Future-oriented Fuel Cells - Opportunities in the UAV Market

Fuel cells are an energy source that has been used for years but have never been mainstreamed. Although it is a green, clean energy source, the only by-product of power generation is water, but it requires hydrogen supply at all times. Establishing a network of hydrogen refueling stations for hydrogen-fueled electric vehicles is a worldwide challenge. Other technologies have also been used to provide fuel cells to data centers and even unmanned aircraft.

Toyota has been the most powerful advocate for hydrogen fuel cells in automobiles and it was adopted in the Mirai model launched in 2016. The use of fuel cells makes Mirai's cruising range more than 500 kilometers, while traditional battery-powered cars have a range of only 300 kilometers. Mirai relies on fuel cells to generate voltages up to 650V to extract hydrogen from a pressurized fuel tank, but Mirai's commercial applications are affected due to a lack of supporting infrastructure. In March of this year, Japan became the first country to have a network of more than 100 hydrogen refueling stations that could provide fuel for these hydrogen fuel cell vehicles. As early as 2017, Honda and GM announced a joint venture plan to develop and produce fuel cells. A subsidiary of German automaker Daimler has also been developing this technology for automotive and other applications including data centers.
In terms of basic principles, the fuel cell consists of a laminated proton exchange membrane (also known as a polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM)) that uses platinum catalysts to combine hydrogen with oxygen to release energy, but not Harmful emissions associated with gasoline or diesel engines. Over the past two decades, many companies, especially bus manufacturers, where the lower cost of hydrogen fuel can have more significant significance, have been developing fuel cell technology. As more and more buses are converted to electric propulsion, the use of fuel cells will become more feasible, or they will be used together, and eventually even completely replace the batteries. Here's an example. Ballard Power Systems is providing California's Calstart with its 30kW FCveloCity-MD fuel cell module for use in UPS trucks in Greater Los Angeles to reduce air pollution. Fuel cells have also been used as a range extender to allow 1,500 UPS electric vehicles to spend more time on the road in the next five years.



The United Kingdom is also adopting the same approach through the Office of Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), which has started a £23 million budget for the Hydrogen Transport Programme with the aim of developing fuel cell technology and expanding the network of hydrogen refueling stations. The first stage is to provide up to 9 million pounds of investment and complete the construction of 7 such hydrogen refueling stations in 2018/19 to support fuel cell vehicles and trucks. The second phase will provide up to 14 million pounds of funds for the construction of more hydrogen stations. These figures highlight the cost of the infrastructure needed to build a hydrogen refuelling station. As part of this project, Liverpool's ULEMCo has developed a 12kW fuel cell module that can be integrated into Nissan's electric vehicles to extend its range. The system is located on the top of the Nissan e-NV200 car, so it does not reduce the loading space and the power module on the roof connects the fuel cell to the battery. For a 1.6kg/day hydrogenation capacity, 150 miles can be provided to double the cruising range of a standard e-NV200 car.

Nuvera of the United States is using Ballard's PEM stack to increase the cruising range of trucks/buses. The company is working with BAE Systems, which is mainly engaged in the design of hybrid propulsion systems that integrate fuel cells and batteries, to roughly double the fuel economy of buses operating on direct compressed natural gas (CNG).

Drone market opportunities

Fuel cells can also be used to provide UAVs that are inspected by offshore platforms with longer range travel, providing high quality aerial photography, accurate agricultural data, and package delivery. Intelligent Energy has developed a lighter weight fuel cell that can achieve three times the typical flying time of a battery-based drone and has the added advantage of adding fuel faster. U.S. drone operator PINC is using it as part of an inventory robotics technology product that enables real-time inventory tracking in the air. PINC aerial drones allow companies to use drone technology in conjunction with RFID sensors and cameras to check inventory, while fuel cells can provide longer working hours and thus increase productivity.

Possibility of data center market

Fuel cells are also used for energy management in data centers. As early as 2012, Apple began using this technology to help power a data center in California. Now, Daimler and its subsidiary NuCellSys are working with Mercedes-Benz Research & Development to accelerate the expansion of fuel cell applications so that more data centers can be powered in this way.

By 2020, the U.S. data center is expected to consume 140 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity each year, and thus there is an increasing interest in this technology. The above power consumption is equivalent to the annual power generation of about 50 power plants. Therefore, it is naturally very attractive to use hydrogen fuel cells for local power generation.

Microsoft also launched a data center lab where each server rack has its own fuel cell power supply. The Advanced Energy Lab in Seattle will provide information and insights on how fuel cells are integrated into data centers, which can greatly reduce the energy consumption in these applications. The battery used in this case can obtain fuel directly from the natural gas pipeline, the fuel cell is installed above each server rack, and the gas is supplied to the battery to meet its power requirement.

Equinix is ​​taking a different approach to powering 12 U.S. data centers. It uses Bloom Energy's fuel cell, which uses proprietary solid oxide technology instead of liquid hydrogen or natural gas.

However, it must be pointed out that the current fuel cell technology relies on platinum as a catalyst, which is an expensive material. To avoid this problem, Ballard has been working with Japan's Nisshinbo Corporation to develop a non-precious metal catalyst (NPMC). The new NPMC material has been integrated into a 30W fuel cell stack for forklifts.

Different battery types

To completely overcome hydrogen-related difficulties, researchers at RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, developed a rechargeable "proton battery" that integrates a fuel cell with a solid-state hydrogen storage device. The combination of carbon electrodes and protons in water makes this battery a leading energy advantage, and it is also environmentally and economically viable.

Using protons to power batteries can be more cost-effective than lithium-ion batteries that use rare mineral resources. Carbon is the main material used in proton batteries, and carbon is abundant in nature and inexpensive as compared with lithium for metal hydrogen storage alloys and rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Water decomposes to produce protons, which are then stored in a carbon cathode. The battery can be charged by these protons and then released and passed through the fuel cell to generate electricity. The first prototype unit mass can store as much energy as a porous activated carbon electrode lithium-ion battery made of phenolic resin and generate a voltage of 1.2V.

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