| | Last week at the California Fuel Cell Partnership (CaFCP), in West Sacramento, California, we learned about the technology of hydrogen gas conversion to electricity for powering vehicles. CaFCP is a collaboration of 33 member organizations, including auto manufacturers, energy providers, government agencies, and fuel cell technology companies that work together to promote the commercialization of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
At the facility door, we were greeted by a hydrogen-powered Honda FCX 2-door. Next, we got an official wrist band so we could ride in their various cars behind the building.
First, Ms. Chris White, Communications Director of CaFCP, told us the history behind the partnership and the vehicles. Founded in 1999, the CaFCP campus is a working environment with the focus on vehicles that are powered by hydrogen. Each vehicle uses their own style of battery to store the hydrogen produced electricity. Since 2000, members have tested more than 200 light duty vehicles in California and traveled more than one million miles on California’s roads and highways. This fall, Ms. White will take a group of hydrogen powered vehicles from the American East Coast cross-country to the West Coast. This will be the longest, continuous drive taken by hydrogen-powered, light-duty vehicles.
The development of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's Hydrogen Highway has been an admittedly difficult journey. However, CaFCP is showing there is a big payoff coming in the 2011 to 2015 time frame. California has five of the top ten most polluted cities in the US and nearly 40% of state-wide, daily pollution is produced by vehicle tail pipe emissions. Thus, ZERO tail pipe emissions from fuel cell vehicles has everyone's attention.
There is a long history of researching how to get hydrogen to produce electricity. Sir William Grove invented the first fuel cell in 1839. Grove knew that water could be split into hydrogen and oxygen by sending an electric current through it (a process called electrolysis). He hypothesized that by reversing the procedure you could produce electricity and water. He created a primitive fuel cell and called it a gas voltaic battery. After experimenting with his new invention, Grove proved his hypothesis. Fifty years later, scientists Ludwig Mond and Charles Langer coined the term “fuel cell” while attempting to build a practical model to produce electricity. For the past 28 years, the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) has been conducting research on hydrogen fuel cells for use in transportation, industry, and residential use.
Hydrogen is a gas, and is sold for vehicles by the kilogram. The higher the pressure hydrogen is stored, the smaller the physical size there is for an equivalent energy unit. The earlier hydrogen vehicle's storage tanks were pressurized to 350 BAR (5,000 PSI). The newest vehicles, like Toyota's <http://www.itexaminer.com/PCs/tabid/75/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/575/Default.aspxHYPERLINK 'http://www.itexaminer.com/PCs/tabid/75/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/575/Default.aspx' > FCHV-adv (a modified Highlander five passenger, four door, SUV) have hydrogen tanks operating at 700 BAR (10,000 PSI). International aircraft regulations have 700 BAR tanks for several of the gases they use onboard aircraft.
Ms. White explained that hydrogen is a domestic fuel source in every country. Hydrogen can power not only vehicles. It is a clean, quiet alternative to the traditional noisy, dirty diesel-powered, stand-by electric generator systems. Sierra Nevada, in Chico, California a beer bottler of excellent tasting products (just saw our editorial staff perk up) produces their own hydrogen as a by-product during their beer fermentation process. Instead of releasing this gas to the atmosphere, Sierra Nevada uses their hydrogen to power four electric generation units. This provides over 80% of Sierra Nevada's daily electrical needs, so they are mostly off the local electric grid and lowering their daily operating expenses.
Ms. White said there is a lot more to having a functional personal transportation system than just cars or trucks. Companies like Shell, BP, Air Products, and Linde are providing the infrastructure, and testing their prototypes for refueling vehicles. She pointed out that the Hydrogen Fueling System at CaFCP's West Sacramento campus is the second oldest hydrogen station for vehicles in the world.
Last week in Los Angeles near Interstate 405 Shell was charging $4.59 (USD) per gallon of 87 octane, regular gasoline. They also inaugurated a hydrogen fueling station. There is one pump with a bright blue 'Hydrogen' label above a video monitor that displays the fuel by the kilogram. At this location, Shell's hydrogen is made using a solar powered system stored in a tank above the dispenser. Chevrolet’s Project Driveway, General Motor's largest-ever market test of fuel cell-electric vehicles, using this hydrogen fuel. Public citizens and many southern California agencies will be evaluating Chevy’s fuel cell Equinox – a four-door, four-passenger SUV.
