How Biodiesel Fuel-Cells Could Power The Future (And Your Car)
After years of development, the Washington-based company InnovaTek is testing a hand-sized microreactor that can convert virtually any liquid fuel into hydrogen, producing a portable hydrogen stream for use in adjoining fuel-cells.
Since the microreactor units can be linked together, InnovaTek has developed systems capable of producing anywhere from 1 to 160 gallons of hydrogen per minute—enough to supply a hydrogen refueling station or, even more exciting, creating on-board hydrogen for fuel-cell powered vehicles.
That’s InnovaTek’s eventual goal anyway: having their technology built into cars, where energy-dense renewable fuels could be converted into motion, bypassing combustion and the production of exhaust gases entirely, and powering a much more efficient engine. (Imagine for a moment, filling up on biodiesel and driving off to the exhaust-free hum of an electric motor.) InnovaTek plans on commercially licensing the microreactors by 2009.
Weighing less than one pound, the square piece of shiny steel (pictured above) houses an array of microchannels containing patented catalytic sites. Each microtube helps convert (or reform) a continuous stream of hydrogen from fuels like gasoline, diesel, vegetable oil, biodiesel, propane, natural gas, even the glycerol byproduct from biodiesel manufacturing.
While hydrogen produced by the device has been lauded as the “energy of the future,” it faces major developmental issues. Hydrogen is not a great energy carrier. It has a relatively low energy density, it’s difficult and dangerous to transport, and finding a way to store it on-board in hydrogen-powered vehicles has proven difficult (the first Mercedes F-cell had a range of only 110 miles). The refueling infrastructure is also non-existent.
Even more to the point, we haven’t yet established a renewable source of energy to produce hydrogen.
But that hasn’t stopped us from building hydrogen fuel-cell powered cars. GM, Ford, Honda, Hyundai and Toyota all have prototypes in the works, and Mercedes already released their subcompact F cell in late 2007.
Taking all this into consideration, Innovatek’s reactor could revolutionize the energy and transportation infrastructure of the country.
Innovatek has already signed a $500,000 joint development agreement with Chevron to pursue fuel processing technology for hydrogen refueling stations. (If you think that’s big, in Sept. ‘06 the Navy also awarded Innovatek with a $1.8 million contract to develop portable recharging systems for equipment Marines typically carry by foot.) One of Innovatek’s chief board members commented on their ability to reduce the cost of hydrogen generation: “The smaller system size, reduced catalyst volume, and more efficient process that is realized with InnovaTek’s technology represents another significant step in moving the hydrogen economy from science to commercial reality,” he said.
While InnovTtek’s reactor can run on a variety of non-renewable hydrocarbon sources they, like the potentially revolutionary Coskata Biofuels, are expressly interested in sustainable power, even to the point of preferring biodiesel in their test runs. Innovatek also said that biodiesel just plain works better: it contains fewer impurities and reforms at lower temperatures than petrodiesel.
Now let me beat naysayers to the punch here: no way are we going to power all of America’s cars on biodiesel, even using this kind of technology. I’m also interested in investigating what byproducts the microreactor produces and how they would be collected and used. But without being able to write off algae biodiesel or other majorly productive feedstocks as potential solutions, and based on the inherent coolness of this device, I think we could all be cautiously optimistic.
Related Posts:
NEW: First Algae Biodiesel Plant Goes Online April 1, 2008
GM Announces Biofuel Partnership: Cheap, Green Ethanol?
First Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Goes Online, Makes Fuel From Wood Waste
Switchgrass Could Displace 30% of US Petroleum Usage With 94% GHG Reduction
BREAKING NEWS: First Cars Run on Algae Biodiesel; Breakthrough Production Possible
A Biodiesel Prius? VW To Release 69.9 MPG Diesel Hybrid
The World’s Most Fuel Efficient Car: 285 MPG, Not A Hybrid
Sources:
InnovaTek, Inc. (see “Press Releases”)
Biodiesel Magazine (Mar. 2008): Power Without the Burn
Grainnet (Mar. 17, 08): InnovaTek Introduces New Fuel Cell Processor Technology That Favors Biodiesel
Via: Biodiesel Magazine
Photo Credit: InnovaTek
For readers who think biofuels are useless, take a look at these stories (and then come back and commment). None of these biofuels are made from food:
Switchgrass Could Displace 30% of US Petroleum Usage With 94% GHG Reduction (http://gas2.org/2008/03/14/switchgrass-could-displace-30-of-us-petroleum-usage-with-94-ghg-reduction/)
First Cellulosic Ethanol Plant Goes Online, Makes Fuel From Wood Waste (http://gas2.org/2008/03/07/first-cellulosic-ethanol-plant-goes-online-makes-fuel-from-wood-waste/)
BREAKING NEWS: First Cars Run on Algae Biodiesel; Breakthrough Production Possible (http://gas2.org/2008/01/21/breaking-news-first-cars-run-on-algae-biodiesel-breakthrough-production-possible/)
GM Announces Biofuel Partnership: Cheap, Green Ethanol? (http://gas2.org/2008/01/13/gm-announces-biofuel-partnership-cheap-green-ethanol/)
Outlook,
“. The question is what method will be used to generate the additional energy for these batteries and will that be environmentally friendly.”
