CO, CO2 Removal from reformate H2

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This press release will be released on Wednesday. It follows an earlier one from Avista that contained some errors. The company, H2fuel, is a spinoff from Unitel and is co-owned by Avista Labs. Unitel is a small technology development company in Chicago with several other developments that we’re tracking for UFTO.

I visited Unitel/H2fuel in Chicago recently, and heard a detailed account of this technology under an NDA. They’ve given me permission to pass the press release along to UFTO, so please hold onto it at least til Thursday.

There is an investment opportunity here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

H2FUEL NEWS

For Immediate Release, October 31, 2001

Media Contacts: Serge Randhava, H2fuel, 847-297-2265

H2fuel Membrane Program Technical Update

October 31, 2001: In providing additional details about its proposed fuel cell hydrogen membrane program, H2fuel confirmed that the membrane is being tailored to work at temperatures up to 350C, levels that are normally associated with the water gas shift reaction. In a press release issued earlier this month, the company had announced that it had awarded a R&D contract to the University of Kentucky to synthesize, characterize and test a family of chemical transport membranes that can efficiently and selectively remove oxides of carbon from a gas mixture.

The primary objective of the H2fuel membrane program is to eliminate carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide from a reformate gas stream, thereby increasing its hydrogen content and greatly reducing the overall cost of producing pure hydrogen for fuel cell applications.

H2fuel’s membrane module is being configured as a dual-role device. To begin with, all the carbon dioxide in the gas stream will be stripped out of the gas mixture. Simultaneously, the carbon monoxide that is present will be converted into carbon dioxide by means of an integrated water gas shift reaction step, following which this coproduced carbon dioxide will also be transferred out by the membrane. For all practical purposes, the H2fuel membrane module will serve to get rid of all the carbon in the gas before it goes to the fuel cell.

The H2fuel membrane is not a conventional permeation platform. Rather, it will use a polymeric membrane that operates at close to atmospheric pressure, and incorporates a unique chemical transport mechanism for attaching and detaching the carbon dioxide molecule.

“Our membrane program is based upon a simple wish list,” notes Serge Randhava, President of H2fuel. “First, we want to get rid of the carbon dioxide leaving our primary fuel processor. Second, we want to convert any carbon monoxide in the gas stream into carbon dioxide, and also affect the parallel removal of this secondary compound. At the end of the faucet, we want an enriched fuel cell hydrogen stream that is totally free of all oxides of carbon,” he adds.

H2fuel is jointly owned by Avista Labs, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Spokane-based Avista Corp. (NYSE: AVA) and Unitel Fuel Technologies, LLC, Mt. Prospect, IL.

Power Quality 2001

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PowerSystems World 2001, Chicago – Sept 10-12.

As you know, I attended this annual conference held in conjunction with two power electronics conferences, all under the name of PowerSystems World 2001. Overall, the event was poorly organized and confusing to begin with, however, I’ve learned that a new company is taking over conference operations, so things may improve. More significant, the news on September 11 broke just as the conference was getting underway and had everyone completely distracted, so little was accomplished.

There were a few nuggets to extract, however. The plenary session papers were interesting, and I delved into one or two other issues with company reps on duty at their exhibit booths.

The conference proceedings have been published in a 5 lb. 2″ thick hardcover volume, can be ordered for $150 (plus s/h) from Linda McCay, 805-389-6600, linda@powersystems.com

Through December, the conference website will provide the agenda and other conference information: http://www.powersystems.com/

The opening plenary session papers were not provided in the proceedings:

————-
“Power Electronics in Power Systems: Technology and Business”
– Vlatko Vlatkovic, General Electric Corporate R&D
With advent of distributed generation, any source that isn’t constant speed synchronized will require significant power conditioning, i.e. “four-leg” converters for fuel cells and microturbines. Such power conversion technology is derived from motor drives using IGBTs (in the 20 KVA to 2.5 MVA range). Large DC systems (100+ MW), e.g., high temperature fuel cells (solid oxide), need conversion from low voltage DC to high voltage AC. Market drivers are strong, but complicated. With utilities’ conservatism, it will be hard to make money, and the technology is changing rapidly. Regulation of transmission systems (and the coming RTOs) means limits on ROI.

