DaimlerChrysler Fuel Cell Subsidiary and Shell Develop Multi-Fuel
Processor Technology
The technology to turn gasoline into hydrogen for powering environmentally
friendly fuel cells has been successfully developed and tested in a
collaborative research project.
During an 18 month research co-operation, Xcellis GmbH, a subsidiary of
DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE: DCX), and Shell Hydrogen developed and tested the
technology. The compact 50 kilowatt multi-fuel system performed under stationary
and dynamic operating test conditions at the Xcellsis laboratories in Nabern,
Germany. With continued development, such systems could enable fuel cell
vehicles to use gasoline.
Xcellsis is a new name for the former dbb Fuel Cell Engines, GmbH. When formed
in 1997, dbb stood for Daimler-Benz and Ballard Power Systems, the Canadian fuel
cell company. The company outgrew its name as Ford Motor Company joined the
partnership and Daimler-Benz merged with Chrysler. The ownership structure of
Xcellsis is 51.5 percent DaimlerChrysler, 26.7 percent Ballard and 21.8 percent
Ford.
"We are very pleased with the speed of results in this research project," said
Prof. Dr. Ferdinand Panik, Xcellsis managing director and head of
DaimlerChrysler's fuel cell project. "This is a good example for the versatility
of fuel cell technology. Due to the expense of multi-fuel technology, we will
continue to work on a methanol reformer as our first priority, as this is the
most advanced technology today. But we will also monitor development of
multi-fuel reformers."
The development of this power plant in just over a year was due to a combination
of DaimlerChrysler and Xcellsis' expertise in designing fuel processors and
complete fuel cell systems along with Shell's proprietary Catalytic Partial
Oxidation (CPO) technology. The main aim of the project was the development of a
completely new compact and integrated gasoline reformer as the central part of
the fuel processor.
"We have shown that the concept of gasoline powered fuel cell vehicles is
viable", said Don Huberts, Chief Executive Officer of Shell Hydrogen. "We will
continue to develop this exciting technology, which holds great promise for
enabling fuel cell vehicles to rapidly enter the market, while using the
existing fuels infrastructure and filling stations." With these results, the
joint research project will be completed Feb. 28 and each organization can
pursue commercial applications for the technology.
Shell and DaimlerChrysler continue to work together in the California Fuel Cell
Partnership, a government/industry partnership to demonstrate fuel cell vehicles
under real-world conditions. The two companies also participate in the "Iceland
Project," a consortium of companies and the Iceland government working to
convert Iceland from a fossil-fuel based infrastructure to hydrogen fuel. |
