Airmax Group HQ is converting to Microgeneration (Update)

 

Since oil prices and the environmental awareness have increased during the past years, hydrogen has gained interest as an alternative clean energy source to existing fossil fuels. This attention is mainly due to hydrogen being a non-polluting energy carrier and having energy saving potential in fuel-cell applications. Hydrogen can be directly combusted in an internal combustion engine, and a fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device. A fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity.

Vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells generate no exhaust emissions other than clean water vapour. Unfortunately, producing and distributing large quantities of hydrogen gas is impossible with current infrastructures. Researchers are instead turning to on-board fuel generation using electrolysis or and small scale hydrogen production from reforming fossil fuels – both ‘off the grid’ local production and more recently on-board micro reforming. However there are major issues with cost, scale and efficiencies.

There are several ways of making hydrogen in the UK. The cheapest and contentious way is to convert natural gas into hydrogen by a process called reformation. Reforming natural gas into hydrogen produces CO₂ but no more than burning it. However, using the hydrogen in a hydrogen fuel cell or using the natural gas itself in a natural gas fuel cell produces at least twice as much useful energy for a given amount of natural gas than burning it (in a natural gas fuel cell the natural gas is ‘reformed’ inside the fuel cell).

Therefore to get the best use from natural gas we should endeavour to use it in fuel cells, either directly or after reforming it into hydrogen. Natural gas fuel cells will be a good bridge technology to a hydrogen-powered world.

Natural gas, i.e. methane, is a powerful greenhouse gas, 10 times more effective than CO₂, so we should use up all the natural gas on Earth by burning it or using it in fuel cells before it escapes and adds to global warming. Commercial pressures are achieving this anyway and in due course natural gas will become scarce so we need to develop alternative ways to make hydrogen.

Microgeneration helps to combat climate change. The UK Climate Change Act 2008 includes a legally binding target of at least 80% cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, to be achieved through action in the UK and abroad, and a reduction in emissions of at least 34 per cent by 2020. At EU level, the Renewables Directive sets targets for each member state for the proportion of energy generation that should come from renewable sources by 2020. The EU has a 20% renewables target by 2020 and the UK’s legally binding target is 15%.

Microgeneration is the small-scale generation of heat and power by individuals, small businesses and communities to meet their own needs, as alternatives or supplements to traditional centralised grid-connected power. Although this may be motivated by practical considerations, such as unreliable grid power or long distance from the grid, the term is mainly used currently for environmentally-conscious approaches that aspire to zero or low-carbon footprints.

In April 2010 the Government introduced the Feed-In Tariff (FIT). This is a scheme whereby the Department of Energy and Climate Change rewards the generation of power produced by sustainable and renewable methods. This tariff is provided through the national energy companies who will buy all the energy (total generation) produced by a solar PV system as well as any excess that is not consumed at point of generation. The term of this tariff is currently 25 years. Our system will qualify for the Feed-In Tariff as it will be installed by an accredited MCS (Micro-generation Certification Scheme) company. Savings in carbon reduction are associated to the carbon reduction created by using non-fossil fuel resourced energy.

 

The flat roof area of Airmax’s HQ building, coloured blue, will be used for 50 x 235W modules. The total are of panel will be 81 m² with an expected output of 11.75 kilowatt peak. Thus giving Airmax a saving of nearly 5 tonnes a year of CO₂

The panels will be fitted on their standalone frames and provide sufficient power for the business. Any excess will we inverted back the national grid.

 

The plan is to use this green energy source as a supplement to the electricity grid for the building use but also to create hydrogen on site by electrolysis. Renewable energy of almost any form can be harvested, buffered and used “on demand” using micro-generated hydrogen gas as a storage medium. This universal form of energy has the potential to run every aspect of our lives, electricity, heating and transport. It is easy to produce, easy to use but hard to store. When it burns it produces only water with no carbon dioxide so it is non-polluting and carbon neutral; though this does of course depend on the original source of the hydrogen.

