Congressman David Wu joined Oregon clean energy leaders to discuss the benefits that locally produced combined heat and power fuel cells are providing to our region's economy.

Hillsboro's Ronler Acres Fire Station is using a fuel cell manufactured less than a half mile away by ClearEdge Power to simultaneously reduce carbon emissions and operating costs, saving taxpayers money and helping protect our environment.

"Oregon is once again leading the way toward a more sustainable future," said Wu. "The next-generation design of fuel cell technology recently installed at Hillsboro's fire station replaces an older fuel cell unit, keeping our first responders on the front lines of clean energy users."

The fire station expects to use both the heat and electricity from the fuel cell, reducing the station's carbon emissions by 12 tons per year. In addition, operating costs will be lower due to the high 90 percent energy efficiency of the unit.

"The newest high-efficiency fuel cells show how this technology has evolved," said John Rinier, Hillsboro fire marshal. "In addition to providing power to our fire station, the fuel cell will also provide heat. This energy source is another example of Hillsboro's commitment to finding more sustainable ways of doing business."

Both generations of fuel cells were produced by ClearEdge Power, a local economic success story that has expanded in the past three years, increasing the number of Oregon jobs from 15 in 2007 to more than 120 today.

"ClearEdge Power is proud to offer a viable, long-term component for the green energy value system," said Russell Ford, President and CEO of ClearEdge Power. "The launch of our ClearEdge5 high-efficiency fuel cell offers locally generated heat and power at the point of use, and our market entry is creating local jobs in Oregon, California, and across our supply chain."

Wu has introduced legislation that would help additional people reap the benefits of fuel cell technology and create local jobs by more fairly applying clean energy tax credits now available for other energy sources like wind and solar. The bipartisan Fuel Cell Tax Parity Act, HR 3660, fixes the U.S. tax code so that it treats both residential and commercial uses of fuel cells equally.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act raised the tax credit cap on commercially deployed fuel cell units to $1,500 per 0.5 kilowatt (kW) of capacity, but it left the residential cap at $500 per 0.5 kilowatt (kW) of capacity. This means that any families who want to install a fuel cell at their homes get one-third the tax credit of businesses that use this technology.

By making residential fuel cells eligible for a tax credit worth $1,500 per 0.5 kilowatt (kW) of capacity, Wu's legislation would level the playing field between residential and commercial uses, while helping close the gap between fuel cells and other clean energy technologies.

"Fuel cells can provide families with both heat and power from a clean, efficient energy source," said Wu. "My legislation will help expand the use of this cutting-edge technology, in turn creating more jobs in our community."

"Through Congressman Wu's proposed federal legislation, Americans would benefit from fair tax treatment for residential fuel cell use, similar to the tax credits currently available to solar customers," said Ford. "This would positively impact our communities now and into the future."

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) helped make it financially viable for the Hillsboro fire station to implement this new clean energy technology.

"As the Pacific Northwest's largest electricity supplier, BPA supports developing new technologies to help meet the region's growing demand for energy with clean, cost-effective power," said BPA Acting Deputy Administrator Allen Burns.

"BPA is proud to support ClearEdge Power's innovative work on fuel cells, and we believe this technology also could help address climate change issues and enhance energy independence."

The fire station expects to use both the heat and electricity from the fuel cell, reducing the station's carbon emissions by 12 tons per year. In addition, operating costs will be lower due to the high 90 percent energy efficiency of the unit.

"The newest high-efficiency fuel cells show how this technology has evolved," said John Rinier, Hillsboro fire marshal. "In addition to providing power to our fire station, the fuel cell will also provide heat. This energy source is another example of Hillsboro's commitment to finding more sustainable ways of doing business."

Both generations of fuel cells were produced by ClearEdge Power, a local economic success story that has expanded in the past three years, increasing the number of Oregon jobs from 15 in 2007 to more than 120 today.

