Fuel Cells: Current Successes, Challenges and Prospects Brant A. Peppley Queen’s-RMC Fuel Cell Research Centre Queen’s

1. Fuel Cells: Current Successes, Challenges and Prospects Brant A. Peppley Queen’s-RMC Fuel Cell Research Centre Queen’s MiniU May 2008

2. …including a Crash Course on Fuel Cells Brant A. Peppley Canada Research Chair in Fuel Cells

3. Polymeric (Acid) Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell Operation on Hydrogen and Air This is the PEM fuel cell that everyone thinks of when we talk about the fuel cell car It is the classic Ballard fuel cell but it is only one of many types of fuel cells

4. A Sample of the Types of Fuel Cells • Alkaline (AFC) • Phosphoric Acid (PAFC) • Molten Carbonate (MCFC, Direct Fuel Cell, DFC) • Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM, SPE(TM), PEFC) • Hydrogen - Air • Direct Methanol - Air • Solid Oxide (SOFC)

5. Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC) Good Attributes • Long operational history on NASA space missions. (Apollo, Shuttle) • Achieves power generating efficiencies of up to 70%. • Uses alkaline potassium hydroxide as the electrolyte and low cost catalyst. • Low temperature <60ºC(140ºF) Challenges • Vulnerable to CO2 poisoning • Boiling hot “DranoTM” not a very friendly liquid

6. AFC Application Three 30 kW fuel cells used on the orbiter.

7. Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC) Good Attributes • The first commercially available fuel cell. Approx. 300 units, 200 kW each, sold worldwide. • Generates electricity at more than 40% efficiency. Overall efficiency is nearly 85% if heat is used for cogeneration. Operates at 200ºC(400 ºF) atmospheric pressure. • Relatively tolerant to CO and other contaminants • Work well with bio-methane (waste water treatment plants) Challenges • Requires a liquid electrolyte management system to maintain concentration of hot phosphoric acid. • Platinum electrodes susceptible to corrosion.

8. PAFC Products • UTC Fuel Cells PC-25 currently in operation • Eight PC-25 systems in New York City (first one in 1997) • One PC-25 in Köln-Rodenkirchen, Germany - Portland, Oregon 200-kilowatt PC25 that converts anaerobic digester gas generated by the wastewater treatment facility into usable heat and electricity for the facility.

9. RWE Installation Rodenkirchen Stahl, Knut - Experiences from the PAFC Operation with Sewage Gas 3rd BFC Net Workshop Jan. 2005. http://www.bfcnet.info Downloads.

10. New York City WWTP Fuel Cell Systems

11. Performance Verification Report – PAFC Results of 30 day test program for a PC25C Operated by NY Power Authority May - June 2004 Greenhouse Gas Technology Center, EPA, Environmental Technology Verification Report, September 2004, www.sri-rtp.com/PC25_VR_final.pdf.

12. Cost Data (Limited) • Portland OR reports having spent $1.3 million for their 200 kW PAFC system • The mayor of New York City reports that eight 200 kW PAFC systems were installed at a cost of $13 million. Based on these numbers the average cost per unit is $1.6 million or $8000 per kW • Compared to $1370 per kW for the conventional engine and $1500 per kW target price for incremental additional capacity for power companies.

13. Molten Carbonate / Direct Fuel Cell (MCFC) Good Attributes • Well suited for distributed power market. • High fuel-to-electricity efficiencies. • Capable of internal reforming = directly consume hydrocarbon fuels (e.g., nat. gas) • 650ºC(1200ºF) and atmospheric pressure = good quality waste heat. Challenges • Cost reduction below about $1800 per kW is challenging • Start up and shutdown is slow and load following is difficult

14. MCFC Products • Numerous installations around world utilising bio-methane from waste treatment • King County, Washington (1 MW) • Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd. (250 kW) • Seibu Sewage Treatment Center, Sewage Bureau, Hukuoka City (250 kW) • Demonstration on gasified coal • 1 MW system to be installed by Enbridge Gas in Toronto this June

15. 1 MW MCFC Products May 4, 2005News Release King County earned national environmental award for generating electricity from waste water treatment plant methane gas

