Bring on the future ... At Global Thermoelectric Inc. in Calgary they are ramping up quickly to become the world’s foremost commercial manufacturer of solid oxide fuel cells.
By Richard Bronstein: Business in Calgary report
I toured Global Thermoelectric’s fuel cell
plant in 32,000 square feet of leased premises in southeast Calgary around
the same time that energy prices were jumping for Alberta homeowners and
they were having trouble keeping the lights on in California. We all know that
no more rivers are going to be dammed in North America to produce power
and the public is never going to accept nuclear energy. With the exception of
natural gas, we seem to be running out of energy options, so how are we going
to provide the power and heat that contribute to our superior quality of life?
The answer may well be fuel cells. When people think about fuel cells they
mostly think about Ballard Power Systems, the Vancouver firm which has long
been a favourite of the investment community because of its breakthrough
technology. It appears the Ballard system is going to achieve some success in
the automotive market.
What Global Thermoelectric does is totally different. Ballard uses what is
called the “proton exchange membrane” system. This uses water in the fuel cell
membrane, which allows it to operate at a relatively cool 80?C. The Ballard
system also requires a pure hydrogen source. So when Ballard proponents
boast about the zero-emissions of their fuel cell, they are only partly right – the
emissions are made somewhere else in the burning of natural gas to produce
hydrogen.
Global Thermoelectric uses a different technology altogether and this isn’t so
much a battle about which fuel cell technology is best. They are both good and
they will both find a place in the market.
Global Thermoelectric’s Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) uses a flat ceramic
membrane. Each ceramic fuel cell can generate approximately 50 watts. By
stacking these small ceramic panels in a single unit, you can increase the
amount of power. Global’s cells operate at between 600?C and 750?C (close
to what your home furnace operates at) giving the system two primary
advantages: by producing both heat and power, SOFC systems are ideal for
homes and buildings; and the higher operating temperatures allow SOFC’s to
efficiently use easily available hydrocarbon fuels such as natural gas. (For a
good discussion of how fuel cells actually work, refer to Global
Thermoelectric’s web site at www.globalte.com. For independent information
about the environmental aspects of fuel cell technology, reference the Pembina
Institute web site at www.pembina.org.)
Global Thermoelectric got into the fuel cell business in 1997. The company
was originally established in 1975 to manufacture thermoelectric generators.
These units, which are fueled by natural gas or LPG, use heat to produce
electricity and are ideal for remote installations and Global says it has captured
95 per cent of the world market in this category. In the early 1990s, Global
started developing diesel-fired heaters for the re-circulation and heating of air
in armored military vehicles, cargo bays in trucks and other mobile structures.
In 1998 the company announced an $18 million contract to supply 4,000 of
these heaters to the U.S. Army.
Global’s expansion into fuel cells came in 1997 when it signed a technology
transfer agreement with the German research institute, Forschungszentrum
Juelich, which had been working on this project for seven years. Global took
what the German’s had produced in the laboratory and with the help of the
Alberta Research Council, produced a new working SOFC prototype. Part of
the solution involves proprietary materials Global uses on the actual ceramic
fuel cell. When the company president, Jim Perry, was escorting the Business
in Calgary photographer and myself around the plant, he was polite but firm in
his instance that we stay well clear of that one part of the new facility.
Jim Perry is an interesting story in his own right. After graduating from the
University of British Columbia as a mining engineer, he went into the oil patch.
On his resumé you can find positions such as president of Schlumberger
Canada, Computalog, Petro Trade and even a stint with the
government-backed Alberta Venture Fund. His experience is broad,
encompassing technical, financial, marketing and management skills. Perry’s
singular challenge today is to take Global’s SOFC developmental project and
turn it into an assembly line product for the mass market.
Global calls it the Pilot Production Plant and it was put together at a cost of $7
million, on time and on budget. Up until now the company has been able to
produce approximately 50 cells a day in its custom lab. By the summer of this
year, the pilot plant is expected to produce about 250 cells a day, although the
plant has an ultimate capacity of 1,000 cells a day.
Global’s fuel cell division started out the year 2000 with some 20 employees.
That grew to about 70 by mid year and 120 at the start of this year. The
company has also leased another 47,000 square feet of space adjacent to the
pilot plant to accommodate additional fuel cell laboratories, research offices
and the firm’s corporate offices.
Global Thermoelectric has built a solid reputation for innovation and quality
engineering for 25 years. It is also prudently managed. It ended fiscal year
2000 with $24 million in cash and short term investments, while seeing its
revenues climb to almost $27.3 million compared to $13.6 million at year end
1999.
On July 31 last year, Global and Enbridge Inc. – one of the largest natural gas
distribution companies in North America – signed a strategic agreement worth
an announced $25 million for Global. In August, 2000, Global completed a
$100 million bought deal in the equities market.
Also significant is that in 1999 Global sold $1.3 million worth of fuel cell stacks
to Delphi Automotive Systems, the world’s largest manufacturer of automotive
parts. Delphi is developing a gasoline-fueled auxiliary power unit for the
automotive industry. Tests by both Global and Delphi showed the cell stacks
performed well.
Global President and CEO Jim Perry says all the extensive testing done by the
company and selected clients show that its SOFC technology is efficient and
reliable.
“We know we have good core technology,” says Perry. “We have two main
objectives in the pilot plant; to increase the power and drop the operating
temperature down a bit.”
When they are able to achieve those goals, Global will have the most powerful
system in the world. And the world, concerned with cost and availability of
energy, and environmental impacts, appears ready to embrace fuel cell
technology.