"ClearEdge Power is proud to offer a viable, long-term component for the green energy value system," said Russell Ford, President and CEO of ClearEdge Power. "The launch of our ClearEdge5 high-efficiency fuel cell offers locally generated heat and power at the point of use, and our market entry is creating local jobs in Oregon, California, and across our supply chain."

Wu has introduced legislation that would help additional people reap the benefits of fuel cell technology and create local jobs by more fairly applying clean energy tax credits now available for other energy sources like wind and solar. The bipartisan Fuel Cell Tax Parity Act, HR 3660, fixes the U.S. tax code so that it treats both residential and commercial uses of fuel cells equally.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act raised the tax credit cap on commercially deployed fuel cell units to $1,500 per 0.5 kilowatt (kW) of capacity, but it left the residential cap at $500 per 0.5 kilowatt (kW) of capacity. This means that any families who want to install a fuel cell at their homes get one-third the tax credit of businesses that use this technology.

By making residential fuel cells eligible for a tax credit worth $1,500 per 0.5 kilowatt (kW) of capacity, Wu's legislation would level the playing field between residential and commercial uses, while helping close the gap between fuel cells and other clean energy technologies.

"Fuel cells can provide families with both heat and power from a clean, efficient energy source," said Wu. "My legislation will help expand the use of this cutting-edge technology, in turn creating more jobs in our community."

"Through Congressman Wu's proposed federal legislation, Americans would benefit from fair tax treatment for residential fuel cell use, similar to the tax credits currently available to solar customers," said Ford. "This would positively impact our communities now and into the future."

The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) helped make it financially viable for the Hillsboro fire station to implement this new clean energy technology.

"As the Pacific Northwest's largest electricity supplier, BPA supports developing new technologies to help meet the region's growing demand for energy with clean, cost-effective power," said BPA Acting Deputy Administrator Allen Burns.

"BPA is proud to support ClearEdge Power's innovative work on fuel cells, and we believe this technology also could help address climate change issues and enhance energy independence."

Sequoia Capital-backed Oorja Protonics may be making methanol fuel cells to charge batteries in forklifts — but its new product, the OorjaPac Model 1, could give it a big-time entree into the plug-in vehicle market. Supplying 50 times more power to on-board batteries than competing fuel cells, the Model 1 could extend the range of electric vehicles like General Motors’ Chevy Volt or Nissan’s Leaf by two to three times — a game-changing development that could make green cars much hotter sellers.

“Until now, our revenue has come from industrial applications like forklifts and warehouse fleets, but we’re now edging close to the automotive market,” Oorja CEO Sanjiv Malhotra told VentureBeat. “At best, battery-powered vehicles have a range of 100 to 150 miles — this could take it to 2x or 3x.”

With one of consumers’ biggest objections to EVs being their limited driving ranges, this could completely change the way people think about buying greener cars. No longer would they only be suited only for short commutes. Oorja’s new product could make it possible to take a road trip from the Bay Area to LA without needing to plug in and recharge once.

The Model 1 methanol cell delivers 4.5 kilowatts of power at an operating cost of $0.18 per kilowatt-hour, making it cost competitive with other automotive power solutions, including the pricey lithium-ion battery packs used in most EVs today. The methanol cell can’t power vehicles by itself — rather it keeps batteries charged so that they are never fully depleted or overheated. This saves maintenance and replacement costs and can double the overall life of battery packs, Malhotra said.

“Because we are reducing the size of the average power pack by half, and increasing the life of a battery two times, the cost of the overall power package could be 15 to 20 percent lower than usual,” Malhotra said. “If you look at operating costs, including maintenance and charging, it could be 30 to 35 percent lower.” To be clear, he is comparing systems consisting of a methanol fuel cell and battery pack to systems consisting of just a regular battery pack alone.

The new OorjaPac is essentially an 11-gallon fuel tank full of methanol — a widely available source of fuel produced from natural gas, landfill gases and biomass waste. When the tank is nearing empty, it can be filled up just like a regular gas tank within minutes. This could spell trouble for companies working on the question of EV fueling infrastructure. Who needs highway charging or battery-switching stations (read: Coulomb Technologies or Better Place), if batteries can be drawing a charge from a fuel cell even as you keep driving?