16. 1 MW Turbine/1.2 MW MCFC

17. Proton Exchange Membrane Good • Operates at relatively low temperature (< 90ºC/200ºF) = domestic hot water co-generation. • High power density, fast response. • Suited for applications, - such as automobiles and buses - where quick startup and load following is required. • Solid polymer electrolyte means no corrosive liquids to handle. • Miniaturisation relatively easy. Challenges • Require pure hydrogen. Susceptible to poisons. • Cost still needs to be reduced. Platinum catalyst is too expensive

18. PEMFC Products • Material handling equipment (forklift trucks) • Backup Power • Residential combined heat and power • Microelectronics power • Fuel cell buses • Fuel cell cars

19. Forklift Truck Battery Replacement Fuel cell powered material handling equipment for large warehouse operations have already shown a cost benefit based on productivity and WalMart successfully field tested General Hydrogen forklifts (Geoffrey Ballard’s most recent company) Two units field tested at GM and Fedex. GM have shown there is a real cost benefit of using Hydrogenics fuel cell forklift trucks instead of battery power forklift trucks.

20. Backup Power Systems 12 kW Hydrogenics Awarded Supply Agreement From American Power Conversion to Deliver Up to 500 Fuel Cell Power Modules for Backup Power Applications Batteries 1 tank of H2 20 minutes For e-commerce systems in urban centres this is the only practical power backup option

21. Residential CHP PEM Fuel Cell Power Systems Units supply electrical power, hot water and space heating for a typical Japanese home. Natural Gas Fuelled – 1 kW To date approx. 2200 unites have been installed in Japan.

22. World’s Longest Lasting Cell Phone Angstrom Power of North Vancouver (ironically located in the building that Ballad Power originally occupied) In January, Angstrom released a prototype for Motorola's SLVR phone, with double the talk time of the lithium ion battery currently being sold with the phone. The phone also recharges in only 10 minutes, vs. several hours for lithium ion batteries.

23. PEMFC Buses Daimler Buses using Ballard stacks have accumulated more than two million kilometres of operation For the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver the B.C. government is assembling the largest collection of hydrogen fuel-cell buses on the planet. Twenty buses for $47 million.

24. When can I lease a fuel cell car? This July according to Honda’s press release of last Wednesday http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/?gallery=1 • Q. Where can I test drive or lease an FCX Clarity? How much does it cost? • A limited number of FCX Clarity vehicles will be available for lease only in the Torrance, Santa Monica and Irvine areas in mid-2008. The lease amount will be around $600 per month for three years and it includes maintenance. As hydrogen-supply infrastructure expands, Honda will make more of these remarkable cars available to the public.

25. Honda Clarity FCX Honda engineers estimated three years ago that its previous fuel-cell cars cost more than $1 million to build. Duleep, who completed a fuel-cell vehicle study this year for the U.S. Department of Energy, believes Honda has cut its production costs to between $120,000 and $140,000 per vehicle. [Honda to Deliver 200 Fuel-Cell Autos Through 2011 (Update2) – Bloomberg Japan Article May 21 2008]

26. Direct methanol fuel cells (DMFC) Benefits • Similar to the PEM hydrogen cells in that they both use a polymer membrane as the electrolyte. • The fuel is liquid methanol, eliminating the need for hydrogen storage. • Efficiencies of about 40% are expected with this type of fuel cell. • 60-190ºC(140-375ºF) • First fuel cell to be truly commercial (EFOY) Challenges • Require even more platinum than hydrogen fuel cells • Lifetime limited

27. DMFC Products Available for camper vans 0.6 – 1.6 kWh per day

28. Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) Good Attributes • Able to use natural gas as fuel with minimal or no pre-processing. • Uses a hard ceramic material as the electrolyte (no corrosive liquid handling). No platinum catalysts • Operating temperature 980ºC /1800ºF = good quality waste heat. • Potentially very low manufacturing costs (cheap materials for fuel cell stack) Challenges • Slow start up and load following • High temperature balance of plant materials required

29. SOFC Products Natural gas 1 kW residential cogen Ceramic Fuel Cells Propane 250 W portable Generator Nanodynamics Methanol-water 70 W battery charger Protonex

30. SOFC Products SOFC Systems have been demonstrated for distributed power applications 100 kW SOFC cogeneration system installed at the village of Westervoort, near Arnhem, Netherlands (20,000 hrs operation) 220 kW SOFC/gas turbine hybrid system at National Fuel Cell Research Center (NFCRC), Irvine, California - the world's first!

