FLC Award for Fuel Cell Technology

An Argonne research team has been awarded a Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer for their work on an autothermal fuel reforming catalyst for fuel cells. Award recipients are Shabbir Ahmed, Mike Krumpelt, Romesh Kumar, John David Carter, John Kopasz, and Joong-Myeon Bae. The autothermal reforming catalyst is the key component of a fuel processor (or reformer) that can efficiently convert methanol, ethanol, natural gas, gasoline, and diesel into hydrogen that can be fed to a fuel cell to produce electricity. The fuel processor produces high-quality hydrogen fuel within two minutes of startup and at temperatures that are several hundreds of degrees centigrade below those required for reformers based on a noncatalytic reaction. This fuel flexibility, shorter startup time, and lower operating temperatures will help make fuel-cell-powered automobiles practical.

The fuel reformer will allow fuel-cell-powered cars to run on conventional fuels, rather than on pure hydrogen, making them more attractive to consumers. With a recent improvement in the catalyst, the reformer can be 25 times smaller than previous models (it's about the size of a two-liter soda bottle), making it less expensive, less of a drain on fuel economy, and easier to integrate into a car. Unlike most conventional catalysts, which are poisoned by sulfur, the Argonne catalyst tolerate the sulfur present in petroleum-derived fuels.

The new catalyst and reformer could also help make fuel cells more attractive as power sources for homes, commercial buildings, and remote locations. The advantages of fuel cells include high efficiency and extremely low or no emissions.

The key to Argonne's highly successful transfer of this important technology was the use of a team-building concept to develop strategic partnerships, both within Argonne and with commercial entities. The technology was transferred through a combination of cooperative research and development agreements (CRADAs) and license agreements with multiple companies. This technology transfer effort has already resulted in the creation of a new joint-venture company and the investment of several millions of dollars in commercialization. Successful commercialization of the transferred technology will result in high market penetration of highly desirable clean, efficient fuel cells in homes, businesses, and portable power applications.

Federal Laboratory Awards are given annually to federal laboratory employees who are not technology transfer professionals in recognition of exceptional efforts in transferring federal-laboratory-developed technology to outside organizations for commercialization or use.

Argonne's research was funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy.