are going to be essential
building blocks in “converged” handheld communications
devices that combine the latest in colour-display technology
with voice, broadband data and video functionality – all in a
single power-hungry platform.

Fuel-cell system considerations

For prospective manufacturers of fuel-cell power sources – in
particular, those based around direct-methanol fuel cells
(DMFCs) – it’s time for a shift in mindset from prototypes and
demonstrators towards multigeneration product plans and
low-cost mass production. To take a closer look at the extent of
this emerging opportunity, however, it is first necessary to
revisit some of the key metrics of portable fuel-cell system
design and product engineering.
The big advantage of fuel cells over batteries in portable-
power applications originates from the high energy density of
the fuel. For low-temperature fuel cells (Tcell <100 °C) destined
for handheld devices, the theoretical specific energies of the two
most suitable fuels are 33 Wh/g for hydrogen and 6.1 Wh/g for
Small times: a concept prototype of a DMFC power source based
on MTI Micro’s Mobion technology, shown integrated into an
electronic device. A Mobion fuel-cell array is shown separately.
methanol. By comparison, advanced rechargeable lithium-ion
batteries have a specific energy of around 0.2 Wh/g – less than
1% of the energy density of hydrogen and 3% of that of
methanol. In truth, such a comparison is skewed, because the
battery comprises a complete power source, with the chemical
reactants and the chemical-to-electrical energy-conversion

THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004 25

TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
components (the electrochemical cell) all in one package;
whereas the fuel still has to be packaged with a chemical-to-elec-
trical energy-conversion device (the fuel cell) plus any further
“balance of plant”, including power conditioning and controls.
Furthermore, the actual effective energy content per unit
mass of fuel carried in such a power pack is only a fraction of
these theoretical values – that fraction being determined by
the energy-conversion efficiency of the fuel-cell system. If
only a fraction f wtfuel of the total weight of a fuel-cell power sys-
tem is the fuel itself, and the system’s overall energy-conver-
sion efficiency (chemical-to-electrical energy) is ηsystem , then
the specific energy, E wtsystem (Wh/g), of the power pack will be
given by equation 1.
The specific energy of the complete fuel-cell power system,
E wtsystem , is the merit parameter that needs to be compared with
the specific energy of a rechargeable battery (which itself is a
complete power-generating system). So, for a fuel-cell power sys-
tem in which methanol fuel accounts for 50% of the weight and
the system conversion efficiency is 25%, E wtsystem is calculated,
using equation 1, to be 0.75 Wh/g. In other words, the specific
energy advantage over a lithium-ion battery of 0.2 Wh/g is 3.75:1.
However, when it comes to carrying or supplying additional
energy for extended use, the effective energy content of the
replacement fuel cartridge itself becomes the merit parameter.
In applications involving multiple swaps of the cartridge, the
weight of the fuel-cell system can be neglected altogether
(equivalent to assuming f wtfuel = 1 in equation 1). In this scenario,
the specific-energy advantage of the fuel-cell system consid-
ered above over a replacement lithium battery will be 7.5:1.
This significantly higher ratio (and stronger value proposi-
tion) is relevant for cases of long use without recharge – in mil-
itary applications, for example. It also comes into play in the
context of the so-called “perfectly wireless world”, in which
lightweight replacement fuel cartridges could be used to elim-
inate the need for cord connections between handheld devices
and a recharging power source. In the example given previ-
ously, carrying replacement methanol cartridges for a cord-
independent, fuel-cell-powered device will be 7.5 times more
mass-effective than carrying replacement batteries.
Meanwhile, for really compact portable applications like
mobile phones, it is often the volume rather than the weight of
the power source that is the key figure of merit in terms of sys-
tem packaging. Under these circumstances, it is the energy den-
sity, rather than the specific energy, that is of greater interest.
The equivalent of equation 1 will then be equation 2.
It is clear that designers must keep in mind the following pri-
orities if they are to capitalize on the intrinsic energy-density
advantage of the fuel in a fuel-cell power source.
● Maximize E
wt
fuel (equation 1) with:
a) Fuels of high energy density and significant
electrocatalytic activity at well below 100 °C;
b) Realistic fuel-storage options that maintain a large
volume/weight fraction of the neat fuel and that are
acceptable for handheld, consumer electronics
applications.
26
Equation 1. Specific energy of the fuel-cell system
E wtsystem = E wtfuel × f wtfuel × ηsystem
Where E wtfuel is the theoretical specific energy of the fuel, expressed in
Wh/g of fuel actually stored in the system (for example, for a hydride
of 2% hydrogen by weight, E wtfuel = 33 Wh/g × 0.02 = 0.66 Wh/g); f wtfuel
is the fuel-weight fraction in the fuel-cell system; ηsystem is the system
conversion efficiency for chemical energy of the fuel to electrical
energy to the load; and E wtsystem (Wh/g) is the effective specific energy
of the complete power pack.
Equation 2. Energy density of the fuel-cell system
E vsystem = E vfuel × f vfuel × ηsystem
Here, E vfuel is the theoretical energy density of the fuel, expressed in
Wh/cm3; f vfuel is the fuel-volume fraction in the system; ηsystem is, as
before, the system conversion efficiency for chemical energy of the
fuel to electrical energy to the load; and E vsystem is the effective energy
density of the complete power system in Wh/cm3.
● Maximize f wtfuel (equation 1) by minimizing (1 – f wtfuel), the
fraction of the power-pack weight (or volume) occupied
by all energy-conversion components with no energy
content – i.e. the fuel cell plus any balance of plant (BOP).
This necessitates:
a) Fuel-cell stack technology with the minimum weight
(or volume) to generate the average power demand of a
portable device. Put another way, a sufficiently high
fuel-cell power density must be achievable under the
benign operating conditions dictated by handheld
applications;
b) A simple overall power system to minimize BOP
weight/volume and increase overall reliability.
● Maximize η
system (equation 1) with a fuel-cell design that
maximizes the two efficiency-determining factors:
a) Fuel utilization – that is, the conversion of fuel feed to
cell current;
b) Fuel-cell voltage at the power demand by the load.
At present, the choice of fuel for portable power applications is
effectively limited to hydrogen and methanol. But, as discussed
in the previous article (“Researchers redefine the DMFC
roadmap”, p17), there are significant problems associated with
the storage of hydrogen for portable fuel-cell applications. The
most promising solution appears to be the use of metal
hydrides or chemical hydrides (see “Chemical warfare”, The Fuel
Cell Review June/July 2004 p10). In the former, controlled heat-
ing is used to generate hydrogen, while the latter comprise a
hydrogen-releasing solid (like sodium borohydride) that
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004

