Another major breakthrough for hydrogen,
biz.yahoo.com
Northwest Power Systems Develops Diesel
Fuel Processor
BEND, Ore., July 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Northwest Power Systems
(NPS), under contract to Sandia National Laboratories, a prime
contractor to the U.S.
Department of Energy, announced today that it successfully tested a
new fuel processor that
converts diesel into high-purity hydrogen. Without need for further
purification, the hydrogen
was fed to a proton-exchange-membrane (PEM) fuel cell that
produced electricity.
NPS developed the diesel fuel processor for use in fuel cell
systems that can generate electricity
for use in homes, schools and businesses in remotely located
villages of Alaska. The technology
breakthrough enhances NPS's prospects for rapid
commercialization of fuel cells for both
stationary and portable applications, worldwide.
Northwest Power previously demonstrated a kerosene fuel
processor for Arctic applications.
Both the diesel and kerosene fuel processors will be automated
and tested this fall with fuel
cells that NPS purchases from independent manufacturers.
''Our longer-term objective is to complete all field testing of a
series of fully-integrated fuel cell
systems for residential applications in rural Alaska in the year
2000,'' said Guggenheim. ''Diesel
is a bonus for us and Sandia because of the widespread
distribution of this fuel in Alaska and
elsewhere.''
The successful diesel fuel processor demonstration culminated a
week-long effort in which the
Company produced hydrogen from kerosene, bio-diesel, petroleum
diesel and a proprietary
nonflammable liquid feedstock in a single fuel processor. The fuel
processor is a proprietary
design that incorporates hydrogen purification as part of the fuel
processor. The product
hydrogen from all four of the test fuels was greater than 99.8%
pure with less than one part per
million (ppm) of carbon monoxide and less than one ppm of
carbon dioxide. These contaminants
can poison a PEM fuel cell irreversibly. No further purification of
the product hydrogen is
necessary with Northwest Power's fuel processor before passing it
into any conventional PEM
fuel cell stack.
NPS already has developed a fuel processor that converts
methanol to hydrogen. The Company
is developing ethanol, propane and, most recently, natural gas,
models that provide needed
hydrogen for PEM fuel cell systems. PEM fuel cells run quietly
with no combustion cycle and no
moving parts.
Founded in 1996, Northwest Power Systems is a subsidiary of
IDACORP Technologies, Inc.,
Boise, Idaho.
SOURCE: Northwest Power Systems
Steve O
copower.com |
