Students Challenged to Address Global Energy Needs
Global Venture Challenge 2008 (GVC) is an educational event designed to foster entrepreneurial spirit by engaging students, industry, government and the investment community in the discovery and development of innovative ideas. This year’s event focused on one of the world’s most critical issues—energy. Semi-finalists from 14 teams competed for a top award of $25,000 by submitting technology-based business plans specific to meeting the needs of bioenergy, energy efficiency and renewable fuels.
Team: Longhorn FuelTech
Team Members: Matthew Sullivan, Matthew Whitt, Gary Hanson, Mark Olney, Jason Moore
School: The University of Texas at Austin
Faculty Advisor: Steven P. Nichols
Topic: Energy Efficiency
Product or Service: Two technologies to reduce the cost and improve the performance of direct methanol fuel cells.
Pictured (L to R) are Matthew Sullivan and Jason Moore of the University of Texas at Austin “Longhorn FuelTech” Team. High-resolution version of photo
Fuel cell manufacturers ought to get a charge out of this. Two technologies that will reduce the cost and improve the performance of direct methanol fuel cells are sparking interest at the Global Venture Challenge 2008.
The technologies are a palladium-based fuel cell catalyst and an acid-base blend membrane for fuel cells.
Palladium-based fuel cell catalysts will replace the current standard platinum catalysts in direct methanol fuel cells. The function of palladium-based catalysts and platinum catalysts remains the same in that both act as the catalyst for the fundamental oxidation reaction that splits hydrogen atoms into protons and electrons. The liberated electrons underlie the direct current needed to supply power.
The palladium-based catalysts improve the performance of current catalysts and reduce the costs of manufacturing fuel cells by reducing the cost of a catalyst, one of the most expensive components of fuel cells.
Fuel cells also require a proton conducting membrane to guide the protons separated from the hydrogen atom. Membranes composed of a blend of a basic polymer and an acidic polymer will replace the currently used Nafion membranes in fuel cells.
The function of the new membrane will be the same as the Nafion, but the new acid-base blend technology will enhance or match current proton conduction performance while providing superior long-term performance at a lower cost.
The acid-based membrane uses a novel atomic configuration to enhance proton conduction over current alternatives, thereby improving the performance and efficiency of the fuel cell. Also, by employing common industrial polymers for the acid and base, production costs will be further reduced.
The initial customer group for both products will be fuel cell manufacturers. They should be interested in the new technologies because one of the primary limitations on fuel cell implementation is cost. These two technologies, developed by the same inventor, compliment each other nicely to reduce the costs of the two most expensive components of fuel cells—the catalyst and the membrane.
Also appealing is the fact that acid-base blend membranes will enhance the life of the catalyst in the fuel cell and this will extend the life of the fuel cell. In addition, acid-based membranes can function at a lower humidity, which may eliminate the need for, or size of, expensive hydration systems for fuel cells.
Mindbranch, a market research source, estimates the market for fuel cell catalysts was $51.5 million in 2006 and that this will expand to $2.4 billion by 2013. According to World Fuel Cells, a new study from The Freedonia Group, an international business research company, the commercial demand for fuel cells is expected to grow nearly six fold to $2.5 billion by 2011, reaching $8.5 billion in 2016.