Harnessing hydrogen fuel cells for power

Firm launches cheaper power plant tech which uses renewable biomass
Jessica Cheam Straits Times 18 Jun 11;

A HOME-GROWN firm has cracked the secret to using hydrogen fuel cells for power - at a lower cost and using renewable biomass to boot.

Real Time Engineering (RTE) this week officially launched its fuel-cell power plant technology. It converts biomass such as sawdust, palm oil, fruit peels or plant waste into electricity - also known as 'waste-to-energy'.

RTE is behind the 1MW hydrogen power plant powering industrial landlord JTC Corporation's CleanTech One building.

JTC's $90 million building, which incorporates state-of-the-art green features like solar energy systems and sky gardens, will offer office space that can house up to 50 green businesses when it is completed by the end of the year.

The power plant, which was incubated at Temasek Polytechnic's (TP) Clean Energy Research Centre in Tampines for three years, is the fruit of a collaboration between researchers from both sides.

TP provided the engineering know- how to put together the fuel-cell power plant, while RTE developed a unique catalyst that enables hydrogen to be extracted from biomass at a low cost.

Hydrogen fuel cells work by converting the chemical energy of hydrogen into electricity and water. It has been tipped as a key clean energy of the future as global fossil fuel resources dwindle and the world looks to cleaner sources.

These sources, such as solar and wind energy, are vital as they do not emit large amounts of carbon dioxide, which scientists blame for causing climate change, compared with fossil-based fuels.

In a demonstration of a smaller 100- kilowatt system, tomato juice is fed into a reactor, where a catalyst converts it into hydrogen, carbon and water. The extracted hydrogen is used to power the fuel cell, which in turn produces electricity. Potable water and synthetic crude oil are produced as separate by-products.

This synthetic crude, which can be collected and sold to refineries for processing into transport fuel, is so-called 'carbon neutral', as it is produced from renewable biomass and can replace fossil- based fuels used in transport vehicles.

RTE managing director Philip Wong, the project's overall orchestrator, and Dr Wang Chi Sheng from Taiwan's National Cheng Kung University, designed and tested the system for six years before it reached commercialisation this year. Dr Wang is known for inventing the 'plasma reformer' - a process that breaks chemical bonds - which is patented worldwide.

But their plant would not have been possible without the collaboration of TP, which helped to design and integrate the fuel cells into the system, said Mr Wong.

TP's clean-energy centre director Gareth Tang said its research engineers built up its fuel-cell system design and integration over the years. 'The deep technical know-how in fuel-cell materials, design and controls were applied by our engineers and researchers in this project.'

The centre, set up in 2007 with funding from the Economic Development Board, conducts research and development into clean technology - marked as a pillar of growth for Singapore's economy.

Mr Wong puts the cost of a 1MW fuel- cell power plant, which has a life cycle of 20 years, at US$10 million (S$12.4 million). It takes 18 to 24 months to design, build and install one such plant.

The break-even period of this investment is three to five years, and the firm is in talks with organisations across Asia to set up four more power plants, he said. 'Some other advantages of this system are that it's reliable with no risk of blackouts, and it is not intermittent, unlike other sources such as solar or wind which depend on the elements for power.'

The cost of the power generated is competitive, even compared to national grid prices in many countries, he added.

RTE's efforts in fuel-cell power technology were recognised when it won the Prime Minister's Enterprise Challenge Prize in 2009.