029007
Networking of Electricity, Heat and Hydrogen in Residential FC Applications
- Application of Distributed Energy Network to Home Energy Sources -
June 13, 2007

AIST also released the following:
"Successful Development of a Small, High-Performance Micro Fuel Cell Bundle"
- Realizes more than two watts of output power in a unit size of a sugar cube (one cubic centimeter) below 600oC -

028007
10,000 Hours and Still Running Without Hitch
- 10 kW stationary fuel cell cogeneration system -
June 8, 2007

027007
Innovative Materials for SOFC Anode
- Excellent dispersibility and optimum porosity, and simple process -
June 2, 2007

026007
SOFC Technology Trend in Japan
June 8 , 2007
Translation of a table of contents of "2007 Fuel Cell Technology Trend Research Report in Japan", attached to this repot, has been completed.

025007
* METI Employs Sales-Basis Method for Supply of FC Cogeneration Systems
* Suzuki Shokan Co., Ltd. has entered on fuel cell parts evaluation business
* Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. opened Nissan Advanced Technology Center
May 29, 2007

024007
Iwatani Opened "JHC Kansai International Airport Hydrogen Station"
May 29, 2007

023007
"2007 Fuel Cell Technology Trends in Japan"
- based on analysis of patent applications (1998 to 2004) -
May 14, 2007

021007
Innovative CIGS Thin Film Forming Process
- Pave the way for realization of high-efficiency mass production of non-silicon solar cells -
May 3, 2007

012007
Extremely Small Hydrogen Generator Based on New Catalyst
- Could theoretically be assembled into FCV -
March 12, 2007

011007
SOFC Leading Edge in Japan
Feb. 28, 2007

7. Daihatsu Develops New Fuel Cell Technology That Uses No Precious Metals
- New technology has zero CO2 emissions, conserves resources and significantly reduces cost -
DAIHATSU MOTOR CO., LTD. (Daihatsu) announced today that it has, working with Japan's National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), developed a new fundamental fuel cell technology that completely eliminates the need for platinum, a precious metal that has been an essential material in the electrode catalyst in conventional fuel cells for automobiles. The new technology also fixes hydrazine hydrate inside the fuel tank to ensure its safe use as a fuel, resulting in no CO2 emissions at all.
>> More: DAIHATSU

8. Extremely Thin Thermocouple Capable of Measuring Temperature in Fuel-Cell Electrolyte Membrane - New Products -
A thermocouple having a diameter of 12.7 micrometers, thinner than the hair, has been developed, and is capable of measuring temperature in the electrolyte membrane of the PEFC.
Developed by: Okazaki Manufacturing Company

Keywords: residential SOFC system, demonstration test

A demonstration test of 1 to 2 kW home-use or residential SOFC cogeneration systems will start within this year in Japan.
The test target is to search technical problems, which stand in the way of spreading of the SOFC systems.
A total of 29 SOFC systems will be tested.
Those SOFC systems will be manufactured by three companies and be tested by six companies.

Three companies: KYOCERA Corporation, Nippon Oil Corporation, and TOTO
Six companies: Osaka Gas Co., Ltd., Tokyo Gas Co., Ltd., Hokkaido Gas. Co., Ltd., Seibu Gas Co., Ltd., Nippon Oil Corporation, and TOTO

Osaka Gas will install the SOFC system at 20 sites, and Tokyo Gas will install it at three sites.
Nippon Oil will test two types of 1 kW SOFC systems; one is of the LPG reforming type and the other is of the kerosene reforming type.
TOTO will test 2 kW SOFC systems of the city-gas reforming type at two sites.
The demonstration test is conducted under management of New Energy Foundation and is one of the NEDO grant projects.

Key links:
New Energy Foundation: http://www.nef.or.jp/english/index.html
NEDO: http://www.nedo.go.jp/english/index.html

Reforming process is based on the steam reformer.
The adsorptive desulfurization is used for the desulfurization
The reformer durability and compatibility for FC operation conditions are still under the effort for improvement.

Idemitsu started a field test of a business-use 5 kW LP-fueled fuel cell system from February 2007. The results of the test after one month were 34.3% (power generation efficiency, LHV) and 80.0% (overall efficiency, LHV). The test will be continued till February 2008.