When asked why none of its competitors have caught on to Oorja’s advanced technology, Malhotra credits the two years the Fremont, Calif., company sunk into research on methanol systems. He said the increase in power has to do with proprietary changes to the proton exchange membrane contained in the unit. He wouldn’t reveal more. The startup, founded in 2005, emerged from stealth mode in 2008 with the launch of its first, less powerful OorjaPac, which is readily available on the market today.

Oorja will not jump directly into the EV market with both feet. First, it will try to get its new technology integrated into long-haul trucks, particularly trucking fleets. It may target companies like the U.S. Postal Service, Malhotra mentioned. After that, it will eye opportunities to get its methanol fuel cells into plug-in sedans and sports cars, as they pick up momentum this year and next.

The company already has a deal with Nissan that allows the automaker to use the methanol fuel cells to charge batteries in its forklifts and other warehouse-based equipment.

Oorja has raised $21.5 million to date from Sequoia Capital, DAG Ventures, Artis Capital Management, McKenna Management, Northshore Partners and Spring Ventures.

Industrial gas supplier Airgas Inc of Radnor and hydrogen fuel cell maker Nuvera Fuel Cells Inc of Billerica and Milan, Italy have struck a deal involving systems for forklifts.

Airgas and Nuvera reached a five-year marketing, sales and service agreement to provide hydrogen generators and stations to the North American materials handling market.

Under the agreement, Nuvera manufactures the PowerTap-brand systems, and Airgas provides distribution, installation, monitoring and maintenance of the equipment along with backup hydrogen supplies at customer sites.

The sustainable technology lowers carbon dioxide emissions and eliminates "more costly, resource-intense battery installations and disposal", says Peter McCausland, Airgas chairman and chief executive officer. "By combining Nuvera’s technology and manufacturing expertise with Airgas’ nationwide distribution capability, we’re able to provide the lowest total cost energy solution for these customers."

A goal for Nuvera is to boost commercialisation of its products. "With this new distribution and service channel for our PowerTap systems and source for backup hydrogen, the materials handling market has a reliable, cost-effective and reputable source of hydrogen," notes Roberto Cordaro, Nuvera CEO.

The agreement was announced on 17 August.

Publicly traded Airgas employs more than 14,000 people in 1,100 branches, retail stores, gas-fill plants, specialty gas labs and production facilities. Among Airgas competitors are Air Products and Chemicals Inc of Allentown, Pennsylvania and L’Air Liquide SA of Paris.

Among its project2, Nuvera is supplying 14 fuel cell systems to HE Butt Grocery Co for installation on Class 2 reach forklifts in a Texas perishables distribution center (Forkliftaction.com News #415). In February, Nuvera disengaged from a four-year fuel cell project with East Penn Manufacturing Co Inc of Lyon Station, Pennsylvania, and each firm indicated an intention to pursue the market from different perspectives, Nuvera in electrochemical fuel cells and East Penn in hybrid fuel cell technology (Forkliftaction.com News #397). Among others, privately owned Nuvera competes with the GenDrive fuel cell system from Plug Power Inc of Latham, New York.

"Fuel Cells: The New Generation of Green Power"

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The Defense Department is stepping up efforts to provide warfighters with reliable, long-lasting and low-weight portable power.

Specifically, the military is working with companies to integrate fuel-cell technology into mobile and off-grid power applications. Fuel cells would complement conventional batteries or eventually replace them.

The Air Force Special Operations Command is evaluating technology from SFC Smart Fuel Cell to reduce the battery weight special forces carry into the field and eventually power unmanned aerial vehicles.

Meanwhile, the Army is working with UltraCell to develop fuel-cell systems for mobile applications and increase the performance of equipment that must operate at high altitudes and temperatures.

A fuel cell directly transforms chemical energy into electrical energy with no intermediate steps or moving parts and no significant loss of energy, said Peter Podesser, chief executive officer of SFC.

