Aiming to put fuel cells to work
Acumentrics in Westwood is developing units for the home that create energy and heat through chemical reactions, not traditional technology
A powerful winter storm swept across northeastern Ohio in early January, knocking out power for nearly 60,000 customers. But in an isolated one-story building, tucked among the trees and fields of Cuyahoga Valley National Park, the lights stayed on.
So did the computers. The power source: two fuel cells, each about the size of a refrigerator.
"It worked seamlessly," said Tom Toledo, maintenance operations supervisor at the park. "We didn't even realize there was a power outage."
The performance of these fuel cells, a demonstration project for fuel cell maker Acumentrics Corp. of Westwood, is an example of a technology whose time may be approaching. Unlike traditional technologies, which burn fuels like oil, coal, and natural gas to make power, fuel cells rely on chemical reactions to produce electricity and heat.
Fuel cells are most frequently imagined as an advanced engine for automobiles. But as Acumentrics' success in Ohio demonstrates, on-site generation represents another application, one that specialists say will make it to market long before fuel cells replace the internal combustion engine.
Acumentrics, in fact, is moving toward commercial production of a compact fuel cell system to power and heat homes. Working with the Italian heating products company Merloni TermoSanitari, Acumentrics hopes to get these household units, small enough to hang on a wall, into European markets by 2010. Estimated price: $5,200.
"This is a new way of making electricity," said Gary Simon, Acumentrics chief executive. "It's like going from vacuum tubes to microchips."
Acumentrics is one of about 40 Massachusetts firms developing fuel cell technology that someday may power everything from military outposts to cellphones. The basic workings of fuel cells were discovered in the first half of the 19th century, with the first practical fuel cell invented about a century later. In subsequent decades, NASA greatly advanced the technology, using it to generate electricity during space missions.
More recently, soaring oil prices and growing environmental concerns have boosted interest and investment in fuel cells, with Massachusetts firms attracting tens of millions of dollars in venture capital. Acumentrics, however, is among the closest to commercializing its technology, according to the Renewable Energy Trust, which invests in the state's alternative energy industry.
"They have proven the basic technology and developed a commodity product that can go into a house," said Karl Jessen, economic development officer at the Renewable Energy Trust. "They are certainly going to be one of the first to market."
Acumentrics was founded in 1994 as a manufacturer of devices that transform uneven, surge-prone electricity produced by field generators into steady, utility-grade power. Acumentrics still makes the devices, selling about 90 percent to the military and providing revenues that have made the company profitable and supported fuel cell research and development.
The company acquired its fuel cell technology, developed at Keele University in the United Kingdom, in 2000. Acumentrics makes what are known as solid oxide fuel cells. Fuels composed largely of carbon and hydrogen, including natural gas, landfill gas, and biofuels, are pumped into the cell, where they react with oxygen from surrounding air. The reaction charges oxygen molecules, which pass through thin membranes that separate positively charged particles from negatively charged electrons.
The electrons are conducted through the cell, and, voila, electricity. Fuel cells use less fuel than combustion technologies and eliminate nearly all emissions.
Acumentrics, however, had to solve a big problem: durability. The constant heating and cooling inside the cell frequently cracked the thin, flat membranes used to separate and conduct electrons. So, Acumentrics introduced ceramic tubes and coated them with the membranes. The shatter-proof cylinders provided the support the membranes needed to withstand the temperature changes.
Acumentrics has significantly improved the durability of its fuel cells, said Dennis Witmer, director of the Arctic Energy Technology Development Laboratory at the University of Alaska at Fairbanks. A few years ago, said Witmer, who is testing fuel cells, an Acumentrics unit ran for only about 1,000 hours, or less than two months, without failing. Now, the firm has run units for 7,500 hours, about a year.
A diesel generator, however, can operate about 40,000 hours without failure, Witmer said.
"The longer I work with fuel cells, the more impressed I get with diesel generators," Witmer said. "Acumentrics is making significant progress, but I still think they have a long way to go."
But Simon, the Acumentrics chief executive, said progress is advancing rapidly. He expects the home units for the European market to be certified to last 10 years. These units function as a combined heat and power system, using the heat generated from the chemical reaction to provide heat and hot water. The savings will cover the costs of the unit in about three years, Simon said.
European alternative energy subsidies, about 12 cents per kilowatt hour, will allow the home units to produce power for about 30 cents per kilowatt hour, competitive with Europe's high electricity rates, Simon said. To compete in the United States, the costs need to be reduced to about 10 cents per kilowatt hour.
Simon said he expects Acumentrics to get there as it improves technology and increases commercial production. In the meantime, the company will expand into a new plant in Norwood next year and double its workforce to 160.
"We've increased the fuel cell's output 120 fold, cut the cost 90 percent and the size by 80 percent," Simon said. "I think we're only going to get better."
Robert Gavin can be reached at rgavin@globe.com. 