————–
The Motor Drive Revolution in the Energy Starved Generation
– Dr. Alexander Lidow, International Rectifier

IR sees huge opportunity, and high payback from power management technology. 57% of electricity consumption goes to motors, most of which are controlled on/off, which is very inefficient. Savings would be substantial if variable speed drives were used in refrigerators, washing machines and air conditioners. Barriers include cost, time-to-market, and the need for multiple engineering skills to apply technologies in analog/digital (A/D), sensors, power semiconductors, and software control. IR has developed “Accelerator” architecture development system and a “ChipSet” to simplify and facilitate the design process.
Tech info: http://www.irf.com/prmU7avc/product-info/motor/
For papers: http://www.irf.com/OxJB7a4c/e/powersys01.htm

————-
Data Center/Facility Infrastructure Design For The Next Millennium
– Neil Rasmussen, American Power Conversion

This paper challenges a number of assumptions about the future power needs of Data Centers. (I have the complete text, which I can forward on request.)

First, an enumeration of the problems driving change:

– Data Center owners get poor ROI on power systems, because they install much more capacity than they can use, and it sits idle, while capital and service costs continue.
– Need to standardize and “drive out variability”. The industry is full of mythology, and there are limited opportunities for systematic learning. Troubling events are random and rare. Installations are one-off custom designs. (reminiscent of nuclear power plants?)
– Can’t predict system requirements. Computer systems become outmoded and are replaced in 2 years, while power systems expected to last for 15 years. That’s 7 generations ahead of the loads being served.
– Systems can’t adapt to increases or decreases, so installations are grossly oversized.

Then, some predictions:

1. No more raised floors – wiring will be overhead, floor will be a slab — cheaper, more secure, air treatment easier to manage, etc.
2. AC will prevail. Need open architecture, so DC will remain limited to inside of closed systems (boxes). Also, adding a new DC drop is expensive.
3. Overloading will occur because power draw of new data equipment varies (2-5 to one) depending on computing activity level, unlike most present-day systems.
4. Instead of focus on total facility loads, discussion will move to “watts/rack”, not “watts per sq.ft”.
5. Modular scalable systems will replace highly (site-specific) engineered solutions. The whole system will be made with cookie-cutter prefabricated modular scalable systems, designed and delivered “just-in-time”.
6. Fast-cycle centers. It now takes 9-18 months to design, purchase, install, and start-up a center. In 2 years, this will drop to 3-6 weeks. This will be accompanied by big changes in the financing and capital structure.

— In another paper from APC, Chris Thompson outlines overall design issues for data centers, pointing out that redundancy is often put in the wrong place, i.e. at the last step before the load. The lack of training for facility personnel means that human factors play a bigger role than they should.

—————
Power Management -Not an Option
– David Kreiss, Kreiss Johnson Technologies

For most industrial and commercial firms, power is a sizable part of their cost of operations, but many have yet to realize that it can and should be managed. The average CFO sees electricity in particular as the least controllable of all – a fixed cost. This view may have been valid in the past, but there have been big changes in the business and power environments, and now, power procurement is negotiated, in terms of both cost and quality. Savings go straight to the bottom line.

—————

Over 100 technical papers, published in the proceedings, were organized under these headings:

-PQ Solutions, -PQ Battery, -PQ Standards, -Distributed Generation, -PQ Monitoring, -PQ Distribution, -PQ Harmonic, -PQ Flicker, -PQ UPS, -PQ TVSS
(The complete program is available as a download:
http://power.bluedot.com/power/pdfForms/pq_confdetails.pdf)

Some highlights:

“PQ Impacts of Distributed Generation”, Roger Dugan, Electrotek Concepts, (page 190) admitting a “pro-utility” bias, went into some detail on complex technical issues arising from the placement of DG on a utility distribution system:
– Fault overcurrent in radial feeders can come from 2 directions; DG must also disconnect.
– Low voltage after interruption- DG needed for voltage support, but can’t come back on until the voltage is restored.
– Reclosing, because most faults are temporary, usually done in less than 1 second (many utilities do it “instantly”). If DG doesn’t do the same, fault won’t clear.
– Transformer connection issues-Wye delta seen as best, but utilities forbid DG to use it, because of grounding dangers.
Engineering solutions can generally be found for these and other technical problems, but there are no simple answers, and there are questions as to who should pay. DG can be used with “no changes” if less than 15% of a feeder load (5-10% if rural).