1. Cutting down the volume
160
140 prismatic Li- ion battery
@ 0.2 Wheff/cm3
120
100
volume (cm3)
typical hydride @
0.5 Wheff /cm3 fuel
80
60
40
DMFC @
20 1.5 Wheff /cm3 fuel
0 electrode, so that the cell is said to be operating in “air breathing”
0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26 28 30
energy (Wh)
Calculated total system volume as a function of the energy
content of three portable power systems: a prismatic lithium-ion
battery, a hydrogen–air fuel cell with metal-hydride fuel, and a
DMFC. Projected energy-conversion efficiencies used to
generate these plots are 30% for the DMFC and 50% for the
hydrogen–air fuel cell. The figure of merit quoted for the lithium-
ion battery (0.2 Wh/cm3) is widely considered state-of-the-art,
though some advanced lithium-ion batteries have recently been
reported with values as high as 0.4 Wh/cm3. A ceiling near
0.5 Wh/cm3 is expected for rechargeable lithium batteries.
undergoes a controlled reaction with water. A variant has also
been proposed based on direct electrochemical oxidation of a
hydride – employing potassium borohydride fuel dissolved in
an aqueous alkaline solution.
The advantage of hydrogen fuel is its superior electrocat-
alytic activity, particularly at low fuel-cell temperatures. It is
far easier to achieve higher power density with a hydrogen-
fuelled cell stack, which in turn also means a higher energy-
conversion efficiency (because a hydrogen–air fuel cell would
be likely to provide the power demand at a higher voltage per
cell). Unfortunately, however, a significant downside associ-
ated with the potential use of hydrogen in portable-power
applications is the limited energy packaging that is possible
with realistic hydrogen-storage options. The overall weight
percent of hydrogen in relevant metal hydrides (those releas-
ing hydrogen at temperatures under 100 °C) is as low as 1–2%;
for the chemical hydrides, assuming the need to carry the
water for the reaction, this figure can reach 6–8%. At 8% by
weight, Ewtfuel reaches a value of 2.4 Wh/g. That’s about 40% of
that of liquid methanol, which stores energy at 6.1 Wh/g.
Additionally, whereas safety concerns arise regarding the use
of hydrogen in mass-market consumer products, neat
methanol is a liquid that not only lends itself to simple pack-
aging and distribution, but also raises little safety concern in
handling and/or disposal at the quantities needed for power-
ing a portable electronic device.
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
DMFC engineering challenges
There are two prerequisites for achieving the target power den-
sity in miniaturized DMFCs. First, there has to be sufficiently
high electrocatalytic activity per unit area of the DMFC elec-
trodes at temperatures as low as 30–50 °C. Second, the fuel-cell
hardware requires building blocks (electrodes, membrane sep-
arators, current collectors and structural framing) of minimal
overall thickness. Delivering all of this is a considerable engi-
neering challenge in the DMFC, a system that aims to capital-
ize on the simplicity of direct use of unprocessed liquid fuel of
high energy density.
Nevertheless, with optimized Pt-Ru alloy catalysts and well
prepared electrode structures, DMFCs can generate a maximum
areal power density in the range of 30–60 mW/cm2 at a temper-
ature of around 45 °C. This is with no active air feed to the other
mode. A volume power density of around 100 mW/cm3 is pos-
sible under the same conditions. And while this figure of merit
may be five times lower than that of a hydrogen–air cell, the
advantages of methanol (as a liquid fuel of superior energy den-
sity) and the simplicity of the DMFC system provide a winning
combination all the same (as shown in figure 1).
The plots in figure 1 reveal the potential lowering of the over-
all system volume for 1 W fuel-cell systems compared with the
volume of a lithium-ion battery of energy density 0.2 Wh/cm3
– that’s as a function of overall energy content or use time (the
number of Wh equals the number of hours of use at the 1 W
power output considered). At a fuel-cell power density of 100
mW/cm3 (100 W/dm3), the energy density of a DMFC system
will exceed that of the lithium-ion battery for use times exceed-
ing 4–6 h – assuming a BOP volume of 10 cm3 (equal to that of
the fuel cell) and a system conversion efficiency of 20–30%.
The lowest of the three parallel lines in the figure shows that,
at the projected volume of 20 cm3 for fuel cell plus BOP, sig-
nificant volume savings over the battery are obtained for use
times longer than 6 h. Furthermore, as the other two lines
show, similar savings are still possible at slightly longer use
times of 7–10 h, even if the volume of the non-fuel-contain-
ing part of the system is 50%, or even 100%, greater.
Considering that the target use time per single refuelling is
typically between several days and one week, figure 1 clearly
shows that the effective energy content of the fuel, E vfuel, is the
most significant parameter in establishing the energy-density
advantage of the fuel-cell system.
DMFC technology platforms
Until very recently, DMFC system implementations were
overly complex, largely because of the difficulties associated
with management of the fuel and, primarily, water. (The previ-
ous article provides a detailed discussion of the problems
caused by methanol crossover and water permeation through
the electrolyte membrane; see p17.) The challenge for the
DMFC system designer is to reconcile the target of using neat
(100%) methanol in the fuel tank/cartridge – to achieve the
greatest energy-density advantage – with the need for a suffi-
cient water supply to the anode. The mainstream approach to
27
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
two 12-cell DMFC stacks
Bringing it all together: a 20 W
portable DMFC power system
designed by Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corporation for
the US military (top). Two
round cell stacks from Los
Alamos are seen in the system
with cover removed (above). A
side view of one of the 12-cell
DMFC stacks is shown right.
The overall system dimensions
are 23 × 11 × 6 cm.
this problem has been to provide the water to the anode from
the air-side of the DMFC, where it is a product of the cathode
process. This involves a so-called “active-system” approach, in
which water collected from the cathode is pumped and mixed
with neat methanol from the fuel tank to provide a dilute
methanol/water mix as the anode feed.
The concept configuration for a system based on pumping
and mixing of fuel and water into a recirculating loop is shown
schematically in figure 2, while the images on this page high-
light different aspects of an active DMFC system of this general
type. The system was built jointly by Ball Aerospace &
Technologies Corporation (Boulder, Colorado, US) and Los
Alamos National Laboratory (New Mexico, US), with the for-
mer looking after BOP design and system integration and Los
Alamos being responsible for the stack design and fabrication.
Early tests indicate that the latest generation of active DMFC
stacks built at Los Alamos will achieve a maximum stack-
power density of 400–500 W/L at 75 °C – significantly better
28
2. Keep it in the loop
control logic
Neat Fluidics
Methanol and Electronics Fuel Cell
anode in
DC/DC cathode
converter ambient
air
pump driver
and logic
MeOH feed pump
water recovery
pump
recirculation
pump
water
anode out
A generic DMFC system utilizing an active flow-control
configuration. Water collected and pumped back from the
cathode mixes with neat methanol pumped from the fuel tank
to provide a dilute methanol/water anode recirculation loop.
than that of the stacks shown in the photographs.
There is no doubt that the units developed by Ball Aerospace
and by others have been important in demonstrating the feasi-
bility of a complete DMFC system with aqueous liquid feed for
power levels of 20 W and above. Especially notable is the imple-
mentation of a complete water-management unit around the
stack, which means the system is able to carry a tank of 100%
methanol. Conversely, as figure 2 and its related images clearly
show, DMFC systems have to date fallen short in terms of the
simplicity needed for portable power sources, particularly so
at powers down to the 1 W level. The liquid plumbing requires
a number of moving parts with significant parasitic power
losses – which all translates into serious reliability concerns for
miniaturized power sources of the order of 1–3 W.
One way to achieve a simpler DMFC system at the expense of
energy content is to include water as a component of the fuel
cartridge, thereby eliminating the need to mix the anode feed
on board the system. Unfortunately, the penalty associated
with such an approach turns out to be prohibitive. Any sacri-
fice of fuel space or weight in a DMFC system significantly
impacts on the competitive edge of the system over incumbent
battery technology. (With the aid of figure 1, consider the effect
of giving up, say, 50% of E vfuel by carrying a 50% aqueous
methanol solution in the cartridge.)
Another take on this problem has been developed and imple-
mented at the advanced prototype level by MTI MicroFuel Cells
(Albany, New York, US). The two key innovations centre
around (a) fuel delivery to the anode, and (b) transport of suffi-
cient water from the air cathode back to the methanol anode
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004

3. Simplicity is the secret
Neat Fluidics
Methanol and Electronics Fuel Cell
DC/DC anode in
converter
MeOH feed
H2O
A prototype DMFC power source (trade name Mobion)
developed at MTI MicroFuel Cells. The simple system exploits a
direct feed of 100% methanol to the anode, without any water
pumping or recirculation, to facilitate packaging and maximize
the system energy density.
within the cell (figure 3). For starters, the new fuel-delivery
mode enables fine-tuning of the overall flux of neat methanol
from reservoir to the anode – and in some implementations,
this does not require any pumping. This controlled flux of 100%
methanol mixes at the anode with water supplied from the
cathode internally, across the thickness of the cell, eliminating
the need for water collection and pumping. This new DMFC
concept provides the basis for an attractive combination of
100% methanol feed and passive DMFC system. What’s more,
the simplicity of the hardware is compatible with miniaturized
portable fuel-cell systems that can be easily embedded in con-
sumer electronics devices (see photograph on p25).
Industrial demonstrations
Over the last three years, there has been a surge of industrial
activity on micro fuel cells. Many top-tier consumer elec-
tronics manufacturers have revealed prototype fuel-cell
power packs, with most approaches so far being based on
methanol – some firms preferring the methanol-reforming
option (for example, Motorola and Casio) and a larger num-
ber looking at DMFC-based systems (such as Toshiba,
Samsung and Hitachi). Apart from the announcement by MTI
MicroFuel Cells, though, these demonstrations have focused
on separate fuel-cell units that act as chargers for the battery
in an otherwise unmodified electronic device. Furthermore,
most prototypes have been developed with laptop comput-
ers in mind, in which miniaturization is a less daunting task
compared with a handheld device.
Yet one manufacturer well on the road to commercialization MTI MicroFuel Cells in Albany, New York, US.
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER
cathode
ambient
air
Left: Toshiba is one of a number of Japanese electronics
manufacturers working on DMFC power sources (prototype
shown rear) for laptop computers. Right: a 20 W DMFC power
CO2 vent
source and fuel tank developed by Smart Fuel Cell.
is Smart Fuel Cell (Brunnthal-Nord, Germany), which has just
released a portable (though not man-portable) DMFC power
source operating in the 20 W regime. The company is initially
targeting applications such as auxiliary power in recreational
vehicles, as well as primary power for road-side sensors and
monitors. These applications can tolerate the relatively high
price (more than $3000) charged for the early product, though
entry into larger market sectors will likely require the price per
watt to drop by an order of magnitude.
The common denominator for most, if not all, of these early-
stage fuel-cell power packs is that they are hybrid systems. In
other words, the fuel cell is there to provide the average power
over an extended period of use, while a small rechargeable bat-
tery meets any additional peak-power requirements and, pos-
sibly, assists with system start-up at lower temperatures.
The most effective way to simultaneously answer energy and
power demands is to use the fuel as the energy carrier and the bat-
tery as the peak-power source, as can be seen from the energy-
density ratio of the fuel (converted by the fuel cell) versus a
lithium-ion battery – around five with current DMFC technol-
ogy – and the maximum power-density ratio of the battery to the
DMFC – also around five. This simple observation explains why
hybridization of a fuel cell (with the maximum fraction of the
volume reserved for the fuel) with a small, rechargeable battery
(required to ride through periods of peak-power demand) makes
sense on two levels: (a) satisfying the need for more energy pack-
aged into same volume/weight, and (b) delivering the complete
spectrum of power demand by the relevant load.
Right now, while there is still no truly commercial micro-
fuel-cell power-pack product for consumer electronics devices,
there is a growing consensus that low-temperature fuel cells
will find their first killer application as the key component of
advanced portable power sources either replacing or aug-
menting rechargeable batteries. What’s more, with the cost of
incumbent battery technology pegged at several dollars per
watt of power (several thousand dollars per kW), the cost bar-
rier for commercialization of fuel-cell products in this sector is
much lower than in other emerging applications.
Shimshon Gottesfeld is vice-president and chief technology officer at
29

TECHNOLOGY
TRACKING
Military R&D
Is the balance of power shifting?
Solid-oxide fuel cells could one day provide the US Army with more efficient power generation for its battlefield systems.
The US military’s interest in all things fuel cell
is set to intensify, following studies from Iraq
over the past 12 months which concluded that
generators and batteries were in “high demand
but short supply” during the conflict – a state
of affairs that was found to limit both opera-
tional speed and capability (The Fuel Cell Review,
June/July p29). For the top brass, the challenge
is clear: how best to deliver enhanced energy
flows to the battlefield, while at the same time
improving on the efficiencies that can be
obtained from existing military fuels.
At present, armed forces the world over rely
upon clunky, diesel-fuelled generators to sup-
port an array of power-hungry battlefield sys-
tems – everything from communications and
surveillance equipment through to weapons
targeting and auxiliary power. Trouble is, diesel
generators are noisy and inefficient, yielding a
best-case energy-conversion efficiency of
around 20%. Add in the transportation and
logistics costs, and a litre of diesel on the battle-
field can cost an order of magnitude more than
it does on the forecourt.
The question is: could fuel cells provide a
practical generator alternative for the military
in the near-to-medium term? The answer from
the US Army appears to be a qualified “yes”,
depending whether the platform in question
proves to be compatible with the traditional
sulphur-laden fuels already available in the
field (rather than the pure hydrogen or
methanol that many types of cells demand).
With this in mind, the US Army’s Construction
Engineering Research Laboratory recently
awarded a $3.7 m contract to a collaboration
involving the Gas Technology Institute (GTI) in
Illinois and the Air Force Research Laboratory
(AFRL). Their goal is to develop a 10 kW
portable generator based around solid-oxide
fuel cells (SOFCs) and either a diesel or mili-
tary-logistics-fuel (known as JP8) feedstock.
Under the terms of the contract, GTI and
AFRL are both contributing their own take on
fuel-cell-processor technology. The main issue
that they need to address is the high sulphur
content of the fuels, as sulphur poisons the fuel-
cell catalyst and leads to rapid performance
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
Systems engineering: GTI’s Hydrogen Energy Systems Center supports a wide-ranging SOFC
programme. Its capabilities include fuel reforming, desulphurization and cell and stack R&D.
degradation. GTI’s approach uses a sulphur-tol-
erant steam-reforming process, followed by
sulphur removal and tailoring of the methane
content to the SOFC. AFRL’s system, on the
other hand, fractionates the fuel and selectively
cracks the heavy portion; the lighter fraction
subsequently undergoes reforming followed by
sulphur removal.
In the first phase of the programme, the two
research teams are each building a prototype
3 kW SOFC system that will incorporate their
own fuel-processing technologies, as well as
integrating GTI’s proprietary sulphur-removal
technique. The jury is still out on how much
sulphur the SOFCs can tolerate, but GTI’s tar-
get is to reduce the amount of sulphur in the
fuel to less than 1 ppm – a significant challenge,
given that sulphur levels can be as high as
3000 ppm in JP8 and higher still in diesel.
Division of labour
GTI is focusing the development of its steam-
reforming-based fuel processor on the opera-
tional characteristics of the SOFC stack. Since
the operating temperature of the stack is suffi-
cient to effect direct internal steam-reforming
of methane and some C2 species, and electro-
chemically produced water is available in the
anode compartment, the fuel composition
facilitates stack cooling and simplifies the inte-
grated power system. “Steam-reforming-
Also in this section
32 Sustainable fuels in MCFCs
33 Small wonders at Toshiba
34 Fuel reforming: hot stuff
35 Hydrogen leak detection
based processors overcome the disadvantage
of partial-oxidation or autothermal methods,
which produce a fuel diluted with nitrogen and
a less than ideal hydrogen, carbon monoxide
and methane content,” explained Gerry Runte,
executive director of GTI’s Hydrogen Energy
Systems Center.
The advantages offered by AFRL’s process
steps, on the other hand, are threefold: lighter
hydrocarbons are less likely to form coke in
the steam reformer; the lighter hydrocarbons
contain a lower percentage of the sulphur
species; and the sulphur-laden, heavier hydro-
carbons are used for combustion to provide
the energy for the endothermic reforming
process. “This fuel-processing technique has
already been tested at a subscale level, and will
be evaluated and modified for integration with
the SOFC stack provided by GTI during the
first phase of the project,” said Runte. “In addi-
tion, GTI will build and test a submodule of a
high-temperature steam-reforming section
that may handle the diesel or JP8 fuels directly
without preprocessing. This process is under
consideration at GTI for coal gasification pro-
grammes [and] could convert oils or distillate
fuels without coking.”
Both GTI and AFRL are working closely with
Versa Power Systems, which will be building
the SOFC stacks and, ultimately, complete
fuel-cell systems incorporating the balance of
31
TECHNOLOGY TRACKING
GTI takes the longer view
GTI is a not-for-profit organization that
provides research, development and training to
the natural-gas industry, as well as to emerging
energy markets such as those based on
hydrogen and fuel-cell technology. The 38
researchers reporting to Gerry Runte in the
Hydrogen Energy Systems Center are involved
in a range of activities embracing hydrogen
energy, alternative-fuelled vehicles, high- and
low-temperature fuel-cell components and
systems, and fuel processors and catalysts.
In addition to its work on SOFCs, for
example, the division is developing ways to
improve the cost of components (such as
membranes) in proton-exchange-membrane
fuel cells. It is also looking at direct-methanol
fuel cells for low-power applications and
undertakes outsourced R&D into
molten-carbonate fuel cells.
Meanwhile, other members of Runte’s team,
led by Bill Liss, are building a hydrogen fuelling
station for the US Department of Energy and
working on prototype hydrogen-production
systems. For the time being, these mostly run
on natural gas but, according to Runte, “the
real deal is processing diesel and JP8”. The
division is also researching methods of storing
hydrogen, such as solid-state storage in the
form of metal hydrides.
In the near term, Runte hopes to receive
funding to research the use of solar power for
hydrogen generation. Two solar projects are
plant. Versa Power is a US-based joint venture
between GTI, FuelCell Energy, Materials and
Systems Research Inc, the University of Utah
and the Electric Power Research Institute.
According to Runte, the collaboration with
Versa Power enables the partners to work from
a systems standpoint from day one. “Fuel-cell
and fuel-processing technologies are not plug-
and-play, so you need to work closely with the
system,” he explained.
By the beginning of next year, the goal is to
have both 3 kW SOFC prototypes ready for
evaluation by another of the partners in the
contract, the US Department of Defense Fuel
Cell Test and Evaluation Center (FCTec), which
is based in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. A range
of technical specifications will be assessed,
including fuel efficiency, stack performance,
effectiveness of sulphur removal and durabil-
ity of the SOFC stack. FCTec will also consider
whether the protocols that currently guide the
design and manufacture of today’s military
generators are appropriate for next-genera-
tion, fuel-cell-powered systems.
32
being proposed at a test facility in the south-
west of the US: one combines photovoltaic and
membrane technologies to break down water,
while the other uses the sun’s thermal energy to
crack water at high temperatures.
GTI generates revenue from a number of
sources: contract research, technology
development and education programmes;
royalties and licence fees from GTI
technologies that have been incorporated into
commercial products and services; direct
support from its investors for medium-term
R&D; and the activities of GTI subsidiaries and
technology investments.
GTI’s work on the 10 kW SOFC generator is
led by Mike Onischak, head of hydrogen
production activities, and Robert Remick of the
high-temperature electrochemistry group.
If things go to schedule, the evaluation
process should be completed sometime in
March 2005, after which the partners plan to
combine the best elements of their two systems
and scale up to a 10 kW SOFC platform. In the
final phase of the project (which is currently
not funded), the aim is to optimize the hard-
ware into a beta prototype unit. The whole pro-
gramme is expected to take around three years.
Looking ahead, it’s clear that SOFC genera-
tors of this type could find plenty of applica-
tions beyond the military arena. “The most
logical non-military application is as auxiliary
power supplies for large trucks,” noted Runte.
Use of SOFC generators would mean that
truckers would no longer have to idle their
engines to power climate-control systems and
electrical accessories (such as CD players and
TVs) in the cab and sleeper compartments of
their vehicles. It’s also worth noting that NASA
and leading aircraft manufacturers like Boeing
are looking into how they could use SOFCs in
auxiliary power systems.
Siân Harris
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
Stationary power
Sustainable success
MTU has been evaluating the direct
conversion of sustainable biofuels in
molten-carbonate fuel cells.
Molten-carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) are shap-
ing up as a clean, high-efficiency platform for
decentralized cogeneration of electricity and
heat using biofuels such as sewage gas and land-
fill gas. And this sustainable slant on MCFC
technology could be ready for widespread com-
mercial applications within the next five years,
according to a presentation from MTU CFC
Solutions at the Fuel Cell World conference in
Lucerne, Switzerland, earlier this summer.
The German company knows a thing or two
about MCFCs. For starters, it boasts an impres-
sive track record when it comes to the develop-
ment of integrated MCFC systems in the
250 kW regime. Its so-called HotModules have
been put through their paces in a comprehen-
sive field-trial programme that’s been running
since 2001 at eight test sites across Germany,
including hospitals, industrial plants and tele-
coms exchanges. All of these systems are based
on a natural-gas fuel supply.
At the same time, MTU and several European
partners have been evaluating MCFC system
performance with a range of biomass-based
secondary gases – although only in laboratory
demonstrators so far. The studies have focused
on the development and design of adapted gas
clean-up systems for agricultural applications
and sewage-treatment plants. In each case, the
researchers report no problems when the
MCFC stacks are operated using biogas and coal
gas. Post-test analysis indicates no adverse
interactions between biogas or coal gas and the
fuel-cell system components.
MTU reckons that its HotModule design is
“perfectly adapted to the direct utilization of
hydrocarbons and synthesis gases” – such as
biogas, mining gas, synthesis gases from pyrol-
ysis and other thermal-gasification products of
biomass and/or waste materials. In their paper
at the Lucerne conference, MTU’s Alexander
Gienapp and Gerhard Huppmann point out
that the MCFC converts gases with a high
methane content to electricity with an effi-
ciency of around 50% (which drops to around
42% for synthesis gases such as hydrogen and
CO). They conclude: “The utilization of bio-
mass-based secondary gases is the most impor-
tant and attractive application of the carbonate
fuel cell. This would reduce [atmospheric] CO2
production enormously.”
Volume manufacture of MTU’s HotModules
is slated to begin in 2006. ●

Consumer electronics
Think small, win big
Japanese manufacturers are playing to their strengths in miniaturization when it comes to next-generation power sources.
It might be small, but it certainly packs a punch.
In fact, Toshiba’s latest prototype direct-
methanol fuel cell (DMFC) is compact enough
for integration into a wireless headset for mobile
phones, yet efficient enough to power an MP3
music player for as long as 20 h on a single 2 cm3
charge of highly concentrated methanol.
So far so impressive. Indeed, this is a case in
which the specifications really do speak for
themselves. The prototype’s dimensions are
just 22 × 56 × 4.5 mm (without the 2 cm3 fuel
tank). Even when the fuel tank is integrated,
however, the height is just 9.1 mm and the
whole system comes in at a lean, mean 8.5 g
(including fuel). According to Toshiba, the unit
is able to provide a continuous output power of
100 mW if the user tops up the fuel tank.
Not surprisingly, Toshiba is keeping much of
the underlying technical innovation under
wraps, although it is prepared to reveal some
details. The prototype DMFC is based on a “pas-
sive” fuel-supply system that feeds methanol
directly into the cell without the need for a
pump or fan. Instead, it uses the concentration
gradient to deliver and circulate methanol and
oxygen in the cell stack. The alternative “active”
DMFC configuration may yield more energy
than a passive system, says Toshiba, but it is also
more complex.
According to company spokesman Junichi
Nagaki, the biggest challenges were the devel-
opment of the internal component packaging
and the use of highly concentrated (98%)
methanol. The latter is desirable because it
means that the fuel tank can be a lot smaller
than in traditional designs (in which the
methanol concentration is less than 10%). The
downside is that high concentrations of
methanol exacerbate the problem of methanol
crossover – i.e. permeation of the methanol
fuel through the cell membrane (usually a per-
fluorinated ion-exchange polymer) from the
anode to the cathode. Once at the cathode, the
methanol is oxidized, which reduces the cath-
ode’s potential and therefore the efficiency of
the cell. However, the Japanese researchers
claim to have addressed the crossover problem
“by optimizing the structure of the fuel cell’s
electrodes and polymer-electrolyte membrane
that trigger the reaction”.
And it seems that this is just the beginning.
Toshiba expects to commercialize DMFCs for
laptop PCs this year, followed by DMFCs for
smaller handhelds, such as mobile phones and
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | SEPTEMBER 2004
TECHNOLOGY TRACKING
Pack it in: Toshiba claims to have developed the industry’s smallest DMFC (left), while Fujitsu’s
prototype micro fuel cell (right) can power a notebook PC for up to 10 h without refuelling.
Market pull, not technology push
It’s not just Japan’s electronics manufacturers
that are getting serious about fuel cells. In July,
KDDI, one of the country’s leading providers of
wireless and broadband telecommunications
services, announced a ground-breaking R&D
collaboration with Toshiba and Hitachi on
fuel-cell power sources for mobile-phone
handsets. Their goal is to realize a compact fuel
cell that can be commercialized for the mass
market by the end of 2005.
Currently, most mobile phone makers are
concentrating their efforts on increasing the
lifetime of conventional lithium-ion batteries.
There’s just one snag. Mobile phones are
gobbling up more and more electrical power,
on the back of enhanced LCD screen
functionality and the roll-out of new features
such as terrestrial digital broadcast receivers
and online settlement systems.
digital audio players, in 2005. Nagaki would
not comment on the number of people
involved in the manufacturer’s fuel-cell R&D
programme, or the size of its budget, but he
pointed out that Toshiba has been working on
both passive and active DMFCs since the early
1990s. “Within two to three years, we see that
the power supply for handheld electronic
devices will become an issue and DMFCs will
replace batteries,” he added.
Of course, Toshiba is not the only Japanese
electronics giant trying to miniaturize fuel cells
and address methanol crossover. Earlier this
year, Fujitsu unveiled a new membrane-elec-
trode-assembly (MEA) material that, it claims,
Quite simply, traditional battery technology
is heading towards its limits, which means the
search for a higher-energy-density, longer-
lifetime power source is no longer optional – it’s
mandatory. With this in mind, KDDI and its
research partners will cover areas such as
miniaturization, ease-of-use and all the
technical considerations required for
incorporating fuel cells into mobile phones.
Their aim is to complete an external, battery-
charger-type model by the end of the year, and a
mobile-phone built-in model by the end of
2005. The three companies are already active in
national and international standardization
efforts related to fuel-cell technology.
KDDI hopes that the incorporation of fuel
cells into mobile phones will contribute
significantly to ease-of-use by making lengthy
recharge times a thing of the past.
reduces methanol crossover to “one-tenth of
that encountered with typical fluorinated
polymers”. The other plus is that it enables the
use of concentrated methanol fuel.
Fujitsu’s MEA consists of an aromatic-hydro-
carbon solid electrolyte covered with a high-
density, platinum-based nanoparticle catalyst
with methanol-blocking properties. There’s
enough power to drive a notebook PC for up to
10 h when this MEA is incorporated into a pro-
totype passive DMFC with 300 cm3 of 30%
methanol. The prototype fuel cell has already
been slimmed down to a thickness of 15 mm
and can deliver output power levels of 15 W.
Siân Harris
33
TECHNOLOGY TRACKING

Transportation

Fuel reforming: into the fast lane

US researchers report significant progress in the race to make on-board fuel reforming a commercial proposition.

The road to the hydrogen economy is sure to

be a long and winding one – more a case of reformate to
WGS/PROX liquid fuel
evolution than revolution. Take the automo- (not part of current system)
bile industry. Right now, “blue-sky” thinkers recuperator bypass
from Detroit to Toyota City are trying to figure reformate

steam

water
combustion
out the answer to their very own multibillion- recuperator
primary start-up exhaust

fuel
dollar conundrum: how to transition fuel-cell air inlet
cars from trade-show curiosity into mass-
market phenomenon. More specifically, they

combustion
start-up

vaporizer
reformer
want to know how they can ensure that the

mixer
air exhaust

transition from A to B dovetails seamlessly
with the roll-out of an international network
of hydrogen-fuelling stations.
Yet with capital investment in that fuelling
infrastructure likely to be staggered over
decades rather than years, car manufacturers
will need to make some incremental moves in
the interim – one of which could involve the
reforming of gasoline to hydrogen on board a
fuel-cell vehicle. The favoured technique uses a
fuel processor based on steam reforming, in
which hydrocarbon fuel reacts with steam at
high temperatures over a catalyst to produce
hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Steam reform-
ing is the most cost-effective method of generat-
ing hydrogen, and is also the most efficient.
Unfortunately, there’s a snag. To date, the
best steam-reformer prototypes have taken
around 15–20 min to reach a temperature high
enough to start generating hydrogen – a delay
that isn’t going to pass muster with the average
driver intent on beating the morning gridlock.
Now, however, engineers at Pacific Northwest
National Laboratory (PNNL) in the US have
zone
air recuperator
spark-
plug port
prewarmed air
Above: system overview of PNNL’s rapid-start
reforming gas flow steam reformer. The red elements are active
only during the start-up phase, while the blue
elements come into play only during steady-
state operation. The new panel configuration
(left) for the steam-reforming reactor
combustion provides very short flow distances for the
gas flow
heating gas. Hot gases flow through the large
surface-area of the panel.
steam-reforming reactor, causing it to heat up.
The reactor is also a microchannel device that
contains supported catalysts inside its flow
channels. Additional heating is provided by the
combustion gases, which travel in a cross-flow
arrangement.
high rates of heat and mass transfer and rapid ● After steam has flowed for a few seconds, fuel