A team led by Professor Masahiro Watanabe in Yamanashi University has succeeded in visualizing oxygen concentration distributions in the fuel cell. The system for visualizing the same was developed last year.
One can know reaction states at different locations within the fuel cell from a distribution of oxygen consumption amounts in the power generation reaction in the fuel cell.
The reaction distributions presented when the structure of the fuel cell is changed and the operations conditions are changed give many suggestions on the problems of the current fuel cell and performance enhancement.
The techniques for clearly showing the reaction distributions are very important in enhancing the performances of MEA and cells, and the cell durability.
[Measurement]
1) Reagent, which absorbs irradiated light and emit light having a specific wavelength of which the light intensity varies with the oxygen partial pressure, is coated over a transparent substrate, the reagent coated substrate is located in the gas passage, and a laser light of purple color is applied to the substrate, and a light intensity distribution was measured.
2) A calibration curve based on the amount of emitted light when the oxygen partial pressure changes is formed in advance.
3) A distribution of the oxygen partial pressures is obtained from the comparison with the calibration curve.
To visualize the oxygen concentration distribution, the following developments have been made:
1) Reagent that can endue high temperature, high humidity and strong acid during the operation of the fuel ell
2) Film allowing the reagent to be uniformly dispersed and having high oxygen permeability
3) Reagent characteristic and emitted light detecting method most suitable for the cell structure
4) Visualized cell having less noise and stray light
5) Simulation for reproduction of the measurement results and new predictions
[Development Team]
Leader: Professor: Professor Masahiro Watanabe (Yamanashi University)
Basic concept and Measurement: Yamanashi University
Reagent development, and evaluation: Waseda University
Measurement instrument: SHIMADZU
Application to Fuel Cell (residential): Fuji Electric Device Technology Co., Ltd.
Application to Fuel Cell (mobile): Hitachi, Ltd.
Simulation: Tokyo Electron Limited.
Nissan Motor as a collaborator participated in the project.
This research has been and is being made under "PEFC Visualization Project" by NEDO.
NEDO (English page): http://www.nedo.go.jp/informations/press/190705_1/190705_1.html

Nihon Micro Coating Co., Ltd. has developed the electrode of the lithium ion capacitor by utilizing its proprietary coating technologies.
The company started the development of the lithium ion capacitor under the license agreement with SUBARU, and the result of the development is the lithium ion capacitor module this time.
The company has completed an integrated manufacturing system for manufacturing the electrodes and the capacitors cells, and started to deliver samples of the lithium ion capacitors in January this year.

As known, the capacitor is advantageous in that its energy loss is low when it is charged and discharged, and its service life is semi-permanent. However, it has a serious problem that its energy density is low. This has hindered the spread of the lithium ion capacitor.
The problem was solved by the lithium ion capacitor technology. In the lithium ion capacitor, the negative electrode of the capacitor is pre-doped with lithium ions. The energy density of th lithium ion capacitor is about four times as high as that of the electric double layer capacitor.

Lithium Ion Capacitor:
Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. = SUBARU has excellent proprietary electricity storage technologies, which will be applied mainly to EV, HEV and FCV. The technologies have been implemented into lithium ion capacitor or hybrid capacitor.
The LiC has the high output characteristic of the lithium secondary battery and the high energy density of the electric double layer capacitor.
In the LiC, the positive electrode has an electricity storage mechanism of the electric double layer capacitor.
The negative electrode is made of carbon material.
Lithium ions are used for the electrolyte.
The carbon material of the negative electrode is pre-doped with lithium ions, so that the potential width is increased and the capacitance is maximized. The cell capacitance is about two times as large as the conventional one. The negative electrode potential is about 1.5 V lower than the potential of the conventional electrode. Accordingly, the cell voltage is 3.8V to 4.2 V, comparable with that of the lithium ion secondary battery. The energy density of the cell is about 4 times as high as of the conventional cell. Even where the upper potential of the positive electrode is reduced for endurance improvement, the cell voltage is about 3.6 V. The manufacturing method is easy. The manufacturing techniques of the electric double layer capacitor and the lithium dischargeable battery may be applied to the manufacturing of the LiC. The manufacturing cost of the LiC per unit energy will be lower than of the commercially available electric double layer capacitor.

AIST's researcher Hirohisa et al tackle the distributed energy networking of home energy sources.

The residential PEFC cogeneration systems are now demonstration tested in large scale. Real commercialization of the FC cogeneration systems is just around the corner.

