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Advanced Fuel Cell Technology April 2012
of EYP Mission Critical Facilities
Inc., the premier consulting and
engineering firm dedicated to the
design and operations of data
centers.
Gross, formerly VP and
managing partner, Global
Consulting, Hewlett-Packard
Co., joined Bloom Energy last
month. “Bloom Energy will now
fill a critical need in the data center
industry,” says Gross. “By providing a reliable, clean and
stable energy source that is immune to disruptions to the
grid, Bloom will help its customers reduce their security
risks considerably, while at the same time improving
efficiency and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.”
Because Bloom servers are located on-site with the
customer, they are not vulnerable to disruptions to the
power grid caused by human intervention or natural
disaster.
NPL Researchers Create New Monitoring Electrode
Researchers from the National Physical Laboratory,
in the U.K., have developed a new electrode that can be
placed in PEM fuel cells – those commonly used in the auto
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industry – to monitor their performance. These types of
fuel cells are more prone to corrosion than other fuel cells.
Concerns regarding this corrosion could make hydrogenpowered
cars unpopular with consumers as replacing a fuel
cell would be costly.
The new electrode can be placed in any working PEM
fuel cell. The electrode will monitor the changes within the
fuel cell and track corrosion or any losses in performance.
This data will then be used to find solutions to any problems
that PEM fuel cells may have. Researchers have already
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Advanced Fuel Cell Technology April 2012
been using this electrode and have been able to make some
improvements to PEM fuel cells, increasing their durability
and corrosion resistance.
The Laboratory hopes that the new measurement
technology will help fuel cells reach commercialization,
though this will largely depend on whether automakers are
willing to make changes to their fuel cells before their new
vehicles are launched.
Italian Researcher To Open Facility in Indiana
Italy-based Genport SRL, a manufacturer of highenergy
electric generators and batteries, will invest in a $2
million North American headquarters at Purdue Research
Park in West Lafayette, Indiana. The plant will house the
company’s hybrid fuel cell research.
“We chose to establish our U.S. subsidiary in West
Lafayette to benefit from the tremendous environment
of the Purdue Research Park and the state of Indiana,” a
company spokesman said.
The Indiana Economic Development Corporation
offered Genport up to $225,000 in conditional tax credits.
The Tippecanoe County Commissioners and the City of
West Lafayette also provided incentives.
Genport, which will partner with the U.S. Department
of Defense and the Naval Surface Warfare Center at Crane,
plans to begin hiring engineers in the coming months. The
firm initially plans to hire almost two dozen employees.
Air Liquide to Supply Infrastructure for Demo
Air Liquide Industrial U.S. LP of Houston, Texas,
has an agreement with the Center for Transportation and
the Environment (CTE) to supply the hydrogen fueling
infrastructure for a hydrogen fuel cell bus demonstration
in Birmingham, Alabama.
CTE will manage the demonstration over a twoyear
period to begin this summer. During this period, a
hydrogen-powered fuel cell bus will operate in regular
service with the fleet of public buses currently operated
by the Birmingham-Jefferson County Transit Agency.
Air Liquide will provide gaseous hydrogen and the
compression and dispensing bus refueling system. The
system will dispense 20kg of hydrogen per day, totaling
12,500kg of hydrogen during the 24-month demonstration
period. The hydrogen fueling station will feature automated
350bar hydrogen dispensing at 1kg per minute, allowing
operators to fuel the bus quickly.
EVAmerica will design and integrate the hydrogenpowered
bus. Ballard Power Systems will provide the
hydrogen fuel cell.
Honda Opens Solar-Hydrogen Fuel Station in Japan
Japanese automaker Honda has opened a new hydrogen
fuel station in Saitama, Japan. The station will be open to
the public and will provide drivers with a reliable and quick
way to refuel their fuel cell vehicles. The station will be
able to produce more than 1.5kg of hydrogen gas every 24
hours to service a significant portion of Japan’s hydrogenpowered
vehicles.
The station is equipped with large, photovoltaic solar
panels that generate 9kW of electricity every seven hours,
weather permitting. The electricity generated by the solar
panels is used to power the fuel cells, allowing them to
produce hydrogen gas.
Kiyoshi Ueda, governor of Saitama, noted that the
vehicle’s fuel cell could be very handy in an emergency.
The Clarity’s fuel cell can actually be used to provide a
household with back-up electricity for up to six days.
Apple Reveals More Details about its Fuel Cell Farm
Apple says that a biogas-powered fuel cell system that
will help power its Maiden, North Carolina, data center
could be up and running as early as June.
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