Fuel Cells

Fuels cells produce electricity through the electrochemical reaction of hydrogen and oxygen. They enjoy higher efficiencies than internal combustion engines, produce little or no emissions (depending on the source of the hydrogen), offer fuel flexibility, and generate little noise. High efficiency fuel cells are well suited to meet the demands for distributed power generation and commercial and transportation applications. Fuel cell technology also holds immense potential for military applications, including propulsion systems for unmanned undersea and aerial vehicles, portable fuel cell systems for mobile warfare, power for fleet vehicles and weapons systems, and reliable digital quality power for critical operations. In spite of the immense promise of proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs), issues such as durability, reliability, cost, and integration of stacks into reliable power systems need additional development if the promise is to be met.

In keeping with its mandate to develop alternatives to imported fossil fuels, the Hawaii Natural Energy Institute (HNEI) has established a major fuel cell research and development program. This effort builds on HNEI's highly successful research on hydrogen production from renewable resources and bolsters the State of Hawaii's goals of reducing its heavy dependence on imported fossil fuels for electricity and transportation.

HNEI's fuel cell program has four components:

Fuel Cell Testing, with major activities conducted at the Hawaii Fuel Cell Test Facility (HFCTF), a state-of-the-art research facility to characterize fuel cell performance and reliability. This facility is a partnership of HNEI, the Office of Naval Research, Hawaiian Electric Company, and UTC Fuel Cells. The facility became fully operational in April 2003 and currently has eight test stands including three able to handle full size (up to 600 cm²) single cells or small stacks, and one test station for high speed hardware-in-loop (HiL) testing to characterize dynamic performance of small fuel cell systems, i.e. autonomous vehicle applications (HFCTF and fuel cell testing activities’ presentation). Future developments in the area of fuel cell testing will include transient measurements plus testing of stacks and complete fuel cell systems. For more details on fuel cell testing, click here.
Contact: Richard E. Rocheleau, HNEI Director
Fuel Cell Systems research and development, with modeling and laboratory studies beginning on complete fuel cell systems in support of conventional PEMFC development. Specific areas of interest will include simulation, HiL testing, and possibly rapid system prototyping. For more details on Fuel Cell Systems, click here.
Contact: Robert M. Moore, HNEI Researcher
Fuel Cell Fabrication click here for additional details.
Contact: Robert M. Moore, HNEI Researcher
Alternative Approaches to Fuel Cell Development, with experimentation involving bioactive fuel cells, exploratory work with benthic fuel cells, and the use of biocarbons for fuel cells. For more details on Alternative Approaches to Fuel Cell Development, click here.

Operation of the HFCTF is currently focused on cell testing of individual fuel cells. The existing fuel cell stands are currently being upgraded to test short stacks along with a program of stack testing scheduled to begin in the first quarter of 2008. Future work will also include the testing of complete fuel cell systems. Within the arena of fuel cell systems, both modeling and actual hardware efforts will be involved. Modeling work will include a variety of simulation activities. Under hardware research, HNEI will put attention on hardware-in-loop testing, possibly leading to rapid system prototyping at some future date.

Related programs at HNEI are sustained via a thrust called the Hawaii Hydrogen Partnerships. This element aims to facilitate and support the deployment and acceptance of fuel cell systems and renewable energy technologies. As a prime example, the State of Hawaii, through its Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism (DBEDT), was selected for a U.S. Department of Energy award to develop a Hydrogen Power Park in the islands. HNEI is the implementing partner, and is working with DBEDT, industrial partners such as UTC Fuel Cells, Stuart Energy Systems, local utilities, Sunline Services, and Sentech, Inc., as well as the California Energy Commission, to test the combination of hydrogen production and storage, fuel cells, and renewable energy in a real-world demonstration of these technologies.

Support for HNEI's fuel cell efforts includes funding from the Hawaii Energy and Environmental Technology Initiative (HEET) (a multimillion-dollar federal appropriation through the U.S. Department of Defense's Office of Naval Research) and the Hawaii Hydrogen Center for Development and Deployment of Distributed Energy Systems (HHC) (a multimillion-dollar federal appropriation through the U.S. Department of Energy), as well as funding from industrial sources.

This page was last updated on Tuesday, February 5, 2008

[GRAPHIC VERSION]

Fuel Cells

Fuel Cell Menu

Main Menu

Contact Us