The company designed its Jenny fuel cell for use by special forces. It can be worn or connected to devices to power remote applications. A warfighter carries it along with small fuel cartridges that contain certified ultra-pure methanol. The system can power devices such as night-vision equipment, Global Positioning System devices, radio systems and rugged laptop PCs.

The Jenny 600S connects to a secondary battery and monitors its voltage continually. When necessary, it automatically turns on to recharge the battery. Once the battery is recharged, the Jenny reverts to silent standby mode.

SFC said the Jenny weighs a little more than 2 pounds and can reduce the weight a soldier must carry by as much as 80 percent compared to traditional batteries.

“What we are trying to bring to our users is a lightweight, low-emission energy source,” Podesser said. “The biggest advantage of our system kicks in [when] working as a hybrid together with batteries, reducing the weight for a 72-hour mission by 70 to 80 percent compared to a mere battery solution.”

That type of weight reduction is one reason the Air Force Special Operations Command is interested in the technology, said Lt. Mark Roosz, who works on fuel-cell technology at the Air Force Research Laboratory.

The service’s special operations forces work with the other military branches’ special forces units to coordinate air strikes on hostile targets. For that purpose, they carry computers, range finders, radios and satellite communications equipment — a host of electronic devices that the typical ground soldier does not have, Roosz said.

“We identify fuel cells as a way to mitigate the amount of weight we have to carry,” he said. The Air Force is testing Jenny in simulated battlefield exercises, and so far it has performed well, he added.

However, the technology must be more reliable before it can be used in an operational environment, Roosz said. “Fuel cells are becoming a mature technology. However, they are not at the reliability level that compares with batteries, where 99.5 percent of the time you get that power,” he added.

“We have matured our platforms in civilian markets, like leisure and industrial applications,” Podesser said. The company is working with DOD on ruggedization and temperature range requirements.

SFC is getting valuable feedback from the tests, he added. Two of the company’s portable fuel-cell systems won first and third places last year in DOD’s wearable power competition, Podesser said. In both systems, the hybrid battery was still fully charged, with substantial amounts of fuel left in the cartridge, at the end of the 96-hour test, he added.

The Air Force is not limiting fuel cells to ground applications but is also testing the technology on the service’s UAVs, which have typically run on batteries, Roosz said. By using fuel-cell technology, the Air Force has been able to demonstrate big advances over traditional batteries in UAVs, he added.

Fuel cells can be used with or directly mounted on military vehicles as a charging unit in the field, Podesser said. The systems can silently generate power, unlike typical generators that can be detected by their noise or temperature signals, he added.

Meanwhile, the Army has entered into two contracts with UltraCell that involve developing and producing fuel-cell systems based on the company’s XX25 reformed methanol fuel cell technology.

UltraCell officials said they will develop 30 fuel-cell systems for the Army’s Agile Integration Demo and Experimentation, part of the Army's Research, Development and Engineering Command.

The systems will provide higher energy density, a longer operating life, increased performance at higher altitudes and a greater threshold for maximum ambient temperature than previous portable power solutions, they said. Soldiers will field-test the units for about three months, with the contract extending through March 2010.

Additionally, UltraCell is working with the Army’s Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center to build fuel-cell systems capable of delivering more than 50 watts of continuous power for a 72-hour off-grid mission. The contract with CERDEC will extend through March 2010.

The systems will be capable of recharging batteries in the field and powering portable electronic equipment such as radio and satellite communications devices, remote and mobile surveillance systems, and laptop PCs. UltraCell will initially build five units for use by ground forces in the Army and Air Force, company officials said.

By Rutrell Yasin

Hydrogen-powered vehicles have zero harmful emissions; producing little emissions beyond water. In Brazil and around the world, fuel cell buses are having a renaissance.

Sau Paulo's motto has been "I am not led, I lead," so perhaps it is appropriate that the city will be receiving the first of several clean buses. The first bus will be driving through the streets of Sau Paulo, covering the ABD Metropolitan Corridor, between Sao Mateus and Jabaquara.

