FUEL CELL & BATTERIES

The combination of our “ Lead Cobalt Battery” and “an Alkaline Fuel Cell” will provide a propulsion system for an electric vehicle which will enable that car to drive continuously, like a gasoline powered car, without external recharging (not necessary to “plug-in” to an outside receptacle); and will provide a Power Plant System to give electricity to a home, farm, hotel, cell towers or commercial establishment without use of the outside grid supplied by electric utility companies. 

Benefits of Fuel cells

 

Fuel cells are much more efficient in converting fuel into energy than internal combustion engines.  The most efficient type of fuel cell is the Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC).

Fuel cells convert fuel into electricity.  The amount of energy stored depends on the quantity of fuel.  Hydrogen-oxygen fuel cells, such as the low temperate alkaline fuel cell, have zero carbon footprint, are totally non-polluting, and in addition to electricity, they produce pure water.

Alkaline Fuel Cells (AFC) were used to power the Apollo Moon Mission in the 1960s, in which liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen were converted to electricity and drinking water.  The catalyst used was the precious metal platinum, until recently virtually the only choice to fulfill the power requirements of low-temperature fuel cells.

 

In collaboration with Prof. Karl  Kordesch, we continued the development of the circulating electrolyte AFC at the University of Graz, Austria, and introduced the concept of hydrogen storage in the form of compressed liquid ammonia.  We developed and patented the ammonia cracker to feed hydrogen directly into the AFC.

Phase 2 of this program is now underway.  We had success with taking out all of the precious metals from the fuel cell electrodes, thereby giving our  AFC the potential to be the lowest cost of all fuel cells on the market.

Fuel cells operate most efficiently at a constant power output.  Therefore, the AFC is coupled with a battery to provide peak power – the battery is then recharged by the fuel cell during periods of low power demand.

The Power Plant consists of the fuel cell stack, balance of plant, Tri-polar lead-cobalt battery,  inverter, and associated electrical systems.

  

The Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC) is under development, however, once commercialized, the AFC offers many potential advantages over other types of Fuel Cells.

Summary – Advantages of the Alkaline Fuel Cell

over Other Types of Fuel Cell

1. Higher efficiency than other types of fuel cells – up to 60%

2. Low Cell Operating Temperature

3. For low temperature fuel cells, easiest to replace platinum catalyst with non-precious metal catalyst

4. Potentially least expensive of all fuel cell types with non-platinum catalyst.

5. Intermittent operation extends life.

6. Easily adaptable to Hydrogen storage in the form of ammonia. Unlike other fuel cells, traces of un-cracked ammonia in the AFC do not poison the fuel cell, allowing use of inexpensive ammonia cracker.

7. Alkaline membranes are being introduced to replace circulating electrolyte, thereby making the fuel cell much more compact and simple in operation.

BATTERIES

The Tri-polar Advanced Lead-Acid Batteries have the flexibility to be utilized in many markets from electric cars and forklift trucks, to load leveling, solar-powered applications, and grid storage.  This technology is based on 50-years of manufacturing experience and will prove to be the future of energy storage for off-grid locations. 

 

Tri-Polar Advanced Lead Acid Batteries

TPX-1

The advantages of the Advanced Lead-Acid Battery including the new Graphite Technology:

➢ The life of the battery is greater than the current market leading competitor (Lead Acid)

➢ Energy storage capacity is 12% greater than the current market leading competitor (Lead Acid)

➢ Operating hours per charge is longer than the current market leading competitor (Lead Acid)

➢ Charge time faster (90 mins. for a full charge) than current leading tech (Lead Acid)

  

BATTERY IN A CONTAINER

· The Power Plant integrated with Photovoltaic (Solar) Panels.

· Power for Large Distribution Centers & Mini-Grid Networks

· Integrated with the Alkaline Fuel Cell

 

ADVANTAGES OF THE BATTERY OVER LITHIUM FOR

LOAD LEVELING/ GRID STORAGE

1. Very High Recycled Content (95%). Note: lithium batteries include exotic materials which are expensive to recycle and bad for the environment

2. Better Energy and Power Density relative to cost. 

3. Incorporating new carbon technology for high performance & long life. 

4. Much safer than Lithium-Ion and lower cost–Does not require individual battery cooling to prevent fires.

5. Does not require monitoring system for each individual cell which is required for lithium batteries. 

6. Better high rate and elevated temperature performance than lithium. 

  

BATTERIES FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES

Building on 50-years of development, proprietary technology and patents, the advanced Lead-Acid TPX batteries has the flexibility to be utilized in many markets including many mobile and stationary applications. 

The rugged tripolar design lends itself to mobile applications such as small on and off-road electric cars and forklift trucks including start-stop vehicle batteries. The bottoms of the plates are held rigidly in position and the separator cannot be worn so as to allow plates of opposite polarity to touch 

Methods for reducing battery weight such as lead foam are under development for reducing the weight and thereby increasing the energy density of the battery.

 

Start Stop Battery Technology.

Note: This is an emerging use for High Rate Partial State of Charge (HRPSoC) Batteries. Start- stop vehicles use internal combustion engines that automatically shut off when the car is idling, then restart when the driver’s foot leaves the brake pedal. When the engine is off, the vehicle’s electrical system uses energy from the battery. The battery is used to restart the engine after each stopping eve