The power of clean – INEEL develops clean hydrogen power from dirty diesel

There might come a day, about 10 years from now, when the Navy’s destroyers are quieter, require half the fuel, pollute less and have a smaller heat signature for enemies to detect.

By KATHLEEN O’NEIL
[email protected]

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That’s being made possible by work being done at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory. The laboratory announced Tuesday that it has created the first system to convert diesel fuel into a 30 percent hydrogen mixture big enough to power a large ship through fuel cells, about 500 kilowatts.

The six-year $25 million project was able to start producing a hydrogen-rich fuel mixture about six weeks ago, and about 10 days ago was able to start using it to run a 5-kilowatt fuel cell for the first time.

"We see this as the start of a new technology that will greatly improve on where we are today," said Rodger McKain, president of SOFCo-EFS, a fuel-cell company that split the project’s cost with the U.S. Navy.

"It could help make stealthier ships," said Mark Cervi, power generation coordinator for the Navy. He said the military will decide in two years whether it will fund building a prototype system for a new class of destroyers, which are scheduled to start being built in 10 years.

Although the process of getting hydrogen from diesel is not new, the scale of the system is. Also, it is the only system specifically designed to run on high-sulfur content diesel, which the Navy can buy around the world. By using the diesel to run a fuel cell instead of burning it, the system produces twice the energy output, without sulfur or nitrous oxide pollution.

It also could be altered to run on cleaner fuels, such as biodiesel, to avoid dependence on fossil fuels, said Lyman Frost, INEEL director of special projects.

But the Navy’s not the only one looking to use the technology. It could be installed anywhere people want to have quiet, self-contained energy systems instead of diesel generators.

"I go up to Salmon and other small towns and think about how it would help them to be able to make clean energy on demand," Frost said.

Dennis Witmer, a technology specialist at the University of Alaska in Fairbanks, was present for a demonstration of the diesel reforming system to see if it could be used in remote Arctic villages that aren’t connected to a power grid.

"There’s a significant interest in rural communities because right now many have to listen to a noisy diesel generator 24/7," Witmer said. The main problem will be bringing down its cost.

Just the 5-kilowatt fuel cell that is running at the INEEL costs $200,000, and that was subsidized, and doesn’t include the cost of a system to isolate hydrogen from diesel. Studies have shown that if the cost of the system came down to about $3,500, and could provide 5 kilowatts of electricity, plus heat, there would be a huge market among homeowners, Witmer said.

"So we still have a ways to go," he said. "It’s somewhere between 10 years and infinity."

Energy and Environment reporter Kathleen O’Neil can be reached at 542-6763.