|
 |
PRESS RELEASES
FUEL CELL MEMBRANE SHOOTOUT SHOWCASES HYDROCARBON SUPERIORITY
PolyFuel Takes on Nafion 117 at Fuel Cell Seminar Demo
SAN ANTONIO,
TEXAS – November 1, 2004 – PolyFuel, Inc.,
a world leader in engineered membranes for fuel cells, is
running a real-time shootout between one of its revolutionary,
hydrocarbon-based direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) membranes,
and DuPont’s Nafion 117, at the Fuel Cell Seminar here
through November 4. Utilizing absolutely identical test setups
that differ only in the membrane, PolyFuel is running demonstrations
continuously over the four-day period. In addition, PolyFuel
is showcasing publicly for the first time its recently-announced
hydrogen membrane for automotive fuel cell applications in
a functioning fuel cell test station.
The DMFC comparison - which includes continuously-updated
cumulative results - shows that PolyFuel’s hydrocarbon
DMFC membrane has substantially improved performance when
compared to the fluorocarbon-based Nafion membrane. In addition,
the hydrogen demonstration gives observers a first look at
an automotive-focused membrane that operates stably at 95°C
and 50% air-relative humidity, while simultaneously producing
“best of breed” power levels - a performance
combination that has never been achieved before with other
materials.
Fuel cell membranes, which resemble ordinary plastic wrap,
are the critical component that permits electricity to be
generated directly from hydrogen or hydrogen-rich fuel sources
in cells that can power anything from cellular telephones
to laptop computers to automobiles. Direct methanol fuel cells,
which utilize readily-available methyl alcohol as fuel, are
expected to offer a long-run time alternative to batteries
for mobile electronics applications. Such cells, and their
small, exchangeable fuel cartridges, will snap into such devices
much as batteries do today. Hydrogen-based fuel cells are
believed by many to be the best long-term power solution for
motor vehicles as fossil fuels become less available, and
as environmental and political concerns escalate.
“The performance of a fuel cell membrane determines
whether or not the cell will be practical in any given application,”
says Dr. Robert F. Savinell, dean of engineering at Case Western
Reserve University and George S. Dively, professor of engineering.
“PolyFuel has achieved a combination of performance
characteristics that are impressive, and the benefits of their
groundbreaking work will be readily apparent in their demonstration
at the Seminar.”
Fuel cell membranes - technically “proton exchange
membranes” - use a catalyst coating such as platinum
to coax electrons away from their companion protons in hydrogen
atoms in the fuel. The membrane permits the protons to cross
through it - the exchange - but the electrons
cannot. Instead, they flow out the terminal of the fuel cell,
through the load to do work, and then back into the opposite
side to recombine with protons and oxygen to make water. Water,
heat, and in the case of DMFC, carbon dioxide, are the only
by-products of this reaction.
What has proven problematic for fuel cell designers is that
existing membranes, particularly the most commonly-available
perfluorinated or fluorocarbon membranes such as Nafion have
several severe limitations.
For example, existing DMFC membranes essentially “leak”.
The methanol fuel on one side of the membrane crosses over
to the airside of the fuel cell, where it creates troublesome
excess heat and water. This increases fuel consumption significantly.
With higher concentrations of methanol – desirable from
a fuel efficiency and runtime perspective – the crossover
is even worse. In addition, existing DMFC membranes require
significant amounts of water to achieve good performance,
diluting the concentration of the fuel, which increases the
size of the fuel cell and reduces overall energy density.
Existing hydrogen membranes, for their part, suffer from operating
range and life limitations. Today, for example, they operate
comfortably only within a narrow temperature range of 0°C to
80°C, not low enough to be able to start a car in wintertime,
and not high enough to be able to reach full power in summertime.
As well, today’s fluorocarbon membranes require high
levels of humidification (typically 80% relative humidity
[RH] or above), which increases engine size and complexity.
Each of these factors makes the material problematic in automotive
applications, preventing the fuel cell vehicle from being
competitive with today’s internal combustion engine
vehicles. In addition, fluorocarbon membranes are structurally
weak, limiting the in-service lifetime of today’s fuel
cell engines to well below the automotive requirement of 5000
hours.
PolyFuel’s Membranes and the DMFC Membrane Shootout
PolyFuel is the world’s first pure-play membrane company
with the technology to directly engineer membranes to end-user
requirements. Some time ago, its scientists and engineers
concluded that fluorocarbon-based membranes would never achieve
the cost or performance figures sufficient to yield small,
lightweight, and inexpensive fuel cells that could significantly
outperform the batteries they were intended to replace, nor
live up to the stringent operating requirements that are characteristic
of automotive applications.
Instead, the company engineered several new families of membranes
based upon hydrocarbon polymers, which PolyFuel has found
to be intrinsically cheaper, stronger, and better performing
than their fluorocarbon cousins. Two breakthroughs have resulted
from this pioneering work - the PolyFuel DMFC membrane,
and the new PolyFuel hydrocarbon membrane technology for automotive
hydrogen fuel cells, recently announced (see “PolyFuel
Announces Breakthrough Technology Advance for Automotive Fuel
Cells,” http://www.polyfuel.com/pressroom/press_pr_100504
.html, October 4, 2004.)
In the shootout, which PolyFuel calls the “DMFC Challenge
Demo,” the PolyFuel hydrocarbon DMFC membrane and the
Nafion 117 membrane have been built into otherwise identical
“brassboard” test setups. The test setups permit
observers to easily monitor fuel consumption as well as gross
and net power, and wastewater production in real time, during
the 20-minute demonstration. In addition, PolyFuel is continuously
updating the cumulative results over the 4-day show. Operating
conditions for the two setups - including output current,
air, and fuel concentrations - are identical, as well.
A few feet away, a single cell test setup is demonstrating
a working hydrogen fuel cell with the new PolyFuel hydrogen
membrane.
Unprecedented Results
Seminar attendees will observe that the PolyFuel DMFC membrane
produces 15% more net electrical output than Nafion 117 while
consuming 25% less fuel, and does this producing 55-60% less
waste water, with 30% less heat, and consuming 55-60% less
water. Based upon 110 cc of methanol fuel (about 3.7 US fluid
ounces), a laptop computer using an average of 15 Watts could
be expected to run eight hours, 35% longer than with the Nafion
fluorocarbon membrane.
In regards to the hydrogen membrane, attendees will see stable
production of power at “best of breed” levels,
with the cell operating at 95°C and 50% air RH.
Jim Balcom, president and CEO of PolyFuel puts both the quantitative
results of the shootout, and additional benefits of PolyFuel’s
hydrocarbon membranes, in perspective. “DMFC manufacturers
will be able to use a 1/3 smaller stack, with 1/3 less membrane
and 1/3 less catalyst,” he said. “Additionally,
the water recovery requirement, the heat exchange requirement,
and the air supply can all be smaller and less complex. And
finally, a higher concentration of fuel, and a smaller fuel
cartridge, can be used.” These results combine, Balcom
stated, to yield portable fuel cell systems that are smaller,
lighter, less costly, more robust, quieter, and particularly
important - have longer run times - than previous
approaches.
“On the automotive side,” he added, “the
outstanding performance of our hydrogen membrane technology
will allow fuel cell vehicle designers to more easily engineer
fuel cell engines that meet the stringent requirements for
motor vehicle applications.”
PolyFuel’s DMFC membranes are being marketed to portable
fuel cell manufacturers worldwide. Balcom reports that virtually
every leading fuel cell OEM is testing PolyFuel’s DMFC
membrane, and are reporting exceptional results. In addition,
he said, interest in PolyFuel’s new hydrogen membrane
by automotive fuel cell vehicle manufacturers is strong.
The Fuel Cell Seminar (www.fuelcellseminar.com) is being held
on November 1-4, 2004 at the Henry Gonzalez Convention Center,
San Antonio, Texas, and attracts over 2,500 attendees.
About PolyFuel
PolyFuel is a world leader in engineered membranes that provide
breakthrough performance in fuel cells for portable electronic
and automotive applications. The state of the art of fuel
cells is essentially that of the membrane, and PolyFuel’s
leading-edge, hydrocarbon-based membranes enable a new generation
of fuel cells that for the first time can deliver on the long-awaited
promise of clean, long-running, and cost-effective portable
power, based upon renewable energy sources.
PolyFuel’s unmatched capability to rapidly translate
the system-level requirements of fuel cell designers and manufacturers
into engineered polymer nano-architectures has led to its
introduction of best-in-class hydrocarbon membranes for both
portable direct methanol fuel cells and for automotive hydrogen
fuel cells. Such capability – based on PolyFuel’s
over 150 combined years of fuel cell experience, world-class
polymer nano-architects, and a fundamental patent position
covering more than 15 different inventions – also makes
PolyFuel an essential development partner and supplier to
any company seeking to advance the state of the art in fuel
cells. Polymer electrolyte fuel cells built with PolyFuel
membranes can be smaller, lighter, longer-running, more efficient,
less expensive and more robust than those made with other
membrane materials.
PolyFuel was spun out of SRI International (formerly Stanford
Research Institute) in 1999, after 14 years of applied membrane
research. The company is based in Mountain View, California,
and is privately held. Investors include Mayfield, Ventures
West, CDP Capital – Private Equity, Technology Partners,
Intel Capital, Chrysalix Energy, Conduit Ventures, KTB Ventures,
Hotung Venture Partners, Yasuda Enterprise Development, and
BiNEXT, a part of the Daesung Group.
|
