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Microcap & Penny Stocks : DCH Technologies (DCH) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Dan B. who wrote (1871)	7/21/1999 4:06:00 PM
From: Scoobah	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 2513

The Signal, LA newspaper carried the press release from yesterday, and added quotes from DCH President, David Walker, the-signal.com Power to the people By Leon Worden, Signal Business Editor Wednesday, July 21, 1999 Hydrogen fuel cells designed in Valencia could provide power to homes in the Pacific Northwest one day, if everything tests out right. Northwest Power Systems of Bend, Ore., announced Monday that it has purchased a 3-kilowatt fuel cell system from DCH Technology, Inc. of Valencia. The system incorporates Northwest Power's patented fuel processor, which generates pure hydrogen that a fuel cell, such as the one manufactured by DCH, needs to produce electricity. Northwest Power has a $3.5 million contract with the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) to provide 110 fuel cell units over the next four years. BPA is a federal power marketing agency within the U.S. Dept. of Energy that supplies about half the power to Oregon, Washington, Idaho and western Montana. According to Alan Guggenheim, president of Northwest Power, “This purchase from DCH Technology is strategic to the integration of our proprietary fuel processor with fuel cells from as many different manufacturers as possible. Our objective is to test approximately 25 small-scale, experimental prototype fuel cell systems the next 12 months, and more than 150 the next three years.” DCH is in the business of marketing hydrogen-based technologies developed by national laboratories such as Los Alamos and Sandia, and while the company is perhaps better known for manufacturing hydrogen leak detectors, DCH was recently chosen by the Dept. of Energy to take the lead in a study to determine the feasibility of using hydrogen power on naval vessels. Company president David Walker said the fuel cell used in the system purchased by Northwest Power is a modified form of a proton-exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell developed by energy department scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The principle is the same, in that electrons are stripped from hydrogen and sent through a circuit to produce electricity. But unlike smaller PEM fuel cells, which generate about 1 kilowatt of electricity, the cell purchased by Northwest Power uses reformed methanol or propane to produce 3 kilowatts of power. “It's still very clean energy,” Walker said. For Northwest Power, DCH personnel in the Valencia Industrial Center will manufacture the electronic controls, cooling system and other hardware, which will be integrated with the fuel cell at DCH's plant in Wisconsin. DCH is on track to sell more fuel cell systems to Northwest Power if the first one “meets the quality criteria,” Walker said. So far only one competitor, De Nora, S.p.A. of Milan, Italy, is providing similar fuel cells to Northwest Power, Walker said. Hydrogen fuel cells are not new— they were invented in 1839 and used to power the Gemini and Apollo spacecraft— but they were not practical for many applications until the last few years, when scientists at Los Alamos developed lighter, less expensive versions. DCH holds a cooperative research agreement and an exclusive license agreement with Los Alamos to develop and market the “air-breathing proton-exchange membrane fuel cell.” HOW IT WORKS: Hydrogen is supplied to the anode, where it breaks apart into protons and electrons. The electrode conducts protons but not electrons. The protons flow throught the electrode while the electrons travel through the external circuit and provide electrical power. The electrons and protons are reunited at the cathode and combine with oxygen from the air to produce water. Comments? Tell It to The Signal! Home \| Classifieds \| Tell It \| Circulation \| Advertising \| About Us ©1999 The Signal. All rights reserved. Reprint or other use by permission only. Direct questions and problems to the webmaster. Last modified Wednesday, July 21, 1999 at 10:02:35 AM. URI: the-signal.com More Editorial Links... Home Page Tell It Breaking News Columnists Signal Archive Special Reports Submit Your PR Request Reprint Editorial Staff