Fuel Cell Nation

Looking for New Consulting or Employment Opportunities

Thanks for your help!

Hello Everyone!

Thanks to all of you for following my blog. Rather than writing about some hot clean energy topic, this message is more personal. The time has come where I am looking for new opportunities and challenges in my professional life.

Since graduating from MIT with BS and MS degrees in Chemical Engineering Practice, my experience in the clean energy/green energy/alternative energy industry has been broad and deep. My energy work spans much of the hydrocarbon and electricity value chains, with biomass and nuclear work included. A sampling of my projects includes laboratory- and commercial-scale fluidized bed gasification of biomass, designing an economical cogeneration/district heating/district cooling system for a university hospital complex, computer modeling to automatically determine the minimum system weight of a hydrogen fuel cell-powered unmanned air vehicle (UAV) flying a two-week mission at a 70,000 foot altitude, and developing a water electrolyzer that will be capable of directly filling a fuel cell vehicle’s tank with 5,000 psig hydrogen. That's just the beginning. Ask for my resume for a complete overview.

I have also done a fair amount of pharmaceutical and biotech device development work. My pharmaceutical work involved aseptic fill and finish operations of a controlled-release human growth hormone formulation, while my device development work has included developing the cooling subsystem for a new portable human organ persufflation/transportation device, as well as a portable methanol-fueled infusion fluid warmer. It seems that even my bio-related work involves energy!

My commitment to and interest in the energy field is evident. My recent participation in MIT Sloan’s “Clean Energy Ventures: Creating Innovative New Businesses Through Entrepreneurial Management,” as part of their Executive Certificate program, is testament to that ongoing dedication to the field.

Please contact me by posting a comment below if you have (or know of) consulting or employment opportunities that jibe with my experience, would like to network, or to request a copy of my resume. A good overview of my experience and interests can also be found in my LinkedIn profile HERE. Or feel free to contact me through LinkedIn; be sure to request a connection so we can stay in touch.

This is an exciting and upbeat time for me as I seek out new opportunities for work challenges. Thanks for your help and consideration.

 

Hello Everyone!

 

Thanks to all of you for following my blog. Rather than writing about some hot clean energy topic, this message is more personal. The time has come where I am looking for new opportunities and challenges in my employment life.

My experience in the alternative energy/green energy/clean energy industry is broad and deep. My energy work spans much of the hydrocarbon and electricity value chains, with biomass and nuclear work included. A sampling of my projects includes laboratory- and commercial-scale fluidized bed gasification of biomass, designing economical cogeneration/district heating/district cooling systems for a university hospital complex, computer modeling to automatically determine the minimum system weight of a hydrogen fuel cell-powered unmanned air vehicle (UAV) flying a two-week mission at a 70,000 foot altitude, and developing a water electrolyzer that will be capable of directly filling a fuel cell vehicle’s tank with 5,000 psig hydrogen. That's just the beginning. Ask for my resume for a complete overview.

I have also done a fair amount of pharmaceutical and biotech device development work. My pharmaceutical work involved aseptic fill and finish operations of a controlled-release human growth hormone formulation, while my device development work has included developing the cooling subsystem for a new portable human organ persufflation/transportation device, as well as a portable methanol-fueled infusion fluid warmer. It seems that even my bio-related work involves energy!

My commitment to and interest in the energy field is evident. My recent participation in MIT Sloan’s “Clean Energy Ventures: Creating Innovative New Businesses Through Entrepreneurial Management,” as part of their Executive Certificate program, is testament to that ongoing dedication to the field.

 

http://sloanm.it/I568RU

Please contact me by posting a link on this post if you have (or know of) employment opportunities that jibe with my experience, would like to network, or to request a copy of my resume. A good overview of my experience and interests can also be found my LinkedIn profile HERE. Or feel free to contact me through LinkedIn; be sure to request a connection so we can stay in touch.

 

http://www.linkedin.com/in/keithdpatch

This is an exciting and upbeat time for me as new opportunities for work challenges open. Thanks for your help and consideration.

Electrolysis Suggestions for US DOE

In my recent blog post DOE Electrolysis Working Group Meeting, I described the Fall 2011 U.S. Department of Energy Fuel Cells Technology (FCT) Water Electrolysis Working Group Meeting. Industry, the National Renewable Energy Lab, and DOE participated. The aim of the Water Electrolysis Working Group, inaugurated in May 2007, is to bring industry, academia, and national laboratories together to overcome the technical barriers to commercializing electrolysis technology for the production of hydrogen for transportation and industrial use.

