Hydrogen Burner Technology, Inc. (HBT) and their subsidiary Phoenix Fuel Cell Systems (PFCS) appear to have drawn a lot of attention lately, but especially from the military and the DOE. Check out this recent release:
"Development of a Diesel Fuel Cell Truck - Phase I
Principal Investigator: J. M. Norbeck
Sponsor: U.S. Army Tank-automotive & Armaments Command
Amount: $1,700,000
Period: 7/98 - 9/99
To simplify logistics, all Army ground and air vehicles in combat areas use one fuel, a heavy diesel/jet fuel. The Army has a strong interest, however, in the use of fuel cells for future ground vehicles because of their quiet, cool operation and high efficiency. Most fuel cells need pure hydrogen to operate effectively, and it is difficult to derive hydrogen from diesel fuel. In this project, CE-CERT is working with Hydrogen Burner Technology Inc. and ISE Research to convert a heavy-duty tractor-trailer “SuperBus” rig to electric drive and outfit it with a fuel reformer capable of producing usable hydrogen from diesel fuel. SunLine Services Group and SunLine Transit are providing the vehicle and will test it in transit service. Georgetown University is providing technical analysis and support, and College of the Desert will develop training programs for eventual technician support of advanced-technology vehicles in the field. A hydrogen-burning engine will be used in Phase I to turn a generator to power the electric drive system. In Phase II, a fuel cell will be substituted."
HBT's patented 'underoxidized burner' (UOB) reformer technology is intriguing in that it's able to successfully reform natural gas into syngas and nitrogen using air, not oxygen. This syngas can then be fed into a Fischer Tropsch (FT) reactor to make clean diesel or other products (and thus the tie-in with Rentech (RNTK), an emerging company who may become the major player in the future gas-to-liquids (GTL) marketplace) or fed to fuel cells via a water-shift reactor to increase the hydrogen yield. Very cutting edge stuff...
Two other natural gas reformer technologies which may tremendously impact upon future fuel cell technology in the future are plasma arc reformers being tested by Thermal Conversion Corp. and Rentech again, interestingly enough, and electroceramic membrane technology (Electropox) being studied by BP/Amoco and a consortium of others (if interested, check out the "Membrane Magic" article here: bpamoco.com
Where does this all leave Ballard? Well, from what I've heard....reading their press clippings and tolerating attitude problems at the front desk while others come up with ways to make this whole thing work with the existing infrastructure in place. Go figure.....
Bradpalm1 |
