Nuvera Fuel Cells

In addition to our fuel cell forklift proving ground in Topton, Pennsylvania, Nuvera has recently begun testing of its ReadyPower power pack here in our Billerica facility. The focus is on acceleration and braking, with special attention being paid to the regenerative braking system in place on most forklift trucks today. These tests will allow optimization of the hardware that Deka and Nuvera use to absorb the braking energy created (ReadyPower doesn’t have the large battery presence that traditional lead acid batteries do, as it stores its electricity in the form of hydrogen).

Pictured on the forklift is Aaron Harris, our Environmental, Health and Safety Coordinator.

Representative Niki Tsongas organized an event on Monday titled “Green, Clean and Sustainable – Economic Development for the 21st Century. 

At the meeting, which attracted about 75 people, she spoke about her desire to partner with green energy companies in the fifth districtof Massachusetts, to do what she can to help companies like ours grow both in market share and in employees.  An interesting bon mot that she offered to the audience: the green sector in Massachusetts employs over 14,000 people!  She also offered “As we seek solutions to our nation’s energy crisis, there are several innovative employers right in our backyard that are producing the alternative energy technologies which will help limit our foreign oil dependence and the harmful effects of climate change, while simultaneously creating outstanding green collar jobs for residents of the Fifth District.  The Merrimack Valley is fertile ground for the further growth and development of these jobs and this economic development conference that I am hosting will bring together job creation and environmental experts with leaders in our communities to discuss the steps that should be taken in order to encourage the further growth of this industry in our region.”

Bill Mitchell, our vice president of sales and marketing, participated in a panel titled “Green in the 5th – what did it take?” discussing Nuvera’s move last June from Cambridge to Billerica. On the panel with Bill were other area leaders in the solar, power electronics, and filtration industries.  The general consensus was that Massachusetts is a great place to live, and to attract and find talented people due to the numeraous universities inthe area.

The keynote speaker was Secretary Ian A. Bowles, Commonwealth of Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affiars who among other points of discussion, hinted at an upcoming clean energy bill that would be announced in the Commonwealth - more to come on this issue soon!.

By Danielle Andre and contributing editors
Scott Blanchet, Platform Leader, Fuel Cell Development and
Amedeo Conti, Lead Engineer, Stack Design

As I was sitting in the monthly review of our Fuel Cell Stack Development team, a topic caught my ear. While the majority of information parlayed in this particular meeting falls under the category of intellectual property and therefore cannot be posted here (as you can imagine), there is some interesting work being done in regards to coolant that is fit to share.

Fuel cells create electricity through an electrochemical reaction between hydrogen on the anode side and oxygen on the cathode side. During the reaction heat is produced and a liquid coolant is required to control temperature. Managing the electrical conductivity of the fluids within the cell is extremely important in order to avoid current leakage and short circuiting. Deionized water typically has low electrical conductivity, making it an effective coolant for fuel cell stacks; the obvious downside to using water is that it freezes at typical winter temperatures. This is a sizable hurdle for fuel cells that are aimed at the automotive market.

Traditional (internal combustion engine) automotive systems are cooled with ethylene or propylene glycol, for just this reason. Glycol has a significantly lower freeze point than water, which is what allows our cars to start on those cold New England mornings. The issue with glycol is that it can have a high electrical conductivity rating, resulting in excessive corrosion within the fuel cell stack.

Nuvera has taken a serious look at the tradeoffs in the water vs. glycol debate: water is a low cost and effective solution, but is tricky when dealing with cold start applications. Glycol is only effective when used in conjunction with a deionizing filter which adds cost, but may help enable achievement of the holy grail in fuel cells – a timely cold start.
The glycol debate is nothing new inside Nuvera – our automotive stack, Andromeda™, is designed to be compatible with glycol, utilizing standard automotive parts. What we are determining now is the best glycol/water solution to produce the results we want, how to optimize our systems to run on glycol, and verifying the robustness of our systems when run on this glycol based coolant. If our findings resolutely show that glycol is the preferred coolant, you may see it in not only in our automotive products, but also in our PowerFlow™ system, maximizing performance in the forklift cold storage market.

By James Cross, Vice President, Technology and Product Development
Nuver Fuel Cells 

The NHA Conference is a very impressive event, building on 18 years of experience.  It brings together a diverse mix of stakeholders, spanning the spectrum from the impassioned to the cynical, the romantic to the practical, corporate executives to students, from industry as well as the general public, and from around the globe.  

In honor of April “Fuels” Day, I wanted to take a moment to note a few points on which the industry perspective also exhibit some diversity!
 

How far does a fuel cell vehicle go on a tank full of hydrogen?   One of the fuel cell vehicle information cards reports 290 miles, another a whopping 480 miles!  DOE says 190 miles on the accepted duty cycle (if you don’t cheat in the backseat or trunk!). 

How long can a customer accept to refuel?   Automakers say 3 minutes –but for light tanks at 70 MPa, a full fill overheats the tank, so expensive and energy wasteful H2 precooling is needed.  One company says if you go to 4 minutes, the precooling requirement goes away.  DOE has a goal of 5 minutes.

What is the reference price of natural gas for hydrogen costing?  One study used commercial rates and quoted $14+/MMBtu, another $6.50/MMBtu.  One suggested coal should be looked at – guess which!   
 

What is the penalty value for a vehicle when the refueling entails customer inconvenience?    Several prior studies indicate that for hydrogen availability at 10% of existing fueling stations, the offset to vehicle pricing would be ~$1000.  A new report says up to $5000!

What’s right and what isn’t?  We can’t tell yet.  This is an industry in the making, and while its architects are energetic in debate, particular to their individual analyses, and emphatic in their marketing claims, they and we remain largely aligned in spirit and sense of purpose.

Tomorrow morning is the keynote session where hydrogen companies and automakers share their perspectives on hydrogen infrastructure – Bill and I will be in the front row, ringside!   Later in the afternoon, I’ll be moderating the session on Fuel Cells:  Improvements & Analysis.

Nuvera completed construction and testing of a high powered Forza Industrial Power System last night. The Phase 2 system outperformed its specified power rating of 150 kW by producing 168 kW of power.

Our CEO, Roberto Cordaro, was on hand to initiate the startup.

This was the first time this amount of power was produced at our new facility, and required the use of our largest on-site load bank, pictured above.