The Electrolysis Working Group has been tasked with helping to improve the Electrolysis sections of the current DOE Multi-Year Program Plan, which can be found at: DOE MYPP Hydrogen Production, 2011 Interim Update. The complete Interim MYPP/MYRDD can be found at: U.S. DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Program Multi-Year Research, Development and Demonstration Plan.

If you have any suggestions that you'd like me to forward to the Electrolysis Working Group, feel free to leave a comment on this post. If you'd prefer to not have your suggestion be visible as a comment, please ask, and I will only forward it privately to the DOE.

Renewable Energy Storage Webcast

There will be a Renewable Energy Storage Webcast on Friday, December 09, 2011 10:00 AM - 11:00 AM - EST on G+. It will involve a live discussion with Dr. Woodrow Clark (co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, along with his colleagues on the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), Matt Fronk (ex-General Motors), Henry Gnacke (ex-GM, current Board Member of Hydrogenics Corp.) and Dr. Byron McCormick (ex-GM).

They will discuss:

• Current demand and outlook for energy storage
• Hydrogen storage overview: technology and current economics
• Relative merits of hydrogen vs. other storage options
• Government policy and incentive programs

The announcement says:

"Utility scale energy storage will be crucial to the future success of renewable energy generation, yet the economics of energy storage remain to be proven. Hydrogen storage, which has made significant inroads in Europe, is now being explored as a cost effective technology in North America."

See you there!

New Toray Alternative

I got a phone call recently from Ballard Material Products Division about their new "drop-in" alternative to Toray's widely-used carbon fiber paper. The new gas diffusion layer (GDL) material comes in two different thicknesses: AvCarb® MGL190 (or MGL 190, 0.19 mm thick) and MGL370 (or MGL 370, 0.37 mm thick). It is claimed to be a drop-in replacement to Toray's GDL, except at a lower cost. An additional benefit is being U.S.-made, rather than an import, which helps provide domestic content on U.S. Government projects. (Full Disclosure: Ballard has teamed with my employer Giner Electrochemical Systems, LLC. on a U.S. DOE-funded research program to develop modeling of transport phenomena in H₂/Air PEM fuel cells.)

Ballard Material Products Division was previously owned by Textron. The Ottawa Business Journal reported in 2001 that Ballard buys Textron unit for $12.8M US. Ballard announced that the deal included 66 patents issued and pending worldwide, covering 14 innovations. Since that time Ballard has not moved the Material Products Division to British Columbia, but allowed it to remain in Lowell, MA.

A Ballard/Toray comparison (left) shows the AvCarb^® material at the same thickness, bulk density, and porosity as the Toray material. In addition, the AvCarb^® has improved electrical resistivity, incresead flexural strength, tensile strength, and flexural modulus. A sample of both the MGL190 and MGL370 are in-transit to Giner, and will be tested in the coming weeks. We will likely test it for fuel cell, electrolyzer, and possibly other electrochemical applications.

I have not been able to find any information on AvCarb^® MGL190 or MGL370 on the Web, so I guess you saw it here first!

DOE Electrolysis Working Group Meeting

I'm back from the Fall 2011 U.S. DOE Fuel Cells Technology (FCT) Water Electrolysis Working Group Meeting. Industry, the National Renewable Energy Lab, and DOE participated. The aim of the Water Electrolysis Working Group, inaugurated in May 2007, is to bring industry, academia, and national laboratories together to overcome the technical barriers to commercializing electrolysis technology for the production of hydrogen for transportation and industrial use.

In this 2-day meeting, the biggest news we were presented with were the changes in DOE's assumptions that have gone into updating Version 2.1.3 of the H2A (which stands for Hydrogen Analysis) program to get the all-new new H2A Version 3. (H2A is an Excel spreadsheet that is intended to allow the economics of various advanced hydrogen technologies to be fairly compared, through use of consistent, reasonable assumptions.) The big news on H2A is how with the switch from 5,000 psig to 10,000 psig hydrogen, compression, storage, and dispensing (CSD) costs have markedly increased. What was previously $1.82/GGE (gallon of gasoline equivalent) for 5,000 psig CSD is now $3.23/GGE for 10,000 psig! This significant increase in CSD costs is making it difficult for all hydrogen production pathways to match the energy cost of gasoline. A recommendation of the Working Group was to investigate the economic benefit of electrolytically generating hydrogen at a significant pressure, thereby potentially decreasing the corresponding CSD costs, and reducing the delivered cost of hydrogen.