The goals of this hands-on testing are to understand the current state of technology, to get first-hand experience with infrastructure needs and challenges, and to have a better understanding of what is needed for large scale fleet applications.
Next month, Honda will add their FCX Clarity vehicles to the southern California program. Honda expects to lease out a few dozen units this year and about 200 units over three years. In California, a three year lease will run $600 (USD) a month, which includes maintenance and collision coverage. For the Clarity's release in California, Honda said it received 50,000 applications through its website, but considered only those living near hydrogen fuel stations in the southern California cities of Torrance, Santa Monica, and Irvine.
Everyone knows about the international high price for a barrel of oil and the resulting elevated cost for a gallon of gasoline and diesel. A quick fix often suggested by US politicians is drill for oil in northeast Alaska. If the US decided today to drill in the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), the resulting oil development would only slightly reduce America’s dependence on imports. In fact, if all that new ANWR oil were shipped directly to California and made into gasoline, it would only reduce daily consumption of gasoline by 48%. However, most of that ANWR oil would probably be sold to Japan and not shipped to the lower 48 states. US politicians rarely talk about the seven to ten year delay in accomplishing that difficult task of finding and shipping Alaska's new oil or anyplace else's new oil.
Last spring when most of the large scale economic studies were published about alternative fuels for vehicles, they thought they had projected properly future fuel prices. These studies were based on December 2006's projected pricing for mid-year 2008 of around $2.50 per gallon of gasoline and $2.75 for diesel.
Today, some places in California are paying $5.25 for gasoline and nearly $6.00 per gallon for diesel fuel. So much for crystal ball gazing analyst.
When you're staring at a public transportation bus getting four miles to the gallon of diesel, that instantly blows apart the budget for fuel costs. Plus, diesel particulate matter is a toxic air contaminant that can cause lung diseases like asthma and emphysema, along with various types of cancer.
Hydrogen-electric powered buses are being tested by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, San Mateo Transit District, and Palm Springs' SunLine Transit Agency in California. They are all running zero emission buses for commuters on some of their busiest transit routes.
These buses are getting eight miles to the kilogram of hydrogen. More importantly, these buses produce ZERO tailpipe particulate emissions and only a small amount of water and carbon dioxide. Since public transportation systems operate over a fixed route and on a fixed schedule, this significantly reduced having to randomly locate refueling infrastructure of the traditional diesel fuel pumps. The same would immediately be true of postal authority fleet vehicles and local delivery company trucks and vans.
A fuel cell is technically an electrochemical energy conversion device which does not produce emissions. A fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity. Vehicle fuel cells look like a giant box.
The other electrochemical device that we are all familiar with is the battery. A battery has all of its chemicals stored inside, and it converts those chemicals into electricity too. This means that a battery eventually goes dead and you either throw it away or recharge it. Fuel cells are continuous use device in contrast.
Inside a fuel cell are individual inserts known as Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) or stacks. These can be thought of much like the controller and memory cards inside your personal computer. CaFCP members are focusing on the Polymer Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC) designs. It consists of two gas-permeable electrodes that are separated by the Polymer Exchange Membrane (PEM). The stack (MEA) is less than one millimeter thick.
PEMFC design has a high power density and a relatively low operating temperature - ranging from 60 to 80 degrees Celsius (140 to 176 degrees Fahrenheit). The low operating temperature means that it doesn't take very long for the fuel cell to warm up and begin generating electricity.
On one side of the stack is the anode (an electrode through which negative electric current flows into a polarized electrical device). It is coated with hydrogen. On the other side of the stack is the cathode (an electrode through which positive electric current flows out of a polarized electrical device). It is exposed to oxygen or the surrounding air. Water acts as an electrolyte. Finely coated platinum in the electrodes acts as a catalyst for the reaction during which the hydrogen atoms split into electrons and protons. Protons pass quickly through the PEM from the anode to the cathode and the electrons are held back.
The result is an excess of negatively-charged particles on the anode and an excess positive charge on the cathode. The positive cathode side is the electric charge which is then stored in more traditional batteries like those used in today's Toyota Prius or Honda Civic Hybrid. Over 60% of the energy produced from hydrogen is transformed into electricity in the fuel cell. In reality, that is about one volt per stack of one millimeter width. Increasing stack efficiency is the next place research and development dollars are going. Similar attempts are being made to improve the efficiency of more traditional batteries.
Driving a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle is a lot like driving a gas-fueled car … except a lot quieter. A description of that ride will be in part two. X | |