New Ride-Through:
There were several new technologies for UPS ride-through (i.e., to a standby generator):

– Active Power is developing an Integrated Flywheel Microturbine. The flywheel spins on the same shaft as the turbine rotor, and can provide instant power until fuel is supplied to the microturbine, which then takes over for as long as necessary.

– Precise Power’s written pole technology has been used in a flywheel motor/generator for over 10 years, for short term ride through. Can be integrated with an IC engine for long term backup.

– Metallic Power’s Zinc-Air system is being applied in a rack mounted version for use in data centers. Longer ride through (many hours) at the rack itself avoids reliablity problems of facility based UPS systems (and the siting and emissions issues for gensets).

Battery Systems:
Some interesting controversies are evident in the world of lead acid battery systems, regarding monitoring and charge balancing.

Charge balancing, or “equalization”– we’ve seen AutoCap previously (UFTO Note – Travel Reports, 29 Oct 2000) proposing a system to float-charge cells individually–don’t know how they’re doing. PowerDesigners is now promoting its “PowerCheq” modules which interconnect adjacent cells in a string, and uses stronger batteries to top off weaker ones. (www.powerdesigners.com) The problem is that greybeards in the industry insist this is the worse thing you can do! In particular, it will mask a problem with a bad cell until the whole line goes down.

Similar reactions are heard to a novel pulse conditioning method, called ReNew-IT, invented by Pulse Tech Products. They apply a unique waveform pulse train to the battery string, explaining that it clears away sulfation deposits that block plates and decrease life. Apparently the military has taken a hearty interest, but another industry greybeard told me–one should just never never apply AC of any kind to a battery.

Battery monitoring also has ideological splits, e.g. whether resistance, impedance, or conductance is the right thing to measure. Btech (www.btechinc.com) says they’re the oldest and best supplier of “battery validation systems” and insist that impedance is the way to go. Their counterparts at Alber say resistance (www.alber.com — they sponsor an annual conference on the subject). (Both show a long list of prominent clients, with a lot of overlap, e.g. the NY Stock Exchange!) And newer arrivals, Midtronic and Vanner (www.vanner.com) have their views as well.

Serveron, a new entrant, is getting an excellent response from major customers with its CellSense technology, which answers all the greybeard concerns and then some. (See 14 May 2001 UFTO Note – On-Line Transformer and Battery Monitoring). CellSense monitors provide continuous measurements of all key physical and electrical parameters needed to characterize the condition of all individual cells as well as the battery system as a whole. www.serveron.com
(They’ll be showing at the IEEE T&D Expo in Atlanta, which opens Oct. 29. I’ll be there as well)

JTEC New Solid State Heat to Electricity

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The Johnson Thermo-Electric Conversion (JTEC) system is a solid state, thermodynamic, energy conversion device that operates on the Ericsson cycle, which is equivalent to the Carnot cycle. It can be configured to operate as either a heat engine (for power production) or a heat pump (for cooling). As a heat engine, the JTEC can use any source of heat, e.g. combustible fuels (external combustion), solar energy, or waste heat. Several proof of concept, component level experiments have been successfully conducted to establish its feasibility.

The JTEC employs fuel cell technology, however, is not a fuel cell. Hydrogen is the working fluid, not the fuel. As a sealed solid state system that generates electricity from heat, it is better compared to thermoelectric converters, but with significantly higher efficiency.

JTEC is at an early development stage, however there is reason to believe progress could be relatively rapid. The company has laid out a multi-year plan, with working prototypes “soon”.. Details are closely guarded — I have executed an NDA and visited the company — the concept appears to be quite solid.

Texaco has funded the company to do a brief study of commercialization prospects. The company is looking for investors and strategic development partners.

Johnson Electro-Mechanical Systems, LLC (JEMS), is a spinoff of Johnson Research & Development, Atlanta GA, a technology development company involved in a number of areas. Another spinoff, Excellatron, has a licensed lithium thin film battery technology from Oak Ridge National Lab. The founder, Lonnie Johnson, followed a distinguished career in aerospace with the development of the SuperSoaker, one of the best selling toys of all time.

Contact: Lonnie Johnson 770-438-2201
http://www.johnsonrd.com

Investment Bankers Talk Energy Technology

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As the new-economy/dotcom bubble was hitting it’s last high in March 2000, Energy Technology was 3 months into a bubble of its own. Plug Power’s IPO the previous Fall did nothing until the fateful day in early January 2000, when an online commentator listed it as one of the 10 stocks to own in the new millenium.

Just a very few bankers had previously started paying attention to ET. See for example “Energy Technology” Nov ’99, by Hugh Holman of CIBC World Markets (at the time he was with Robertson Stephens. (see UFTO website). Actually Hugh began covering the power revolution in 1998 with a piece entitled “Rejoice Re: Juice”.

Since then just about every major firm has joined the fray, initiating coverage, holding conferences, and issuing reports by the dozens…weekly and monthly newsletters, special research, etc. These reports give terrific insight, and contain a great deal of information and perspective, however they are usually not available to the general public. Clients can get password access via the firm’s website. The analysts themselves, however, are often willing to add industry players to their email distribution, and to mail out hard copies. Here is a selection of titles and contacts.

[Several of the firms listed below were very directly affected by the attack on September 11, and are in the process of regrouping. Surely they will appreciate your patience if you have trouble making contact, as we certainly are heartened by their spirit and progress in rebuilding their operations.]
—————

Bear Stearns — Bobby Winters, rwinters@bear.com

“Distributed Energy Services” —
-Part I – Apr 2000 250 pages. New energy technology, incl. storage, fuel cells, etc.
-Part II – Nov 2000. 240 pages. Comprehensive look at microturbines, stirling, etc.
-Part III (coming soon) – P/Q, reliability, UPS, digital economy, etc.

—————

BofA Securities —
Jim LoGerfo, jlogerfo@bofasecurities.com
Ali Agha, ali.agha@bofasecurities.com

-E-Energy Industry Overview (ecommerce in energy) Mar 2000, 70 pages
-Energy Technology Industry Overview, Jun 2000, 230 pages
-Alternative Energy Technologies Industry Overview, Jan 2001, 88 pages
-Power of Growth: Energy Technology Weekly
—plus numerous research reports on individual companies

-The Digital Home Handbook ? Intelligence At The Edge Apr 2001, 345 pages
available for download at
http://www.bofasecurities.com/corporate/content/releases/010405bean.asp

—————

CIBC World Markets — Hugh Holman, hugh.holman@us.cibc.com
(temporary email: hufiho@yahoo.com)

-Daily Jolt (email newsletter)
-“Power Tech-The Juice Runs Low” Sept 2001
latest in long series of industry reports

—————

Credit-Suisse First Boston —
Marko Pencak, marko.pencak@csfb.com
Cameron Jeffreys, cameron.jeffreys@csfb.com

-Energy Technology: An Overview, Aug 2000, 74 pages
– Fuel Cell Monitor (weekly)

—————

First Albany — Sanjay_Shrestha@fac.com & Craig_Irwin@fac.com
-Power Technology Weekly

—————

Merrill-Lynch

Sam Brothwell, sbrothwell@exchange.uk.ml.com
alternate(intermittent): sam_brothwell@ml.com
Christine Farkas, cfarkas@nyc.rr.com
alternate: c_farkas@ml.com

-Energy Tech-Europe May 2001, 110 pages
(initiates coverage on sev. European companies)
-iOn Energy Technology (weekly)

—————

Salomon Smith Barney — Dave Smith, david.b.smith@ssmb.com

-The Electrical Revolution Jan 2001, 330 pages,
DG and P/Q and digital economy
-Fuel Cells, May 2001, 180 pages
-The Transmission Grid (the “other” problem), Jun 2001, 30 pages

+++++++++++++++

Red Herring
While on the subject of business coverage of energy tech, the Sept 1 issue of Red Herring (Enron on the cover) has another special briefing section on energy. This link may get you to the lead article (be sure to get the whole thing, without a linebreak).
http://www.redherring.com/index.asp?layout=special_report_gen&doc_id=30020203&channel=10000001&rh_special_report_id=780000078

—————–

Business Week, Aug 13 issue has a Special Advertising section featuring an excellent summary of the entire energy situation. It’s very well done, and if you’ve ever struggled to explain it to your family and friends, this will help. It is written by Jason Makansi, of Pearl Street Inc., who is the former editor in chief of Power magazine.
http://adsections.businessweek.com/energy/value/index.html

Follow the headings in the left hand margin to step through the sections.

EPRI Distributed Resources Venture Forum

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— Business Venture Forum for Emerging Distributed Resources Technology Companies, Investors, and Market Channels
— 7/25/2001 – 7/26/2001

Agenda download is still available:
http://www.epri.com/attachments/262909_FinalAgendaVentureforum.pdf

EPRI solutions’ Second Annual Business Forum was designed to bring together leading Distributed Resource (DR) technology companies, the energy utility industry, and energy industry investors for the exchange of information related to business and investment opportunities. The Forum was structured as a venture fair with 15-minute presentations from 13 leading DR companies, followed by an afternoon of “breakout” sessions, for small group/individual meetings with the company representatives.

EPRI will issue a CD with all the presentations. Most were provided in hard copy in a binder. Additional company materials were selectively provided at the breakout sessions.

We’ve seen a number of the presenting companies before, as they’ve appeared at other similar events over the last couple of years. Side conversations also led to some interesting additional leads.

These notes are intentionally brief. If you’re interested in contacts or more details for any of these companies, let me know.

— COMPANIES —

Dais Analytic – yet another small company pushing PEM. Distinctions include “great” reformer technology, about which nothing was disclosed, and a proprietary membrane material. The membrane is the subject of a major JV with a major chemical company (unnamed), and holds great promise in an air-to-air heat exchanger, MERV, which exchanges not only heat, but also water vapor. MERV greatly reduces heating and A/C loads by preconditioning incoming fresh air. This company’s “dual” play is either appealing or not, depending on your investment philosophy (and your view of PEM’s prospects). MERV appears to offer prospect of early real revenues while awaiting PEM to ripen. On the other hand, it’s two different businesses, which can be hard for a small company to do effectively.
http://www.daisanalytic.com/

Candent Technologies – a brand new stealth (til now) arrival on the microturbine front. Very experienced personnel coming out of Rolls Royce, (which decided not to do a microturbine) take a different design approach, and will target a 750 KW unit size, eventually as low as $350/KW. They specifically are avoiding the use of recuperators, as expensive and unreliable, and will use a high pressure spool instead. No new technology is involved, so they’re projecting a rapid development, direct to beta pre-production stage, skipping a prototype. Looking for $3 Million now, and $20 M in another round following demonstration.

PEPCo Technologies – GenerLink. Spinoff of PEPCo, selling an standby generator interface for homeowners. Said they have 2 investors that are going ahead (one is strategic, the other a VC). I have to agree with what I heard most people say– it’s hard to imagine there are very many people who would want this.
http://www.generlink.com

Pentadyne Power Corp. High speed flywheel, continuing development work by Rosen Motors. Targeting high power/short duration ride-through application. First units will be 120 KW for 20 seconds. Novel approach to safety containment using double shell with liquid in-between (originally conceived for onboard vehicle use, where heavy shielding is not possible). Claim very low standby loss/idling load, and low cost once in large quantity production.
http://www.pentadyne.com

Powerco US/Ocean Power — a new private marketing arm, formed as subsidiary to Ocean Power (NASDAQ PWRE). Initial focus on small stirling engine they acquired in Norway, but parent company has too many breakthrough technologies in its arsenal to believe, ranging from diesel CHP, dish PV, fuel cells…and they didn’t even mention desalination, another area they claim to have cornered. http://www.powerco.com/

Ceramic Fuel Cells Ltd — Solid Oxide FC contender in Australia that appears quite credible. In the breakout session they showed a new all-ceramic stack configuration that is looking very promising. Market entry product is a 40 KW generator, to operate on straight methane (SOFC is autoreforming, so no fuel processor needed). http://www.cfcl.com.au/content.htm

BCS Technology — a tiny company from Texas, founded 1990, with “self-humidified” PEM fuel cell stacks and MEAs. They’ve sold over 100 small stacks.