That’s exactly what this technology provides, another way to make electricity from renewable sources.
To Patrick
“2. Don’t have children”
The persons that bring new solution to old problems where once children. Please, keep this discussion free from ideology!
I don’t disagree that this technology offers promise and can have a positive impact but on what scale. It is a
way to make electricity from renewable sources and waste but will never satisfactorily address current and future energy demands. Does that mean we don’t pursue alternatives? Of course not. In fact their pursuit and implementation are inevitable as long as they become commercially viable? That means someone saves or makes money.
Reforming produces hydrogen and carbon monoxide. You can’t emit carbon monoxide willy-nilly as it is toxic; converting CO to CO2 is one of the jobs of your catalytic converter. So, people don’t like CO2, and CO is toxic, so it is flat out wrong to call this solution “exhaust free.”
It’s highly likely that both advances in microfluidics and advances in nanoparticle catalysts will find use in reformer and fuel cell technology.
The items often ignored by the many breathless articles about “direct to hydrogen” fuel cell technologies is the fact that reformers and many fuel cell technologies (Especially proton-exchange membranes) are highly intolerant of contaminants. The other is that the “balance of plant” components for fuel cell systems often make them too large or too intolerance of vibration, etc, for use in motor vehicle applications.
In order to prepare feedstocks for use in many of these systems, the feedstocks would have to be through purification steps that either use enough energy to make the net energy density uneconomical or that don’t scale to mass production very well, and in almost every case, wouldn’t be practical in a home or in-car application.
Strat,
If you look at the source articles (the press releases on InnovaTek’s website), you’ll find that they have already tested the fuel cells on 100% biodiesel with success. They said they actually preferred biodiesel because it contains fewer contaminants than petroleum diesel.
They’re also testing other technology to remove contaminants from the pre-fuel-cell fuel stream.
Why are you not using water as the base fuel instead of bio deisel?
Steve,
The whole point is that energy is required to make hydrogen. In this case, the energy comes from biodiesel, a renewable resource. There is no energy in water. It takes an energy input to split water and make hydrogen, which some people think should come from nuclear power.
InnovaTek’s technology takes advantage of hydrogen’s versatility by processing many forms of different liquids and fuels to produce hydrogen, and could drastically affect the way hydrogen is deployed in the future. We at the Hydrogen Education Foundation are excited by this development, as it supports our goal of helping people understand the promise of hydrogen as part of our clean, sustainable energy future.
One of the key benefits for adopting hydrogen is that it truly is a universal fuel that can be produced using virtually any form of energy including wind, solar and nuclear. In fact, Iceland is currently producing hydrogen using geothermal energy by utilizing the earth’s natural heat to split water and produce hydrogen fuel and plans to have the world’s first “hydrogen economy.”
Although this article suggests that a hydrogen infrastructure faces many overwhelming hurdles, let’s keep in mind that true breakthroughs are never easy to envision. Let’s not forget that hydrogen has been used for decades by other industries, such as agriculture, oil production and even food processing (ever heard of the term “hydrogenated?” – take a look at a jar of peanut butter or the wrapper of a Starburst). More than 40 billion kg of hydrogen are produced globally each year with production plants located near or within every major metropolitan city in the US – enough to fuel 130 million fuel cell-electric vehicles annually. Since hydrogen is used to produce gasoline, switching from gas to hydrogen to fuel our transportation is achievable.
To learn more about the benefits of hydrogen, please visit www.h2andyou.org. In addition, the Hydrogen Expo and Conference, March 30 – April 3, is taking place in Sacramento, CA. If you live near or if you’re traveling to Sacramento, we invite you to join us and experience how hydrogen can have a positive impact on our lives. For more information about the Expo, please visit hydrogenconference.org.