TransForum Vol. 3, No. 4

ARGONNE POISED TO MEET FREEDOMCAR NEEDS

Some say that luck is 90% preparation. If so, Argonne's experience has put the laboratory in a fortunate position to help the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and USCAR (DaimlerChrysler, Ford, and General Motors) meet the needs of FreedomCAR, a new government-industry research program announced by Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham on January 9, 2002. FreedomCAR is aimed at reducing America's dependence on petroleum through the development of hydrogen-powered fuel-cell cars and light trucks. FreedomCAR focuses on the basic research needed to provide a full range of fuel-cell vehicles that use no petroleum and produce no harmful emissions. Fuel cells combine hydrogen fuel with oxygen from the air to create electricity, which powers vehicles by means of electric motors. Hydrogen offers a promising energy alternative to fossil fuelsbecause it can be made from water or renewable resources and produces only water when used to generate power.

Fuel-cell research is not new. In fact, Argonne has been a leader in the field for more than 20 years. During that time, the Laboratory, sponsored by DOE's Office of Transportation Technologies, has fostered a long line of innovations in new materials, analytical methods, and design concepts for advanced fuel-cell systems. Our experience and capabilities could prove vital to the new FreedomCAR program. Some of our current fuel-cell research is highlighted below.

Hydrogen Production

There would be little advantage to developing nonpolluting fuel-cell vehicles if the systems used to manufacture hydrogen fuel generated and released significant amounts of polluting gases. Current hydrogen production technologies (widely used in petroleum fuel refining and fertilizer manufacture) do just that, because hydrogen production consumes a lot of energy, which typically comes from burning fossil fuels. One goal of the FreedomCAR program, therefore, is to help devise methods of creating vast quantities of hydrogen in sustainable and environmentally responsible ways.

Argonne researchers are working to develop an economical thermochemical process that uses the next generation of nuclear reactors to provide a pollution-free heat source for hydrogen manufacture. The system employs a modular fast-neutron reactor that can exploit the full energy content ofuranium, thereby reducing concerns about nuclear proliferation. Working with Argonne on reactor development are researchers at Texas A&M University, General Electric, the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute, and the Italian National Agency for New Technology, Energy and Environment.

Michael Krumpelt displays the new catalyst he and his colleagues developed to help bring fuel-cell vehicles to the marketplace.

Reformer Catalyst

Because it will take a decade or more before a hydrogen production, storage, and delivery infrastructure is in place, carmakers are expected to adopt an interim fuel-cell technology based on gasoline, natural gas, or some other fuel that is readily available to consumers. Vehicles of this type would have an onboard fuel processor (fuel reformer) that would strip hydrogen from the fuel, allowing vehicles to make their own hydrogen on an as-needed basis.

With support from DOE's Office of Advanced Automotive Technologies, Argonne has developed a reforming catalyst that is the key component of a fuel reformer that can efficiently convert gasoline, diesel fuel, natural gas, methanol, or ethanol into a hydrogen-rich fuel. Because of the catalyst's potential importance in hastening the commercialization of fuel-cell vehicles, the technology won a coveted R&D 100 Award in 2001 and has recently been licensed by a catalyst supplier for fuel-cell processors.

Total Fuel-Cycle Analysis

Argonne's GREET (Greenhouse gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Transportation) model was developed to assist decision makers in selecting the fuel that achieves the greatest overall benefits when used in advanced vehicles, including fuel-cell systems. The software model provides complete well-to-wheel evaluations of how energy and emissions considerations change when fuel-cell vehicles use different fuels.

Hydrogen Infrastructure Analysis

Introducing new transportation technologies requires careful planning. Argonne has developed comprehensive analysis techniques to provide projections of the effects that advanced transportation technologies will have on society and the influence of government policies on their development and use. Acurrent research project is examining accelerated hydrogen production scenarios. Argonne researchers are trying to find out how many hydrogen-fueled vehicles could be supported by 2010, 2015, and 2020. Argonne has also performed a cost study of various hydrogen infrastructure options.

Computer Modeling

Although fuel-cell vehicles are mechanically simpler than vehicles that employ conventional internal combustion engines, they still consist of many interacting systems, which pose difficulties in optimizing vehicle designs. To aid in this process, Argonne developed the General Computational toolkit (GCtool), a versatile simulation software package for designing, analyzing, and comparing different power-plant configurations. Argonne's GCtool lets designers "try out" different system configurations without the expense and delays of actually building numerous prototypes. More than a dozen organizations outside of Argonne are using GCtool for systems analysis and evaluation.

Fuel-Cell Test Facility

The Fuel-Cell Test Facility at Argonne provides fuel-cell developers, government agencies, and U.S. automakers with independent testing to evaluate and validate fuel-cell stacks and systems up to 50 kW. The facility furnishes direct comparisons of alternative fuel-cell technologies in terms of performance and operational characteristics. Argonne's independent testing clarifies claims and helps validate the capabilities of differing technologies.

Argonne's new four-wheel-drive chassis dynamometer will be used to test fuel cell and other advanced vehicles.

Four-Wheel-Drive Chassis Dynamometer Test Cell

Argonne has lead responsibility for a program with DOE's Office of Transportation Technologies to conduct emissions and energy-efficiency tests on hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), sport utility vehicles, and advanced-technology vehicles, including fuel-cell vehicles. The world-class facility being developed at Argonne is capable of benchmarking the most advanced powertrains for future cars and trucks. The test cell, which will be operational this summer, contains a state-of the-art electric four-wheel-drive chassis dynamometer that will operate in a climate-controlled environment for highly accurate emissions and fuel measurements. Argonne's new four-wheel-drive chassis dynamometer will be used to test fuel-cell and other advanced-technology vehicles.