ALM Turbine — This company looked overly ambitious when they started raising money 1-2 years ago, but they say their progress is on track. Their first engine is just about ready for tests, and preliminary emissions data for their burner technology is promising. Their engine is completely scalable in size, from 25-350 KW, and they claim high efficiency, and high part load performance. Design relies heavily on exhaust gas recirculation. http://www.almturbine.com

Sixth Dimension — Until recently, it was difficult to understand what this company did, but they’re doing better at explaining it now. They’re a “network operating system” for communicating with any/all types, brands etc of energy producing, consuming and monitoring devices, e.g. meters, gensets, building control systems, energy analytics systems, etc. They put a “gateway” box on site which they call “Embedded Site Server”, to which 16 devices can be connected. Each device gets a smaller box called the “Power Tone Adapter” which can be outside or inside the device. The system of proprietary hardware and software makes possible all manner of clever monitoring and control functions. This sounds like what Encorp says, but they say Encorp can only do these things if you have Encorp switchgear. 6th is far more equipment-agnostic.
http://www.sixthdimension.com

Alternative Designs Inc — ADI has unique stirling engine technology enabling operation at much higher temperatures, attaining efficiencies of 50% and greater. Other enhancements include an advanced regenerator, and simplified heater head design, leading to big cost reductions and higher reliability. [I am an advisor to this company.]

DayStar Technologies — Unique PV cell technology. Company first developed a “flat-plate concentrator” technology that was clever and intriguing, but would require extensive capital development. DayStar is now focused primarily on their own cadmium-telluride “thin-film-on-metals” solar cells. The cells are manufactured in sheets, which can be used whole, or cut into cells which can be a direct “replacement” for Si cells, at half the cost.
http://www.daystartech.com

Rolls Royce — as noted above, RR decided not to pursue a microturbine development, despite having invested quite a bit of money in it. Instead, they’re going for a special purpose turbine to be combined with their own planar SOFC. Program began in 1992. This 1 MW hybrid is to be ready by 2005. RR will fund most of the program internally, but will seek strategic partners for funding, and technical/marketing support, leading to a possible spinoff company.

Vanteck(VRB) Technology Corp. — (public company, CNDX symbol VRB ) commercializing the vanadium redox battery technology, and in particular VESS, for Vanadium Energy Storage Systems. The company is in the midst of straightening out a particularly messy history of corporate ownership of IP and market rights, but assuming that can be done, are focusing on the US market. This is flow-battery has some uniquely attractive features, including high round trip efficiency, and freedom to size a system’s power (KW) and capacity (KWH) separately (either aspect can be added to over time). In concept, this is very similar to the Regenesys battery, but with different chemistry, and targeted at smaller systems. The first commercial installation outside Japan is starting up now — a 250 KW/ 520KWH unit at ESKOM, in South Africa.
http://www.vanteckvrb.com/

Small Modular Biopower System

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Beginning in 1999, Community Power Corp (CPC) joined with NREL and Shell Renewables to develop a new generation of small modular biopower systems (SMB), designed to replace conventional diesel generators and to free communities from dependence on diesel fuel, with its high cost and environmental damage.

CPC’s fully automated SMB system can use a variety of biomass fuels to generate electricity and thermal energy for rural communities, enterprises and social services, and usually solving a agricultural residue disposal problem at the same time. The initial prototype SMB, rated at 12 1/2 kWe, is performing well in a Philippine village, since it’s commissioning on 2 April 2001.

With support from the Calif Energy Commission, CPC is now installing a second SMB on the Hoopa Valley Indian Tribe reservation in northern California. Fueled with forest residue, the unit will supply heat and power to a greenhouse, and CO2 enriched exhaust gases will also aid plant growth.

CPC’s advanced design, downdraft gasifier with fully integrated and automatic controls, produces an extremely clean combustible gas from a variety of woody fuels. The “producer” gas is conditioned and fed into a standard internal combustion engine genset for conversion to mechanical, electrical, and thermal power. Future systems will be adapted to SOFC fuel cells, microturbines, stirling and other IC engines.

Specifications and Features
– Combined heat and power operation for rural electrification and distributed generation applications;
– Environmentally friendly, non-condensing system without scrubbers, effluents or hazardous wastes;
– Fully automatic, closed-loop control of all components including gasifier, gas conditioning and genset;
– Dispatchable power within one minute of auto-startup ? uses no diesel fuel or gasoline;
– Fuel flexible: wood pellets, coconut shells, wood chips, corn cobs, palm nut shells;
– Electrical output in blocks from 5kWe to 25kWe; 120 and 240 VAC; 50 and 60 Hz;
– Modular, transportable, no need for on-site buildings or waste water disposal, 1 day installation.

Remarkably, Community Power actually first identified a market and need, and then developed SMB as the technology to meet it, rather than the other way around. The founders were experienced in the electrification of offgrid communities using conventional renewable energy technologies (PV, wind).

To serve this large, demanding market, (over 4 million communities) CPC specified a system that was sized for the typical un-electrified community; automated to prevent reliance on unskilled operators; mobile to facilitate easy installation and relocation; able to operate without the co-mixing of any fossil fuels; modular and scalable; and perhaps most importantly, one that met stringent environmental requirements with no liquid effluents or toxic wastes.

Worldwide, millions of potential customers annually dispose of billions of tons of forest and agricultural residues through burning or dumping, generating both air pollution and green house gases. Where these consumers have a sustainable source of biomass residue and where fossil fuel is either very expensive or not readily available, the SMB can be the lowest cost and greenest solution.

(A point that’s often missed in thinking about 3rd world village power– a large fraction of these communities do have currency, and already spend too much of it on energy, as currently their only choices are diesel or lead-acid batteries carried to distant charging stations–both of which are expensive and dirty. These communities can afford, and will welcome, to pay for a cheaper better local source of power.)

The company website has a great deal more information:
http://www.gocpc.com/

A recent slide presentation can be found at:
http://www.energy2001.ee.doe.gov/RenewablApps/S5-Walt/sld001.htm

Contact: Robb R. Walt
rwalt@gocpc.com 303- 933-3135
Community Power Corp., Littleton, Co

——-
There was a recent article in the Far Eastern Economic Review regarding CPC and the use of coconuts as fuel for their small modular bipower system that has been installed in the village of Alaminos in the Phillipines.
http://www.feer.com/2001/0104_05/p036innov.html

——–
( 1 Aug email from Walt Robb, one of the founders)

Big news: Due to our efforts, by the end of September the DOE and US Forest Service will provide CPC with a non-competitive “Phase 3” add-on to our current SMB contract. The add-on will total $3.2 million over 2 1/2 years. We must secure $1.2 million of the $3.2 as cost share (38%). The cost share can come from multiple sources. Already, we have been contacted/visited by firms interested in the possibility of leveraging these funds.
Other news:
1. We have won two SBIR’s
2. California Energy Commission has specifically stated they are ready to give us a significant add-on to scale-up our SMB platform to 50 kW and conduct many more demos in California
3. The US Army has expressed interest in our 25kW SMB and 5 kW micro-modular biomass hybrid power system for their “Zero Foot Print Camp” program
4. A Massachusetts company has proposed a $350,000 demo in the state with state funding
5. The new trailer-mounted SMB for Hoopa is exceeding all of our expectations.
6. Art is back from vacation at Deep Creek Lake and didn’t catch any fish.

Hologram PV windows

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A novel approach to solar PV has been quietly hatching in Tucson for a number of years. I’ve been on their trail since early ’98, but until very recently they were in strict stealth-mode, and it was impossible to get a handle on what they were doing. (It was refreshing to see a startup that understood the benefits of laying low until they have something to show.)

TerraSun’s patent issued quietly in March ’99 (# 5,877,874), and then in mid May of this year, they did a press release and launched an effort to raise money and identify potential customers and strategic partners (suppliers and sales channels). The company has been funded up to now by part-owner Apogee Enterprises (nasdaq APOG), an $800 million major manufacturer of architectural window products (www.apog.com).

Their PV technology uses holographic optics to concentrate light onto standard silicon cells. Imagine a multi-layer window pane with solar cells arrayed across it in long bands, leaving clear spaces inbetween. If a band of cells is 1″ wide, then the clear space would be from 1″ to 4″ wide. A holographic film, sandwiched between layers of glass, directs the incoming light into the solar cells. Solar concentration ratios of 1.5 have already been demonstrated, and the company believes they can reach ratios of 4-5.

There are several implications. One, as with any concentration scheme, less area of silicon is needed, which presumably lowers cost. Two, the wavelengths of light directed into the cell can be optimized. Three, the window remains transparent, allowing the passage of light, ideal, for example, for skylights. Four, the wavelengths of this transmitted light can be tuned, for example to reject heat. TerraSun has coined a term “Power Window” to describe a product which produces on peak electricity, while allowing the passage of daylight. (The company estimates this approach will be competitive with the various semi-transparent thin-film PV approaches that others are developing.)

With the growing interest in BIPV (building integrated PV), and energy efficiency in general (e.g. low emissivity coatings for windows), TerraSun expects to exploit huge opportunities not only in PV, but eventually in other applications of holographic optics as well. They see energy as perhaps only the first area of application for holographic optics, which is the company’s real strength. (Using holograms as optical devices is a relatively new and little-known idea. In effect, holograms can be made to act as lenses, mirrors, filters, etc., processing light instead of just recording images.)

The company’s website is http://www.terrasun.com. Much more information is available from the company, in particular, a confidential business plan.

Contact:
Glenn Rosenberg, 520-512-1995 grosenberg@terrasun.com

On-Line Transformer and Battery Monitoring

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Serveron Corp. launched itself in February as the industry’s first provider of full time monitoring services for T&D equipment. Starting with the gas-in-oil sensors developed by a predecessor company, Micromonitors, Serveron offers a complete solution, from instrumentation, to on-line monitoring, to (condition-based) maintenance scheduling and asset management, to risk management. The company also has comprehensive monitoring technology for station battery systems. The complete suite of applications also covers tap changers, arresters, bushings and breakers.

Large Power Transformers:
Note some alarming facts about the T&D infrastructure, and large transformers in particular. The fleet is “graying” — the average age of units now in use is 35 years. Hartford Steam Boiler has data showing an exponential increase in serious failures: 1% of large transformers (1,000 transformers in the US alone) will fail this year, and the failure rate will rise to 2% by 2008.

The average cost of such a unit is $2-3 million and lead time for new ones can exceed a year or more, so a major failure has very significant implications. An early target — powerplant step-up transformers. Any event that could take part or all of a plant’s capacity off-line for a long time becomes even more crucial in today’s climate.

In addition, major savings can be realized with true condition-based maintenance. Since monitoring and diagnostics have not been readily available or cost-effective, utilities now perform maintenance on arbitrary schedules, but estimates are that 30% to 50% of that work is unnecessary. Finally, capital equipment replacements can be prioritized and scheduled in ways that specifically minimize physical and financial risk.

Serveron’s TrueGas™ analyzers monitor the levels of volatile dissolved gases in the insulating oil in large transformers and other oil-filled equipment. Over the life of a transformer, fault gases form due to the degradation of the insulating materials or from the presence of thermal or electrical faults. The type and concentration of these gases are primary indicators of transformer condition and types of faults.

TrueGas analyzers are the only instruments available today that detect and separately analyze trace levels of all eight fault gases. Other instruments detect only a subset of these gases or provide only combined gas data that may not accurately predict equipment failures.

Since serious problems evidence themselves only hours to days before a failure, realtime online measurements and analysis are critical. Test procedures that involve the periodic drawing of samples and sending them to a lab just can’t do the job.

Serveron’s on-site equipment and Web-based analysis software provide continuous monitoring during actual operations, and thus early identification of transformer conditions that require maintenance or that could lead to catastrophic failure of the equipment.

The company will also integrate other sensor data into the system, such as electrical, thermal and mechanical (e.g. acoustic/vibration) parameters.

Battery Systems:
All power plants and T&D substations have large banks of batteries which provide back-up power required for startup and for graceful shut down in the event of an unplanned outage or equipment failure. There can be 50 to 70 truck-battery-sized cells in each bank, for a total of tens of thousands of individual battery cells in an average utility, at hundreds of remote locations. Inspection and maintenance is a major cost, as these systems must function when called upon. (In nuclear plants, they also have to be available, or the plant may have to shut down.)

Serveron’s CellSense™ monitors provide continuous measurements of all key physical and electrical parameters needed to characterize the condition of all individual cells as well as the battery system as a whole. CellSense™ instruments monitor the batteries on-site, and graphical data can be viewed from any remote location using a common browser to access Serveron’s secure web site. With CellSense™ monitoring, battery maintenance and inspection can be reduced from a monthly to an annual activity.

I have a company powerpoint presentation (400kb) that I can send on request, and more information is available on the company’s website:

http://www.serveron.com/

Contact: Jim Moon, CEO 541-330-2350 jim.moon@serveron.com