made what looks like a fundamental break-
through: a compact steam reformer that can
produce large amounts of hydrogen-rich gas
from liquid gasoline in only 12 s.
Hot stuff
The reformer is the highest-temperature com-
ponent within a fuel-processing system, and
therefore represents the biggest hurdle to
rapid start-up. Hence the PNNL demonstrator
looks like a notable advance towards a com-
plete on-board fuel processor that is able to
start up from cold in 30 s – a milestone that the
US Department of Energy (DOE) would like to
reach before 2010. Central to PNNL’s success
is the use of microfabrication techniques to
fashion a series of tiny catalyst-loaded chan-
steam-reforming kinetics.
“The key feature of the new design is that the
reforming reactor and water vaporizer are con-
figured as thin panels, with the hot gases flow-
ing through the large surface area of the panel,”
said Greg Whyatt, lead engineer on the project.
“The panel configuration also allows higher
combustion temperatures and flows without
risking damage to the metal structure.”
So what are the building blocks of the PNNL
system, and how do they work? In outline, the
steam reformer consists of a number of vapor-
izers, reactors, heat exchangers and a combus-
tor linked together in the following way:
● At start-up, the fuel is burned in a combustor,
which provides heat to produce the steam. The
steam generator is a microchannel device
is injected into the steam plume and the
fuel–steam mixture flows past the catalyst in
the reactor to produce syngas – a mixture of
hydrogen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide,
methane and steam. Reformation occurs at
temperatures of 650 °C and above. At this
point, carbon monoxide (CO) concentrations
are relatively high – about 15 mole per cent at
steady state, with a steam:carbon ratio of 3.
Since proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) fuel
cells can only support about 10 ppm of CO at
steady state, its concentration needs to be
reduced to acceptable levels by the subsystems
that follow. On the other hand, the reformate
could be used as it stands for solid-oxide fuel
cells, which can run on a CO feedstock.
● From the steam-reforming subsystems, the

nels inside the reforming reactor. These designed to provide very low combustion-side gases flow into a high-temperature recupera-
microchannels ensure low resistance to com- pressure losses. tor, which extracts enough of the heat for the
bustion gas flows, which in turn equates to ● Steam from the generator flows through the flow to become compatible with the next part