The concept of fuel cells was invented in 1839, but they were never really
used until they proved their value to the U.S. space program. But interest in
fuel cells has greatly increased in response to improvements to fuel cell
technology, concerns over greenhouse gas emissions, deregulation of
electricity markets, and the growing public neuroses over the cost and
reliability of “the grid,” the system we are all linked to.
Global’s pilot plant represents the first commercial production of fuel cells in
Canada and this group of engineers and technicians in southeast Calgary know
they are on the leading edge of a possibly huge revolution. Everything that has
happened to date shows they are on the right track.
The key to going the next step is the alliance with Enbridge Inc. Among other
interests, Enbridge sells natural gas to the Ontario market.
“Enbridge has 1.2 million customers in Ontario,” says Perry. “Both our
companies believe that in the not too distant future there is enormous potential
in the mass consumer market.”
For example, 3.2 million furnaces are sold each year in North America; all of
that is a potential market for SOFC, but the system costs still have to be
worked down. Because of its higher energy costs, Europe may reach mass
market satus quicker than North America.
In the immediate term, Global and Enbridge, along with other firms will
continue testing SOFC units for off-grid remote power and home cogeneration
applications. Higher-powered SOFC units will be manufactured and
connected to the power grid for further testing.
Perry thinks that long before a commercial, affordable fuel cells power your
automobile, SOFCs could well be running our homes. Global has proven the
technology and improvements in the process should give SOFCs cost and
efficiency advantages over other products. In any situation where both heat
and electricity are wanted, the SOFC system appears to be a superior
product.
“The marketplace is looking for innovation,” says Perry.
And Global’s got it.
businessincalgary.com ... cool pictures of part of the plant.
SAE Automotive Engineer (excerpts from a lengthy report) ... Fuel cells start to look real ... by Steve Ashley
(pg.2) Though there are several types of fuel cells that use different fuels and
materials, one version - the proton exchange membrane (PEM) variety - has
emerged as the clear favorite for automotive use. Another type, the solid oxide
fuel cell (SOFC), is seen as the dark-horse alternate. Another fuel-cell
technology called an alkaline/air cell is being developed, though its prospects
are considered more speculative. The biggest difference between the SOFC
and PEM technologies is their operating temperatures. While PEM cells run at
80°C (176°F), SOFC units function at anywhere from 700 to 1000°C (1290 to
1830°F). Another difference is the membrane, which is a polymer in the PEM
and a ceramic in the SOFC.
Many engineers believe that SOFCs, together with an onboard gasoline fuel
processor or reformer, would be highly suited as auxiliary power units (APUs)
for cars and trucks in the relatively near term. Engineers have long desired to
rid automobiles of the alternator and its notoriously low efficiency. And as
vehicles are crammed with more and more electronic equipment and move
toward higher electrical loads, a larger burden will be placed on the alternator.
An auxiliary power unit based on SOFC technology could provide an ideal
alternative. A research alliance including BMW, Renault, and Delphi Automotive
Systems is pursuing this fuel-cell application.
(pg.3) Fueling and infrastructure issues
A fundamental problem with fuel-cell technology is fuel selection and storage -
supplying enough hydrogen to the stacks is still a struggle. All three of the
principal fuels that carmakers are considering - hydrogen, methanol, and
gasoline - pose serious challenges. Though using hydrogen gas is the
approach favored by environmentalists because it is the cleanest, the elemental
gas takes up significant space. With "direct hydrogen" fueling, vehicles carry
pressure vessels filled with this highly flammable gas. Hydrogen can also be
stored as a liquid, but it must be kept at cryogenic temperatures, adding
weight, complexity, and even greater safety issues than compressed hydrogen
techniques.
Either way, hydrogen fueling presents problems for engineers. The two most
promising alternatives at the moment appear to be miniature onboard chemical
factories called reformers (or fuel cells themselves) that extract hydrogen from
methanol, gasoline, or other hydrocarbon fuel. Unfortunately, a reformer adds
more weight and technical complexity to a car, while in-situ reforming
technology is still far off. What's more, "reformed" hydrogen is not as pure a
fuel as fuel cells would like to use, and isn't likely to deliver the same
performance as uncontaminated hydrogen gas.
Experts indicate that the choice will likely come down to a question of the
fueling distribution infrastructure, which is going to entail a tremendous cost
burden no matter how it's accomplished. "I don't think that the fuel stack is
going to be the limiting factor; the real pacing item is the fuel infrastructure,"
said McCormick. Christian Mohrdieck, Fuel-cell Vehicles Program Manager at
DaimlerChrysler's Liberty and Technical Affairs, agreed. "The main issue with
fuel cells is not the fuel cell, but the fuels themselves," he said.
sae.org ... complete report very interesting
general comments ...
So did a funny thing happen on the way to the reformer, it turns out to be a GLE fuel cell, no wonder they get very little coverage they did the job for tens of thousands not billions like someothers ... in the report from Calgary GLE's comments ...
Global President and CEO Jim Perry says all the extensive testing done by the
company and selected clients show that its SOFC technology is efficient and
reliable ...
In the immediate term, Global and Enbridge, along with other firms will
continue testing SOFC units for off-grid remote power and home cogeneration
applications. Higher-powered SOFC units will be manufactured and
connected to the power grid for further testing. ...
Who are the selected clients, and other firms ... c'mon spill the beans GLE your sahreholders are falling asleep, eh ! |