I was able to find public versions of the Interim U.S. DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Program Multi-Year Research, Development and Demonstration Plan that were presented at the meeting:

• DOE MYPP Hydrogen Production, 2011 Interim Update
• DOE MYPP Hydrogen Storage, 2011 Interim Update 

As a footnote for the plan, the DOE says:

This document is currently being updated. The existing document on the Web shows the previous name of the Program within the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) ­ the Hydrogen, Fuel Cells and Infrastructure Technologies Program. The Program's name was changed to the Fuel Cell Technologies Program in 2009. Furthermore, the DOE-wide program formerly known as the DOE Hydrogen Program (which integrates hydrogen and fuel cell activities in the Offices of EERE, Science, Fossil Energy, and Nuclear Energy) has also been changed, to the DOE Hydrogen and Fuel Cells Program. 

Whew! That's a mouthful!

Hydrogen and Professional Bicycling

During my recent TV viewing of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, I had a good look at the jerseys of the Garmin-Cervélo team. (Full Disclosure: I own a Cervélo R3 that I love!) I noticed that one of the sponsors was Tata! Tata, in the form of Tata International's Tata Consultancy Services. I believe that this is the first time a company with a fuel cell tie-in has sponsored a professional bike team! (Tata also sponsored the Cervélo Test Team in 2010 before it was combined with Garmin's team.)

Tata's involvement in fuel cells is two-fold:

In the November 22, 2007 Times of India article Tata-ISRO team up to launch hydrogen-powered vehicle, we learn that Tata teamed with the Indian Space Research Organisation on a pilot project to see whether hydrogen can be used to fuel automobiles. Unfortunately, this project apparently got canceled, because I can't find any subsequent announcements by either Tata or ISRO of a hydrogen-powered demonstration vehicle.

October 07, 2010, in Sun Catalytix Corporation completes $9.5-million Series B funding round, Tata announced that it lead the latest round of Sun's funding. Sun Catalytix is a startup spun out from the MIT research lab of Professor Daniel Nocera, commercializing novel electrolyzer technology. In January, 2010, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) selected Sun Catalytix as one of only 37 recipients from over 3600 applicants for ARPA-E's first-round of funding for transformational energy technologies.

Among their conglomerate's activities, Tata also manufactures bicycles and components.

I wonder when the first company specializing in renewable energy will sponsor a pro sports team?

Electrolysis Explosions in California

By LA Fire Department Photo

On August 9, 2011, an apparent hydrogen/oxygen explosion occurred at the alternative energy firm Rainbow of Hope in the Sylmar section of Los Angeles. Timothy A. Larson, 42, an L.A. firefighter who was on disability leave due to an existing injury, was one of the two inventors critically injured in the blast, as they were thrown into an alley by the force of the explosion. Larson apparently lost an arm an a leg in the blast. In the hospital, William A. Stehl, 68, was induced into a coma with extensive shrapnel wounds in his face.

This latest accident occurred 14 months after Larson's brother (28-year-old Tyson Larson) was killed in a June, 2010 explosion at Realm Industries, in Simi Valley, their father's predecessor alternative fuel business. In 2008, there was an explosion at Realm Industries when it was located in a different building. The 2008 blast was smaller, and there were no serious injuries.

The father, Timothy A. Larson, was among the numerous investors in a New York company formed in 2001 by Stehl, (photo at left by the Adirondack Daily Enterprise) who was indicted in 2010 in New York on charges of bilking more than 300 investors out of $7 million. Stehl claimed he developed an economical process to create energy from water, and allegedly promised his investors guaranteed returns. When the business, BGX Technologies (formerly known as Rainbow Technologies), went under, Timothy A. Larson bought its equipment and had it shipped to California so he could set up Realm Industries with his sons.

Somehow Stehl (and Tyson Larson) got a patent issued for this "technology":

U.S. Patent 7,793,621, Alternative Fuel Engine.