34 THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004


of the system, the water-gas-shift subsystem.
Recuperated heat is recycled to produce steam,
and to drive the endothermic steam-reforming
reactions. PNNL is also developing a new two-
stage water-gas-shift subsystem that lowers the
CO content by “shifting” it to carbon dioxide
by reaction with the steam (and using catalysts
from various commercial suppliers).
● The next stage is a preferential oxidation sub-
system. This reactor lowers the CO content to
10 ppm or less, by preferentially adsorbing the
gas onto a catalyst surface, where it is oxidized
to carbon dioxide. A heat exchanger subse-
quently adjusts the temperature of the refor-
mate steam to ensure compatibility with a
PEM fuel cell.
● A condenser/vapour-liquid separator (devel-
oped at PNNL) can then be used to adjust the
vapour pressure in the reformate to the desired
level. This device is also intended to recover
moisture from gas flows leaving a PEM fuel cell.
A matter of prioritization
Despite the encouraging progress, PNNL
acknowledges that there’s plenty of work still
to do. Top of the list is the systems engineering.
“We need to integrate all of our subsystems so
that they operate together seamlessly,” Larry
Pederson, the project leader, told The Fuel Cell
Safety
Talking sense on hydrogen sensing
Fuel-cell vehicles require a fail-safe approach to hydrogen leak detection. Suppliers of high-end gas sensors are eager to help.
Handle with care. That’s a mantra that scien-
tists, technologists and engineers would do well
to remember when working with hydrogen
and fuel-cell systems. Whichever way you look
at it, hydrogen is a tricky gas to deal with. It’s
highly volatile and flammable; it can explode
when mixed with air in certain concentrations;
and it leaks through small orifices more rapidly
than any other gas – 2.8 times faster than
methane and 3.3 times faster than air.
A slippery customer like this demands spe-
cial treatment. Specifically, that means a bul-
letproof approach to fuel-cell system design –
one that minimizes any fuel leaks as well as
monitoring for leaks on an ongoing basis dur-
ing the system’s lifetime. Nowhere is this more
important than in early-stage fuel-cell vehicles,
in which the considerable technical obstacles
to commercialization are matched, to a degree,
by the negative public perception of hydrogen
created by more than 60 years of bad press.
“Many people are scared of using hydrogen
because they have the story of the Hindenburg
in the back of their mind,” says Elizabeth
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
TECHNOLOGY TRACKING
Review. “This can be accomplished; it’s largely
a budget issue rather than a technical barrier.”
He added: “We also need to continue to lower
system mass, even though we are compatible
with DOE targets now. As a national lab, we are
focused on showing the feasibility of our
approach and not necessarily developing a pro-
totype ready for large-scale manufacture. As
such, our reactor designs tend to be overly
robust, so they could be trimmed down.”
Lack of long-term stability in the presence of
sulphur (a common constituent of transporta-
tion fuels) is another significant obstacle.
Sulphur tends to adsorb onto catalyst surfaces
and poison them. It also deposits onto the reac-
tor walls and must be removed to very low lev-
els in order to prevent rapid performance
degradation in PEM fuel cells. “We have a small
effort in this area now and hope to expand it,”
noted Pederson.
Meanwhile, as a prelude to commercializa-
tion, the scientists will need to couple their
reformer into working fuel-cell systems to
optimize efficiency and long-term durability.
With this in mind, Battelle Memorial Institute
in Columbus, Ohio, which operates PNNL for
the DOE, is currently developing a microchan-
nel fuel processor/PEM fuel-cell system
intended for use as an auxiliary power unit
Drive on: hydrogen sensors can eliminate the
risks of ignition or explosion in automotive
and industrial fuel-cell applications.
Wasserle, product line manager for hydrogen
sensor modules at MST Technology (formerly
ATMI), Germany. Yet that fear is somewhat
misplaced. In fact, hydrogen is no more or less
dangerous than many flammable liquid or
gaseous fuels in common use today. The mini-
mum concentration needed for detonation –
(APU) on a military vehicle. Ultimately, the
goal is to operate the APU on diesel fuel. In a
related development, Battelle launched a spin-
out company, Velocys, in 2001 to commercial-
ize microchannel technology for merchant-
hydrogen, ethylene production and other
chemical-industry applications.
“It is difficult to estimate when real large-
scale commercial deployment will occur, but
APU development on the 1–5 kW scale could
happen in the next five years or so,” claimed
Pederson. He cites the collaboration between
Delphi Corporation and BMW, for example,
which has already demonstrated an APU based
on solid-oxide fuel cells. That system operates
on gasoline and uses a partial-oxidation
reformer. The bottom line, says Pederson, is
that APUs are a key application for fuel cells –
one in which “many of the technical require-
ments of the reformer would be relaxed, such
as start-up time and start-up energy”.
Belle Dumé, Paris
Further reading
G A Whyatt et al. 2004 Development of a
rapid-start on-board automotive steam
reformer. Presented at the American Institute
for Chemical Engineering 2004 Spring
National Meeting (New Orleans, Louisiana).
18% by volume at normal temperature and
pressure – compares well to methane (6.3%)
and propane (1.1%). Also, hydrogen’s lower
concentration limit for ignition (4% by volume)
is roughly the same as that of methane (4.4%),
and a lot better than that of propane (1.7%).
Clearly, argues Wasserle, a well-thought-out
strategy on hydrogen detection and safety will
go a long way towards eliminating the risks of
ignition or explosion in automotive fuel-cell
applications – even if putting such a strategy
into practice is far from straightforward.
Think safe, stay safe
On-board vehicle monitoring imposes a string
of exacting requirements concerning the per-
formance and technical specifications of a
hydrogen sensor. Long lifetime, cast-iron dura-
bility and a compact footprint are a given as far
as the car industry is concerned – as are low
power consumption and a wide operational
temperature range. Another must-have is
compatibility of the sensor’s signal output with
in-vehicle control systems (such as the
35
TECHNOLOGY TRACKING
CANbus serial data communication protocol
employed by leading car makers, including
BMW, Volvo, Saab and Renault).
Taking all of this into account, MST claims
that its intelligent H2 Sensormodule is the
“ideal solution” for the detection of hydrogen
in not only vehicular, but also stationary appli-
cations. It’s an electrochemical three-electrode
device that uses a special membrane to selec-
tively distinguish hydrogen, while excluding
other gases such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen
oxide or gasoline. The sensor is capable of
detecting hydrogen concentrations as low as
100 ppm. Response time is less than 5 s and
power consumption is just 800 µA.
Wasserle says that one important advantage
is the sensor’s size – the standard product meas-
ures just 58 × 22 × 22 mm. This makes it suitable
for large-scale transport applications in cars,
trucks and boats, although she claims that it
could also pave the way for integration into
portable electronic devices. And because the
sensor is based on a modular design, Wasserle
says it can be adapted to fit custom require-
ments as necessary.
Another critical factor is temperature per-
formance. In-car systems must be able to han-
dle seasonal variations, as well as geographical
extremes ranging from the blistering heat of
an Athens summer to the dead of winter in
downtown Montreal. For this reason, MST’s
hydrogen sensor operates from –25 to 85 °C.
“There are many hydrogen sensors available,
but most have an upper limit of around 40 or
50 °C,” claims Wasserle. “For many applica-
tions this is fine, but fuel cells often operate at
higher temperatures.”
Beyond the standard product that MST
launched last year, Wasserle reckons that there’s
plenty more innovation to come. “For our next
generation [sensor] we will use a new measure-
ment principle that is independent of oxygen,”
she says. The product, slated for commercial
launch at the end of 2005, is based on a novel
solid-state gas sensor. “In addition to the new
measurement principle, the sensor modules
will have an extended temperature range (–40
to 125 °C) and a longer lifetime (up to 10 years).”
Technology transfer
However, having a good sensor is only part of
the story, says Claes Nylander, managing direc-
tor of Sensistor Technologies, Sweden. “People
can go the wrong way with specifying sensitiv-
ity and response time for sensors,” he explains.
“With hydrogen-[fuelled] cars, for example,
you need to know that you’ll get an early, rele-
vant and reliable warning.”
Sensistor was set up in 1981 and specializes
in the supply of digital leak-detection systems
for a range of industrial applications. It’s got
36
Smart sensing: the market for intelligent
hydrogen-sensing modules will grow in line
with the commercial development and roll-out
of fuel-cell vehicles. MST’s H2 Sensormodule
(top) and Sensistor’s H2000 (bottom) are just
two of the products that are currently being
lined up to meet the car makers’ needs.
some serious pedigree, evidenced by a cus-
tomer base that includes Whirlpool, Electrolux,
Bosch and GM. Early on, the company chose to
use hydrogen as a “tracer” gas and developed a
family of dedicated sensors to support its
approach. The tracer is normally a ready-made
industrial gas mixture containing 5% hydrogen
in a carrier gas such as nitrogen.
“We introduced hydrogen as a tracer
because the molecules are very small and dis-
sipate very quickly – ideal for pinpointing leaks
in pipes and testing the tightness of industrial
components and systems,” adds Nylander.
“Having been a supplier of hydrogen leak-test-
ing equipment for many years we have a lot of
expertise and know-how, so we think we have a
unique position in the emerging [hydrogen
and fuel-cell] market.”
Nylander identifies three areas in which
Sensistor’s technology can help with the
design and engineering of automotive hydro-
gen and fuel-cell systems. First, there’s the iden-
tification of leaks during development and
production – whether the leak emanates from
the fuel-cell stack itself or somewhere else in
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004
the balance of plant. Second, there’s the loca-
tion of leaks during repair and maintenance.
And finally, there’s the 24/7 monitoring that’s
needed when a vehicle is out on the road.
For now, Sensistor is concentrating its ener-
gies on the first two areas, although the firm
also has detectors installed in several prototype
hydrogen and fuel-cell vehicles. When it comes
to on-board systems, Nylander believes that
simply identifying a higher-than-usual level of
hydrogen is not enough. Intelligent monitor-
ing is what counts. “You don’t just want to
know that there is hydrogen in a car, because
there are a number of other sources of hydro-
gen, such as cigarette smoke or flatulence. You
want to know if it [the hydrogen] is from the
fuel and whether it’s dangerous.”
At the heart of Sensistor’s flagship product,
the H2000, is a field-effect-transistor sensor
that is able to detect and locate leaks as small
as 5 × 10–7 mbar-l/s (or 0.5 ppm). The unit
includes a suite of powerful algorithms to
evaluate the source of any hydrogen. A leak,
for example, will yield a fairly constant supply
of hydrogen, while other sources (such as
cigarette smoke) are characterized by concen-
trated bursts of hydrogen that disperse rapidly
with proper ventilation.
Countermeasures aside, sensible vehicle
design and strict quality assurance will go a
long way towards minimizing the risks associ-
ated with hydrogen leakage. For the engineer-
ing teams at Ford, Toyota, Honda and the like,
it’s not just a case of making sure that a fuel-cell
system is leak-proof at the outset, but also of
taking into account the likely effects of wear
and tear thousands of miles down the road.
The fuel-cell system “may be leak-tight at the
start, but you have to consider what might hap-
pen in two years’ time and ensure adequate
ventilation of critical areas”, adds Nylander.
One thing is clear: while the development of
hydrogen and fuel-cell vehicles may still be in its
infancy, companies like MST, Sensistor and their
peers are already betting that on-board hydro-
gen monitoring will prove to be a long-term
money-spinner. It won’t be an easy market to
crack, however. The car manufacturers are
demanding customers, and they will be pushing
for sensor/detector companies to deliver a
“triple-whammy” of ongoing miniaturization,
enhanced levels of intelligence and price reduc-
tion in their next-generation products.
Even so, Nylander shares Wasserle’s view that,
apart from anything else, hydrogen sensors are
going to be essential tools for alleviating public
fears. “Hydrogen is odourless,” he concludes.
“It’s psychological – people won’t accept hydro-
gen-powered cars without [appropriate] sen-
sors because they cannot smell it.”
Siân Harris
 International Trade Fair
for Hydrogen and
Fuel Cell Technologies