The technology to utilise hydrogen as an environmentally friendly universal energy carrier has existed for decades but is emerging with early adopters. Hydrogen has the highest energy content per unit of weight of any known element. It is also the lightest element. As a result, it is characterised by low volume energy density, meaning that a given volume of hydrogen contains a small amount of energy. Material properties such as low mass, low boiling point, no liqueification above temperatures of -240°C, high diffusivity, all present significant challenges to storing the large quantities of hydrogen ´energy´ that will be necessary in the emerging hydrogen economy.

Hydrogen is an efficient storage medium for electrical energy, thanks to existing electro-chemical conversion processes such as electrolysis (production) and fuel cells (consumption). From a systems point of view, hydrogen gas could be considered even more efficient than battery storage. Airmax is working with its partners on low cost physical and also electro-chemical hydrogen compression techniques that will offer means to create and store hydrogen in readiness for usage in fuels cells within vehicles.

The key difference between hydrogen and other forms of energy is that hydrogen is truly “Universal”. Imagine a single source of energy in your home that can power your heating, your electricity and your car.

One issue impeding the wide scale implementation of hydrogen technologies is the recovery of energy back from the hydrogen. Fuel cells remain too expensive to be economically viable in a domestic situation. In the mean time a hydrogen gas boiler can be used to heat the water used to run our heating and hot water supplies, thus lowering your energy bills and reducing your carbon foot print. A normal gas boiler should be able to be modified to run off hydrogen by changing the valves but gas engineers with the technical know how are few and far between. Alternatively a hydrogen catalytic burner could achieve the same, but again the technology it too new to be widespread and available at a cost effective price.

Airmax has a four pronged research programme:

1. It will continue to develop in-vehicle ECU and telematics designs to help manage dual fuels
2. It will continue to develop remote monitoring technology to compress the hydrogen for PEM Cell and internal combustion engines. This will include ‘off grid’ hydrogen production and local storage
3. The implementation of horizon data and ADAS to assist with efficiencies in driver and vehicles management
4. Micro-Generated Hydrogen for home and fleet

Proton exchange membrane fuel cells, also known as polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells (PEMFC), are a type of fuel cell being developed for transport applications as well as for stationary fuel cell applications and portable fuel cell applications.

 

Extracting hydrogen from natural gas – it’s worth it

Fuel cells use hydrogen, which is only available in bound form. It can be extracted, for example, by increasing the temperature of natural gas and water vapour above 600° Celsius and passing it through so-called catalysts. This process is called “reforming” and creates compounds of H₂ and CO₂.

The plan is to use the natural gas supply already in the building but also supplement with hydrogen from electrolysis on-site using green solar power. Airmax has chosen the Baxi Innotech unit to process the hydrogen and proved hot water and electricity.

(www.baxi-innotech.de/index.php?id=64&lang=1)

 

 

ADAS = Advanced Driver Assistance System

The support of ADAS applications in the vehicle requires an accurate knowledge of the road segments lying ahead of the vehicle. In recent years, map vendors have improved significantly the level of detail and accuracy of digitised data. Nowadays digital navigation maps contain already detailed information about road geometry, topology and additional attributes such as number of lanes or speed limits. The diagram shows an overview about information which is available in digital maps today, or is expected to be in the future. The so-called “Electronic Horizon” describes the road segments ahead of the vehicle with available attributes. Future maps will support even more details depending on the requirements demanded by the automotive industry to support ADAS systems. One of these additional attributes might be slope information, which possibly can be used for optimisation of fuel economy and electrical energy control.

(Click to enlarge)

 

REFERENCES

[1] “Innovative Hybrid Routing Services”, Christian Ress et al., Ford Forschungszentrum Aachen, ITS in Europe, Hannover 2005.
[2] ADASIS Forum website: http://www.ertico.com/en/activities/projects_and_fora/adasis_forum.htm
[3] PReVENT website: http://www.prevent-ip.org
[4] MAPS&ADAS project website: http://www.prevent-ip.org/en/prevent_subprojects/horizontal_activities/maps__adas