Current Projects
Several projects are currently underway at WFCG facilities. These projects have ramped up quickly with reduced start-up time, low capital investment, and experienced hands-on implementation – providing competitive advantage to move quickly on the path to commercialization. In many cases, partnership with WFCG has facilitated funding attraction as well.
- Catacel
- Contained Energy
- GrafTech International
- HydroGen Corporation
- MetaMateria Partners
- NexTech Materials
- SOFCo-EFS
Catacel
Working
in partnership, Catacel, the Unversity of Toledo and WFCG have attracted
significant grant funding. The funding has supported development of
novel catalyst materials at UT, to be displayed on novel structures developed
at Catacel. The partnership has enabled the team to work on practical
applications of hydrogen production and fuel reforming technologies
that will commercialize in the near future.
Contained Energy
Contained Energy, a direct carbon fuel cell (DCFC) company, is working at
WFCG’s Case Western Reserve University facility to develop an application for the mobile power
and distributed power generation markets. The company specializes in
applications that require 100W – 5kW of power – which are currently
constrained by low energy density.
GrafTech
International
WFCG
is part of a DOE project on “Next Generation Bipolar Plates for
Automotive PEM Fuel Cells and will be carrying out durability and high temperature
testing and analysis of GRAFCELL® bipolar plates. GrafTech was
recently awarded a $2.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy
for the project, which aims to meet the DOE’s 2010 target pricing for
bipolar plates of $6 per kilowatt, which contributes to the overall goal
of a $45/kW system cost. Also collaborating on the project are Huntsman
Advanced Materials and Ballard Power Systems.
HydroGen Corporation
Headquartered
at WFCG’s building at Case Western Reserve University, the PAFC manufacturer is
working on full scale commercialization of a 400 kW demonstration plant at
the ASHTA Chemicals’ chlor-alkali manufacturing facility in Ashtabula
County, Ohio. The project’s goal is to demonstrate the performance
of the company’s core 400kW PAFC module for potential customers of
HydroGen’s multi-megawatt fuel cell power plants. The hydrogen gas
created as the byproduct of the ASHTA Chemicals chlorine and related chemical
production will be used as the fuel source to generate power at the demonstration
facility. HydroGen will begin installation in early 2007, followed
by a year of onsite operation.
MetaMateria Partners
MetaMateria, a subsidiary of NanoDynamics, Inc., and Ohio State University
(OSU) are collaborating to develop nanostructured coatings
from colloidal dispersions of nanoparticles. These projects are supported
by state of the art characterization equipment, which was purchased with
Wright Fuel Cell Group funds.
NexTech Materials, a Columbus based company has partnered with Plug Power, which is headquartered
in Latham, N.Y., to develop fuel cell stacks. Plug Power is also providing
balance-of-plant expertise. This work is being funded by Ohio’s Third
Frontier program. WFCG’s role is to provide accelerated testing techniques
to identify degradation. WFCG’s accelerated testing will reduce the
normal 1000 hour test to 100 hours, significantly reducing time and resources.
SOFCo-EFS
The Alliance, Ohio-based company is working with WFCG and the Stark State
College of Technology to establish the new Fuel Cell Prototyping Center. Located
on Stark State’s campus, the FCPC bridges the gap between early stage
research and final stage commercialization by focusing on development
of manufacturing processes.