Hamburg · 15– 17 Sept. 2004

9.00 – 17.00 hours
www.h2expo.de
Organizer: Partners: Deutscher Wasserstoff- und
Brennstoffzellen-Verband
Sponsor:

Hydrogen and Fuel Cells 2004

Conference and Trade Show Toronto, Ontario, Canada
September 25-28, 2004

Have you registered? Jointly organized by: Conference Secretariat:

From BC's Hydrogen Highway to Toronto's Hydrogen Village to
Montreal's Hydrogen Airport, the conference will be the perfect
place to hear detailed information about fuel cell and hydrogen (Attention: Hydrogen and Fuel Cells)
projects in Canada. With over 200 speakers with diverse Suite 101 - 1444 Alberni St
perspectives this will be a great opportunity to learn about Vancouver, BC V6G 2Z4 Canada
technology advances, explore new business opportunities, and Telephone: 604.688.9655 ext2
network with industry and government specialists. Toll Free: 1.800.555.1099 ext2
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Key presentations this year focus on: Email: hfc2004@advance-group.com
Website: www.hydrogenfuelcells2004.com
- Energy Producers, Utilities and Distribution
- International Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Developments
- Government & Industry Partnerships
- Hydrogen Infrastructure
www.hydrogenfuelcells2004.com
- Demonstrations and technology applications
- Investment Opportunities

Full conference program at

www.hydrogenfuelcells2004.com/en/program/detailed.htm
TALKING POINT
Where the fuel-cell industry has its say on emerging technologies.
Stationary power with a difference
Do high-temperature fuel cells have what it takes
to deliver clean, efficient and economical electric
power generation in stationary applications?
Siân Harris talks to someone who should know.
When it comes to power, Hans Maru likes to think big.
That’s probably just as well, given his position as chief
technology officer of FuelCell Energy, a Connecticut, US,
company that’s developing molten-carbonate fuel cells
(MCFCs) and stacks for stationary power plants. Maru
hopes that one day soon, MCFC technology will be used
routinely as the source for hundreds of kilowatts – or even
megawatts – of power for large facilities such as hospitals,
hotels, universities and factories. “These places need round-
the-clock, reliable power, especially with high-quality
waste heat [for recycling],” he told The Fuel Cell Review.
So what makes an MCFC tick? The electrolyte in MCFCs
is a mixture of alkali-metal carbonates which, at
temperatures of 600–700 °C, form a highly conductive
molten salt held in a ceramic sponge (or matrix). As in
other fuel-cell systems, the main reaction is between
hydrogen and oxygen; unlike all other fuel cells, however,
carbon dioxide must be supplied to the cathode along
with oxygen, with the former providing the basis of the
ion-transfer mechanism between cathode and anode. The
carbon dioxide is generated from the hydrocarbon fuel,
which also provides the hydrogen. And because MCFCs
can operate on a wide range of fuels – such as natural gas,
biogas, coal-mine methane and propane – they do not
depend upon a hydrogen infrastructure.
FuelCell Energy’s take on MCFCs is based around a
family of systems called Direct FuelCell (DFC), the key
feature of which is the use of internal fuel reforming to
extract hydrogen. The DFC solution brings the reformer
into the cell, with flat reformer plates placed between
every eight cells in the stack; a small amount of catalyst is
also placed in the fuel-cell passage to reform any
remaining hydrocarbons. As a result, “waste” heat from
the core fuel-cell process can be recycled and put to good
use in promoting hydrogen generation.
Currently, DFC systems offer electrical efficiencies of
45–50%, although Maru says improvements are in the
works. Any waste heat that isn’t used to support hydrogen
generation, for example, can be fed into a turbine to
generate more electricity. In the long term, set-ups like this
could yield electrical efficiencies of up to 75%. “The basic
feasibility of the DFC/T [DFC/turbine] concept is already
being demonstrated at the 250 kW level with a Capstone
60 kW microturbine,” said Maru, adding that further work
on packaging and field demonstrations is in progress.
And there is yet more recycling to be done. In April,
FuelCell Energy presented a paper at the National Hydrogen
Association (NHA) conference in Los Angeles about its
DFC/hydrogen system. In the standard DFC system, only
75% of the hydrogen generated by the internal reforming
process is used to produce electricity. However, the
38
company’s DFC/H2 system – which is still at the R&D stage
– separates the remaining 25% and subjects it to catalytic
oxidation to generate heat for a range of applications.
Alternatively, the hydrogen can be fed back into the fuel cell
or collected to provide a hydrogen store for a fuelling
station or industrial plant.
While the DFC/H2 and DFC/T are for the future,
FuelCell Energy has an installed base of commercial
systems deployed in an extensive field-trial programme
around the world. The first of these products, the
DFC300A, has an output power of 250 kW and is
Student power: DFC operating in around 30 locations, with many of these
installation at Yale units also including waste-heat recovery. The Sheraton
University in New hotel chain, for example, has installed DFC300A units in
Haven, Connecticut. two hotels in New Jersey, US, and is interested in rolling
out the technology to more sites. Other early adopters
include Mercedes-Benz and Caterpillar in the US, and
Deutsche Telekom and RWE in Germany.
At higher-power regimes, FuelCell Energy’s DFC1500 is
currently generating 1 MW of power from waste gases
given off at a municipal water-treatment plant in
Washington State, US. This looks to be a “win–win”
scenario, given that the utilities in charge of these facilities
are under pressure to cut emissions of greenhouse gases
like methane. A fuel-cell system that can use such gases as
fuel is one way forward.
Every problem has a solution
Not surprisingly, getting MCFC technology into shape for
commercialization has involved its fair share of technical
challenges – from basic materials and components through
to power-plant design. “In the early years of development,”
“MCFCs are explained Maru, “hot corrosion of the metallic hardware in
now at the the carbonate environment was an important
point where consideration, [though] properly engineered stainless
baseline steels now provide adequate protection.” Cost-effective
protection of the wet-seal surfaces has been another major
materials and focus, with aluminization found to eliminate the problem.
components “Low-cost aluminization approaches are also being
have been investigated,” added Maru. Equally significantly, research
on mechanically stable anodes turned up the Ni-Al alloy as
scaled up and the preferred choice, while lithiated NiO emerged as the de
are being used facto cathode material.
in full-size According to Maru, “MCFC technology is now at the
stacks.” point where baseline materials and components have been
scaled up to full area (10 000 cm2) and are being used in
full-size stacks.” Yet MCFC development is very much a
work in progress, with power-density improvements and
cost reduction top of the agenda at FuelCell Energy. “The
search for alternative cathode materials and electrolytes
is continuing,” added Maru, “primarily to extend the
useful life of the fuel cell beyond the initial
commercialization goal of five years.” At the other end of
the scale, Maru and his team are aiming to capitalize on
Hans Maru, chief the wealth of experience they’ve gained from all those
technology officer of field installations to enhance the reliability and
FuelCell Energy, US. cost:performance of DFC power plants. ●
THE FUEL CELL REVIEW | AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2004