The bus uses an interesting hybrid system, combining hydrogen fuel cells with batteries, resulting in even higher efficiency. The batteries, for example, could be used to capture energy generated during stoplights, while the fuel cells (generating 68 kW) are designed specifically for automotive use.

Brazil also happens to be the world's largest bus market, producing more than 50,000 units a year. Sao Paulo also has the biggest bus fleet in the world, making motor vehicle emissions a threat to air quality.

The program means more than just a few buses coordinated between Brazilian transportation and energy agencies and funded by several global groups, including the United Nations Program for Development. International funding was due to the transit project being selected according to the country's emerging economy, which buses performing the vital task of ferrying commuters around the metropolitan area.

Some areas in Brazil have been heavily polluted-- Cubutao, one of the worst areas and once surrounded by mudslides caused by acid rain. 90 percent of air pollutants can be traced back to motor vehicles, especially with the use of diesel in most mass urban transportation.

The original Brazilian goal was four hydrogen buses by June 2010, after two months of testing earlier this month. Daimler has also continued work on the Mercedes Benz fuel cell bus.

New fuel cell buses are finding their way into a number of markets, in Canada and California, for example. The Hydrogen Bus Alliance was formed by several European countries, representing over 12,000 buses, and are working towards commercial viability, which they predict in the 2010 to 2015 time frame.

Brazilian legislation is making strides to correct local environmental issues and is now attacking one of the dominant contributors to pollution. At the same time, hydrogen is beginning to get some attention, though it does seem to come in waves.

By Zaher Karp - Matter Network

Please be aware that the deadline to submit Proposal Briefs for NineSigma RFP# 65073, "Managing Hydrogen Gas and Battery Leaks" is Tuesday, July 28, 2009. Please let me know if you are interested in responding but cannot provide a proposal brief by this date. This reminder does not represent a complete description of the project. A full description can be found on the RFP and associated documents, accessible online at https://www.myninesigma.com/sites/public/_layouts/RFPs/NineSigma_RFP_65073.pdf

NineSigma, representing Procter & Gamble, invites proposals for technology enablers to eliminate leakage caused by hydrogen gas buildup in primary alkaline batteries.

The successful technology will:
•Prevent leakage of primary alkaline batteries
•Reduce the quantity of hydrogen gas produced or retained in the battery cell by at least 75% compared to standard designs (which can accommodate up to 10 ml of gas
•Enable zero leakage in a 2-4 week abuse test consisting of exposure to elevated levels of temperature and humidity
•Have no negative impact on performance
•Be implemented at low cost and high speed
○Less than $0.01 / cell
○Volumes of 500,000,000 / year
•Be minimal in size (take up no more than 0.13 ml in a AA-size cell and no more that 0.03 ml in a AAA-size cell)
•Allow batteries to maintain current IEC dimensional standards (i.e. AA, AAA…)

Leakage have been engineered of nylon or polypropylene, both of which are compatible with the concentrated alkaline electrolyte. Polypropylene is inexpensive, easily molded, and hydrophobic, but has widely varied physical properties. Nylon has better quality characteristics and higher strength, but is more expensive, hydrophilic, and subject to environmental stress corrosion. Polypropylene has higher gas permeability than nylon, but the rate is too low to relieve the pressure buildup that can occur under abusive conditions.

•A membrane to vent the gas could be implemented as a stand-alone component like the current seal member, or as a piece attached to another component. Any vent technologies should self-seal after gas release, and if a vent operates continuously, it should permeate hydrogen gas at least 100-fold faster than water vapor under equivalent pressure gradients.

•A target could be the interface between the sealing gasket and the other parts of the battery such as the walls of the casing and the current collecting “nail”, which offer pathways for electrolyte escape. New sealants or surface treatments could be envisioned.

•Chemical means could be used to prevent the gas from forming in the first place or to recombine it with other materials in the cell.