Neither this patent, nor the predecessor patent application, mentions "Brown's Gas" (or "HHO Gas"), which is actually what they were producing. In brief, Brown's gas is produced by simultaneously capturing the two product gases of water electrolysis, hydrogen and oxygen, in a single, unstable product stream. They instead claim they were "modifying the bond angles of water." The slightest spark (or an errant piece of catalyst) will cause an explosion in the product gas mixture, as the hydrogen and oxygen violently recombine back into water. I have no idea why anybody would willingly produce such an unstable gas mixture, and especially why they might try to store it. It seems that Cal/OSHA believes that Stehl and the Larsons were trying to compress and store their hydrogen/oxygen gas mixture at pressure in a pair of 8-foot diameter pressure vessels! Of course, a pressurized hydrogen/oxygen mixture has even more explosive energy than an atmospheric pressure hydrogen/oxygen gas mixture.

One final note: notice how the name of one of Stehl's companies, "BGX", seems to be an acronym for "Brown's Gas"?

Improved Membrane Water Transport

Robert Moore and Louis Madsen's groups at Virgina Tech claim to have done something quite interesting: increase the diffusivity of water in DuPont's Nafion^TM, the 50-year old membrane that is at the core of much current hydrogen fuel cell and electrolyzer work!

How did they do this? By stretching the Nafion^TM, using a draw ratio of up to 4:1.

Apparently, their data show that the water-conducting channels within the membrane become aligned during the stretching process. (See Figure 4 below.) In Figure 4.a, random water channels exist in the as-received membrane. In Figure 4.b, there is some alignment in the draw direction (blue arrow). Finally, in the at a 4:1 draw ratio shown in Figure 4.c, there is significant water channel alignment. Similar to nematic liquid crystals, the stretching does not change the water channel alignment or connectivity; this leads to anisotropic water transport.

Li et al Figure 4

The anisotropic nature of the water transport behavior is evident in the following Figure 2:

Li et al Figure 2

In the left figure, Figure 2.a, you can see how the diffusivity of water in the draw, or X direction (D_xx) is markedly higher than the diffusivity in the transverse directions (D_yy and D_zz). This relationship holds for all draw ratios tested, between 1:1 (as-received membrane) and 4:1.

Their data in Figure 2.a have been arithmetically averaged and plotted in Figure 2.b. This figure shows that the average water diffusivity curves for all the drawn membranes collapse to match that of the isotropic, as-received membrane.

What are the practical applications of this? Well, it may be possible to align membrane water passageways in the through-plane direction through the use of electric or magnetic field alignment methods used on liquid crystals, liquid crystal polymers and block copolymers. The resultant aligned membrane would have increased through-plane water (and proton) transport, resulting in improved PEM device (e.g. fuel cell) operation.

The complete paper is available at:

Jing Li, Jong Keun Park, Robert B. Moore & Louis A. Madsen; "Linear coupling of alignment with transport in a polymer electrolyte membrane," Nature Materials | Letter, 10(7):507-11; Jun 19, 2011.

US DOE Electrolyzer Webinar Presentations

DOE has finally posted the slide presentations and audio from the May 23, 2011 Webinar titled "Hydrogen Production by PEM Electrolysis—Spotlight on Giner and Proton."

 

Overview presentation slides, Eric Miller, U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

 

Monjid Hamdan's presentation slides, Giner Electrochemical Systems, LLC.

 

Katherine Ayers' presentation slides, Proton Energy Systems.

 

And (please excuse the audio) the webinar recording: (WMV 94 MB).

Hydrogen in Massachusetts

Everybody knows about the major hydrogen/fuel cell goings on in California. And many people know of the millions of dollars that the state of Connecticut is putting into fuel cells. However, Massachusetts has some hydrogen/fuel cell organizations as well!

The Northeast Electrochemical Energy Storage Cluster is a network of commercial, academic and government members striving to accelerate the development and implementation of hydrogen production and fuel cell technologies.

The Massachusetts Hydrogen Coalition, Inc. is a non-profit that is expanding hydrogen, fuel cell and related industries in Massachusetts by increasing resource availability, expanding visibility, and creating marketing and partnering opportunities.

The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center is the first state agency in the nation dedicated solely to facilitating the development of the clean energy industry. Besides hydrogen and fuel cells, they support solar, wind, and other green energy technologies.

Now we just need surcharges on energy utility company bills (like California's and Connecticut's) that get used to promote renewable hydrogen and fuel cells!