June 2007
Fuel Cells Bulletin 9 around 480 km (300 miles). The Volt, when powered by a fuel cell, also has a range of 480 km, but uses just 4 kg of hydrogen.
For more on the Chevrolet Volt, go to: www.chevrolet.com/electriccar
CFCL forms partnership with Jülich
A ustralian-based Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd (CFCL) has signed an agreement with the German research institute Forschungszentrum Jülich (FZJ), to collaborate on researching and developing applications for solid oxide fuel cell systems. The developer of SOFCs for micro-combined heat and power units will also award an annual student prize for special achievements in fuel cell development.
Under the framework agreement, the partners will conduct agreed research projects tailored to match their expertise and market needs. Areas of research are likely to include materials development, and accelerated lifetime testing and modeling.
The annual student prize will acknowledge and reward outstanding student work in a field relating to fuel cell development. It will be open to students at all German universities, and will include a cash component and a work experience internship at CFCL in Melbourne, Australia.
'Both partners have been developing fuel cells for over 10 years, and we have gained a lot of expertise that we can share,' comments Dr Karl Föger, chief technology officer at CFCL. 'We believe we can accelerate fuel cell commercialization by experienced industry and academic researchers learning from each other.'
Professor Detlev Stöver, energy research director at FZJ, adds: 'Researchers of FZJ and CFCL have known each other for many years, and we are looking forward to entering into a closer cooperation by establishing this framework agreement. FZJ is pleased that CFCL has chosen to locate the fabrication facility in Heinsberg, close to Jülich, which will further strengthen the Nordrhein-Westfalen fuel cell network.' Jülich has been carrying out R&D into SOFC systems since the mid-1990s, including a strong focus on high-powered, anode-supported cells. It has developed several stack designs, and in 2004 constructed and tested a 10 kW stack [FCB, August 2004].