POSSIBLE APPROACHES
•Chemical engineering
•Materials engineering
•Surface science
•Membrane separation technology
•Seal improvements
•Gas recombination or venting

APPROACHES NOT OF INTEREST
•Noble metals
•Reductions in the internal volume of active ingredients
•Changes of the active ingredients

If you are interested in submitting a proposal or would like more information, please contact me. When you submit a proposal, please use the response template downloaded from the link below:
(https://www.myninesigma.com/sites/public/_layouts/ProposalTemplates/Response_Template_65073.doc).

To edit your profile and indicate only the categories of Requests you are interested in, register online at https://www.myninesigma.com/

Endeavour’s Dave Wolf and the ISS’s Tim Kopra ventured outside the Shuttle/Station complex on Saturday and completed the first of five EVAs (spacewalks) scheduled for the STS-127 mission.  Meanwhile, the Mission Management Team (MMT) continues to monitor the Potassium Hydroxide (KOH) levels and operating temperature of Fuel Cell 3 on Endeavour as the docked portion of the Orbiter’s mission begins.

EVA-1:

Wolf (EV-1) and Kopra (EV-2) were preparing the Japanese Exposed Facility (JEF) for unberth from Endeavour’s Payload Bay and attachment to the Japanese Experiment Module (JEM) “Kibo.”

Following the planned order of EVA tasks, Wolf and Kopra, after egressing from the Station’s Quest airlock, translated (moved) to the end of the JEM where they prepared the Active Berthing Mechanism for the installation of the JEF during the latter stages of the spacewalk.

During this procedure, Wolf and Kopra jettisoned the cover of the Active Berthing Mechanism into space.  Pre-mission trajectory calculations indicate that the release of this cover (and five others throughout EVAs 1-3) will not violate the “200m Keep-Out-Sphere” around the Station as mandated by the ISS Jettison Policy.

Furthermore, the jettison of these covers will not interfere or impinge upon Shuttle operations following Endeavour’s undocking from the Station late in the mission (or earlier should contingency requirements mandate).

Following the jettison of this Multilayer Insulation cover from Berthing Mechanism, Wolf and Kopra removed the grounding tab around the JEM Remote Manipulator System (RMS) before moving to Endeavour’s Payload Bay to reconfigure the JEF and the LTA on the Integrated Cargo Carrier-Vertical Light-weight Deployable payload.

After their work in Endeavour’s Payload Bay was completed, Wolf and Kopra then relocated themselves to the Node-2 (Harmony) module of the ISS where they reconfigured a CBCS flap on the zenith side of the module.  This was followed by a reconfiguration of a Crew and Equipment Translation Aid (CETA) cart on the truss of the Space Station.

In the meantime, astronauts inside the ISS and Endeavour worked with the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS) and the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System (SRMS) – more commonly known as the Station and Shuttle robot arms – to unberth the JEF from Endeavour’s Payload Bay and install the facility onto the JEM.

To accomplish this task, the SSRMS first grappled the JEF and pull it out of Endeavour’s Payload Bay.  Then, the JEF was handed off to the Shuttle RMS while the Station RMS was relocated to the Node-2 (Harmony) Mobile Base System.

Following this relocation, the JEF was handed back to the Station RMS.  Then, the robotics officer at the SSRMS working Station in the Destiny Science Lab of the ISS maneuvered the SSRMS with the JEF to the installation point on the JEM and gently guided the JEF to its permanent location on the exterior of the Station.

After final alignments were confirmed, the JEF was then berthed to the JEM and docking latches secured to ensure a proper attachment of the JEF to the JEM.

The list of get-ahead tasks for EVA-1 included: P3 truss Mobile Transporter stop stow, Ammonia Tank Assembly bolt release, Z1 truss tool box tool retrieval, Node-1 (Unity) Post CBCS flap reconfiguration, P3 truss Nadir UCCAS deployment, and/or S3 Zenith Outboard Payload Attachment System deployment.

The UCCAS (Unpressurized Cargo Carrier Attachment Systems) reconfiguring was a success, thanks to a special detent tool that designed for allowing the freeing of a hinge that had proved troublesome during STS-119.

