Evaluating Fuel Cells at Work | Green Energy News

May 4, 2003 – Vol.8 No.6

EVALUATING FUEL CELLS AT WORK.

Long before hydrogen fuel cells will be found under the hood of the family vehicle they’ll be put to work in real-life applications where engineers can monitor their performance collecting data and making improvements that will help in their development.

DaimlerChrysler has delivered the first of three Citaro fuel-cell buses to the city of Madrid, Spain. With a total of 30 buses to be delivered for revenue service throughout Europe, DaimlerChrysler engineers will be able to evaluate the buses’ engineering, fueling infrastructure and well as passenger acceptance.

The Citaro 70-passenger bus has a range between refueling of 125 miles (200 kilometers) on hydrogen compressed to 5000 psi stored in tanks on the the bus’s roof. Top speed is about 50 mph (80 kph). A Ballard fuel cell powers the bus. Visit Ballard at http://www.ballard.com/ .

Though the companies aren’t specific about how many fuel cells will be involved in the initial testing, General Motors and Dow Chemical are saying that a soon-to-be-finalized transaction could lead to the installation of 500 GM fuel cells at a Dow plant in Freeport, Texas.

Hydrogen is co-product of production at the plant. The GM fuel cells of about 75 kilowatts output will tap into the hydrogen source to generate power to be used at the plant. Eventually if all 500 are installed up to 35 megawatts or about 2 percent used in all of Dow’s Texas Operations will be generated by the fuel cells and GM will be able to evaluate their performance.

GM needs to know how durable its fuel cells are over long periods as well as find ways to cut their cost. The company will use the project to test each fuel cell in 8000 hours of operation by 2010 or the equivalent of driving 175,000 miles. GM acknowledges that it must bring the cost of a 75 kilowatt fuel cell to $3 - 4000 to be competitive with with internal combustion engines. GM is not specific if that cost-figure includes fuel storage, electric drive and other components.

The initial test will begin later this year and run through 2005. Visit Dow at http://www.dow.com/ (click This Is Dow, Dow News and Information, Corporate News)