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Faculty/Research News
Fuel Cell Research
Professor Ismail Celik (third from right) with members of his research team in the Computational Fluid Dynamics and Applied
Multiphysics Laboratory. From left to right are Ertan Karaismail, Francisco A. Pino-Romainville, S. Raju Pakalapati, Jaggannath Nanduri,
Dr. Celik, Fatma N. Cayan, and Francisco Elizalde Blancas.
Innovations in
Fuel Cell Research
TEAM RECEIVES $2.25 MILLION FOR PROJECT
An interdisciplinary team of researchers led by faculty
members in our College will receive $2.25 million to
research the use of coal-derived synthetic gas in hightemperature
fuel cells.
Ismail Celik, a professor in the Department of Mechanical and
Aerospace Engineering, is the technical principal investigator on
the project. Richard Bajura, director of WVU’s National
Research Center for Coal and Energy and also a professor in the
Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, is the
administrative principal investigator.
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will provide $1.5
million for the three-year project. The West Virginia
Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (WV
EPSCoR) will provide an additional $750,000.
“Our research will focus primarily on novel anode materials for
solid oxide fuel cells,” said Celik. “The long-term goal is to
develop composite materials using nanotechnology to enable
the use of coal syngas as an efficient, clean source of electricity
via fuel cells.”
2
Spring 2007
The fuel cell project will involve collaboration among WVU
researchers in the Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace
Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, and Physics, as
well as with researchers at the National Energy Technology
Laboratory, and researchers in regional industries.
Other WVU faculty members involved in the project include:
Bernard Cooper, visiting professor of physics; Harry Finklea,
professor and chair of chemistry; Bruce Kang, professor of
mechanical and aerospace engineering; Xingbo Liu, assistant
professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering; Andrei
Smirnov, assistant professor of mechanical and aerospace
engineering; Nick Wu, assistant professor of mechanical and
aerospace engineering; and John Zondlo, professor of chemical
engineering.
West Virginia, Nevada, and North Dakota were the only
recipients of Implementation Awards granted this year to
university researchers by the U. S. DOE’s Experimental Program
to Stimulate Competitive Research.
“This project will help West Virginia maintain its leadership
role in meeting our nation’s energy needs,” said Bajura. “The
development of advanced technologies will allow coal to be an
economical and environmentally attractive energy resource well
into the future, which is vital for our state’s economy.”