Finally, following the completion of EVA-1 and the ingress of Wolf and Kopra into the Quest airlock, the 2B power channel on the Port truss of the ISS will be deactivated in preparation for the P6 truss batteries removal and replacement activity later in the mission.

Furthermore, as has been seen on the previous two Station missions, Endeavour’s spacewalking astronauts used the new style gloves during all five EVAs, as outlined in the STS-127 Flight Readiness Review (FRR) EVA documentation, available on L2.

These gloves were previously used on STS-126 in November 2008 and on STS-119 in March of this year with no issues discovered during post-flight inspections.

The new gloves were introduced for all Station spacewalks following several instances of cut or damaged gloves on Shuttle/Station missions in 2006 and 2007.

Fuel Cell 3:

As Endeavour’s 23rd mission continues without any major issues, ground engineers have determined that the Orbiter’s cryo margins for her Fuel Cells are 22-hours above the baselined 16+0+2 day mission without the use of SSPTS (Station to Shuttle Power Transfer System) and 44-hours above the 16+0+2 day baseline with the use of SSPTS.

However, while any and all positive cryo margin is welcome, this is not the main area of concentration for the MMT (Mission Management Team) regarding Endeavour’s Fuel Cells.

In fact, the MMT is keeping a close eye on Fuel Cell-3 (FC-3) – specifically the KOH values in that Fuel Cell.

According FD-2 (Flight Day 2) MMT briefing materials – available for download on L2 – “Pre-launch tests conducted to verify FC-3 KOH values remain within operation limits when FC-3 is loaded at an expected on-orbit SSPTS lower power level.”

These tests indicated that FC-3 could be operated at the lower power level without causing “cell flooding.”

However, as Mike Moses, chairman of the pre-launch MMT at the Kennedy Space Center, explained during a pre-launch interview on Wednesday, “At the pad, water was cycled through the Fuel Cell to verify that we could transfer for drinking water.  If we don’t drain the water, it’ll build up.  Too much water would let the electrolyte compound (KOH) into Fuel Cell and end up drying out the Fuel Cell” which would render it inoperative.

Furthermore, Moses explained that “We can’t monitor the exact KOH concentration on orbit, but we can on the ground.  When we run the SSPTS system on orbit, it takes off a lot of the load from the Fuel Cells.  That means we don’t dry the fuel cells out enough and the temperatures in the Fuel Cells increase.

“If we can’t drain the Fuel Cells, then we can’t take as much power from the SSPTS and we lose some mission duration.”

Currently, the MER (Mission Evaluation Room) is processing – and working to approve – a request from EGIL (Electrical, General Instrumentation, and Lighting Engineer) to operate FC-3 below the 29 percent KOH limit set by the Combined Environmental Test document rules.

As of now, FC-3 is functioning as expected and Endeavour’s mission is proceeding as planned with Endeavour drawing power from the Space Station’s solar arrays and batteries.

Nevertheless, the Fuel Cells are a vital component of the Orbiter as they provide all the electrical energy necessary to operate the vehicle.  As such, Flight Rules state that all three Fuel Cells have to be operating properly for a Shuttle mission to continue as planned. 

Should, for whatever reason, FC-3 become inoperative, Endeavour’s crew would be forced into a Minimum Duration Flight situation – accomplishing only the Crit I objectives of the mission before undocking from the Station and landing on the first available opportunity in the United States.

L2 members: Documentation – from which the above article has quoted snippets – is available in full in the related L2 sections, now over 4000 gbs in size.

July 18th, 2009 by Chris Gebhardt

Swedish automaker Volvo, through its subsidiary Volvo Technology Transfer, is to receive a total of SEK200 million (US$25m) from the Swedish Energy Agency and two international investors. The joint funding will be in the PEM fuel cell developer PowerCell Sweden AB, based in Gothenburg. PowerCell is developing auxiliary power units utilising PEM fuel cells, for use in trucks.