31. Summary • Like batteries specific types of fuel cells are best suited for certain applications. • Fuel cell products have had success in niches where more energy is required than available from batteries and less power is required than provided by a power plant (or generator) • Fuel cells are ideal for applications where very clean and efficient power is needed (Interior and sensitive environments)

32. Biomass fuelled fuel cells! Prospect for addressing GHG Emissions and Climate Change

33. All living things are powered by biofuel cells A fuel cell powered vehicle… A fuel cell powered operator… Insert hay here Toby the Horse

34. Sources of Biomass • Waste streams of carbohydrates • landfill • waste water treatment plants • wood waste • agricultural waste • industrial waste streams • Virgin biomass • wood • grasses • not corn!! Used with permission

35. Waste Water Treatment Plant Systems • Fuel cell systemscan be deployed inmodular incrementsfor smaller communities. • Fuel cell systems can utilize lower quality gas than required for combustion engines

36. Prospects for Biomass Fuelled Fuel Cells • Biomass-fuelled fuel cell systems are technically feasible and have been operated for extended periods with good reliability and performance • Economic feasibility is much more difficult to assess but it appears that costs are too high • The impact of carbon credits on the economics of biomass fuelled fuel cell systems may be a significant factor in the near future. • Utilising waste biomass for power generation will not solve our energy and GHG problems but it can significantly reduce GHG emissions

37. Prospects for Direct Bio-Fuel Cells • A direct biofuel cell would be the closest approach to producing energy by the same method as found in nature. • The challenges of “wiring” an electrical connection to an enzyme to achieve acceptable power density are daunting • Breakthroughs receive significant press coverage but are far from practical (http://www.che.wsu.edu/~suha)

38. A major breakthrough is needed! Prospects for completely new ideas in fuel cells

39. New Ideas • Now that the stock market “hype” is over researchers are looking deeper for new ideas and finding them • New membranes for PEMFCs are allowing higher temperature operation while new ceramics for SOFCs are bringing the temperature down. In both cases these developments lead to lower costs.

40. New Ideas • Alkaline electrolyte membranes have been developed that are resistant to poisoning by CO2 leading to the development of better DMFCs and possibly direct ethanol fuel cells • FCRC researchers are searching for new catalysts and materials that will make it possible to use bio-methane and lower purity hydrogen directly in low temperature fuel cells

41. New Ideas • More researchers from more disciplines are becoming aware of the challenges in fuel cells leading to innovative ideas in manufacturing • Biomimicry is being used to rethink the design of fuel cells • The prospect of a breakthrough is very good (we are working very hard to make it happen at Queen’s)

42. An enthusiastic group looking for a breakthrough! www.fcrc.ca

43. www.fcrc.ca Brant Peppley Director 613-547-6700 ext. 115 Brant.Peppley@queensu.ca

44. BLUE SKIES (by Irving Berlin) Blue Skies, shining on me Nothing but Blue Skies, do I see Blue bird singing a song Nothing but Blue Skies, from now on. Never saw the sun shining so bright Never saw things going so right Noticing the days hurrying by When your in love my how they fly Blue days, all of them gone Nothing but Blue Skies, from now on.

45. FUEL CELLS (based on Blue Skies by Irving Berlin) Fuel Cells, clearing the air Nothing but fuel cells, everywhere I. C. E., buried and gone Nothing but fuel cells, from now on. Never saw the sun shining so bright Never saw things going so right Noticing the cars hurrying buy With a fuel cell they silently glide Smog days, all of them gone Nothing but fuel cells, from now on.

46. Stationary Fuel Cell System Design • http://www.nait.ca/fuelcell/fun.htm

47. Automotive Fuel Cell System Design Super Capacitors Air Compressor andCooling Hydrogen Tanks Fuel Cell Stacks http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3210/01-car-nf.html