Fuel cell vehicles buses

United Technologies Fuel Cells is engaged in DMFC development, in competition with Ballard/Johnson Matthey. It is a part in the project by Renault to develop the Scenic vehicle fuel cell. Neither for its PEFC, nor for its DMFC (and MCFC), does UTC Fuel Cells offer product-coloured illustrations. Moreover, its literature or listed web site does not deal with the cell voltage reversal problem, mentioned in Ballard patents above in connection with fuel cell bus operation. Accordingly it is not possible for the author to portray the UTC Fuel Cells scheme of things. 

Predictions by several fuel cell organisations for incomplete systems are not in unison, but all see economic improvements coming from mass production, notably ITM. That will be very necessary to meet the intense competition as improved vehicles with new engine schemes enter the market. The industry needs complete fuel cells to achieve competitive performance and any kind of mature economics. The difficulty of the situation is highlighted by the fuel cell bus which saves local pollution on the road, but generates at the power plant stack more pollution... 

The Japan Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Demonstration Project (JHFC), summarized in Fig. 4-13, is a program set up by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) in March 2003. In this program, hydrogen refueling facilities with different types of fuel and production methods will be tested. Vehicles from five automakers are taking part in this project, including Toyota s FCHV and fuel cell bus. 

Daimler-Benz displayed its first NECARI experimental fuel cell vehicle at a press conference in Ulm, Germany, and New Jersey s H Power Corporation launched its methanol-fueled phosphoric acid fuel cell bus during Earth Day activities in Washington. 

NREL, AC Transit, and University of Califomia-Davis have completed a preliminary vehicle evaluation plan for the AC Transit fuel cell bus demonstration. 

Clean energy systems have been realized such as the first zero emission fuel (ZEV) cell powered bus developed by Ballard Power Systems Inc., Canada. The company has designed in phase 1 (1991 - 1993) a 20 passenger transit bus driven by 24 PEFC stacks with 5 kW each. The bus was the world s first ZEV vehicle and has met its performance targets. Phase 2 of Ballard s ZEV Fuel Cell Bus finished in 1995 was based on a 60 passenger commercial prototype bus with a power of 260 kW. In a subsequent phase 3, small fleets of buses are to provide the basic data for a full conunercial production [64]. Within this phase, the city of Chicago has started in early 1997 a 3-years bus fleet testing... 

Japan s major vehicle demonstration program, the JHFC Demonstration Project, took place in two phases JHFC-1 from 2002 to 2005, and JHFC-2, from 2006 to 2010 [22], The project featured demonstration of five models of FCVs, one hydrogen internal combustion vehicle, and one fuel cell bus (Figure 38.3). A follow-on project is expected to be announced sometime in 2011. 

Ballard Power Systems, in conjunction with the province of British Columbia and the government of Canada, have converted a diesel bus for Vancouver, B.C. Transit (43). This 9.1-m vehicle is powered by a 105-kW fuel cell. Gaseous hydrogen, stored on board the bus in DOT-approved glass-wound composite cylinders operating at 20.7 MPa (3000 psi), provides the necessary fuel requited for the 150-km projected vehicle range. 

A fuel cell car, bus or truck is in essence an electric vehicle powered by a stack of hydrogen fueled cells that operates like a refuelable battery. A battery uses chemical energy from its component parts, while a fuel cell uses an electrochemical process to generate electricity and receives its energy from the hydrogen fuel and oxygen that are supplied to it. Like the plates in a battery, the fuel cell uses an anode and cathode, attached to these are wires for the flow of current. These two electrodes are thin and porous. 

There is now a great interest in developing different kinds of fuel cells with several applications (in addition to the first and most developed application in space programs) depending on their nominal power stationary electric power plants (lOOkW-lOMW), power train sources (20-200kW) for the electrical vehicle (bus, truck and individual car), electricity and heat co-generation for buildings and houses (5-20 kW), auxiliary power units (1-100 kW) for different uses (automobiles, aircraft, space launchers, space stations, uninterruptible power supply, remote power, etc.) and portable electronic devices (1-100 W), for example, cell phones, computers, camcorders [2, 3]. 

Development and construction of an HFC urban bus for Madrid. The main objective is the demonstration of the technical and economic viability of an advanced fuel cell propulsion system combined with innovative vehicle concepts for public transport application. This work was done in combination with the ES Hj Hydrogen refuelling Station in Madrid. 

In the transportation area, the Low Carbon Vehicle (LCV) Partnership has been established to promote the shift to low carbon vehicles and fuels in the UK. Hybrid vehicles feature highly in the Partnership s strategy and the linkto fuel cell vehicles is clear. Fuel Cells UK will, as a matter of priority, establish a dialogue with the LCV Partnership and, through this, the UK-based automotive sector (including bus, van and carmakers, key component suppliers and designers/developers), the fuel cell sector, and international OEMs to determine initiatives for deploying fuel cell vehicles in the UK. 

The high torque electric motor develops more than 100-kW of motive power which is 35-kW more than the previous design for the A-class. The fuel cell is also more efficient. An enhanced hydrogen storage system gives the vehicle a range of 250 miles (400-kM). The Ballard fuel cells are expected to last at least 5,000 hours in a car and 10,000 hours in a bus. 

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