There are problems to be solved when the FC cogeneration system is used for the home energy source.
For example, the reformer as one of the major components of the FC does not smoothly operate when it starts and stops its operation. An unexpected large power demand frequently occurs in the home-use power generators.
The approach of only improving the performance of the FC unit is incompetent for solving the problems.
Even if individual energy-saving technologies are excellent, improper combinations of them will check those technologies in showing their excellences and sometimes will spoil the excellences.

A solution to the problem is that when the fuel cell systems are applied to a group of homes, the fuel cell and the reformer of each fuel cell system are separated from each other. Electricity, heat (hot water) and hydrogen are supplied to the houses through an energy network. One reformer is commonly used by several houses.
By operating the reduced number of the reformers independently of the fuel cells, the reformer performs a rated operation at high efficiency, with the reduced cost. The fuel cells, which are separated from the reformers, flexibly operate following the loads.

To realize the concept, the researcher Hirohisa et al set a residential area including a detached houses area and an apartment house.
The research was made by using the experimental facility in AIST and based on the numerical computations.
Specific systems were designed for both the detached houses group and the apartment house, and the optimum operations could be determined.

The results of the research were:
A) For the detached houses group (Fig. 1), 1) the required numbers of the fuel cells and the reformers are each almost half of the number of houses, 2) the CO2 emission could be reduced by 6 to 8 percentages, 3) the initial cost is halved when compared to the case where the fuel cell systems are installed at those detached houses, respectively, and 4) the system scale could be gradually extended from a small system scale to a large one as the power/heat demand increases.
B) For the apartment house (Fig. 2), different types of distributed power sources, such as an engine and different types of fuel cell systems, were combined. A ratio of the electricity that could be supplied to heat (heat/electricity ratio) could be adjusted in accordance with the heat/electricity consumptions of the dwelling units. The PEFC unit and the hot water supply tank were combined and installed at each floor.

The thus designed energy networked FC cogeneration system was installed at actual houses in the Osaka Gas Experimental Housing NEXT 21, and the demonstration tests of the system was started from April 2007. Three PEFC systems (700W) were installed at three houses, and electricity and heat (hot water) were flexibly supplied from the fuel cells to those houses in accordance with the power/heat demands of those houses.
[Source: AIST press release, July 1, 2007]

To learn more, please contact Mr. Hirohisa Aki: h-aki@aist.go.jp

In connection with this article, reference is made to the following two patents documents:
1) "Energy Formation Device and Energy Carrier System"
Application number : 2003-086735
Applicant: KRI Inc,
National Institute of Advanced Industrial & Technology, and
Osaka Gas Co Ltd
Inventors: Sugimoto Ichiro, Yamamoto Shigeo, Ishii Itaru, Yamaguchi Hiroshi, Aki Hirohisa, Kondo Junji, And Matsubara Toshihiko

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an energy forming device and an energy carrier system in which energy can be mutually accommodated.
SOLUTION: By exhausting to a gas piping network 60 a waste hydrogen generated in a process of a power generation using a fuel cell 20 in which hydrogen (purified hydrogen) is supplied, or by having a three-directional valve 30 to take in the waste hydrogen from the gas piping network 60 and a pressure controller 32 and supplying the waste hydrogen exhausted from the fuel cell 20 to other devices connected to the gas piping network 60, and by supplying the waste hydrogen received from the other devices connected to the gas piping network 60 to the fuel cell 20 and reutilizing it, the waste hydrogen is mutually accommodated with the other devices connected to the gas piping network 60.

2) "Energy Transfer Control Method, Energy Transfer Control System, Energy Transfer Controller, Computer Program, and Recording Medium"
Application number : 2003-092321
Applicant : KRI Inc,
National Institute of Advanced Industrial & Technology, and
Osaka Gas Co Ltd
Inventors: Sugimoto Ichiro, Yamamoto Shigeo, Ishii Itaru, Yamaguchi Hiroshi, Aki Hirohisa, Kondo Junji, Matsubara Toshihiko

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an energy transfer control method for controlling the transfer of energy between energy generators, an energy transfer control system, an energy transfer controller, a computer program, and a recording medium.
SOLUTION: This energy transfer control system receives shortage information concerned with the shortage of power and/or warm water of an energy generator 40, selects an energy generator 40 for supplying power and/or warm water for shortage with a server 10, transmits a command of supply of power and/or a heat medium for shortage to the above selected energy generator 40, and also transmits a command of reception of power and/or a heat medium for shortage to the energy generator 40 where the shortage is occurring from the server 10, thus performing the transfer of power and/or warm water between the energy generators 40.
[Source: From JPO database]

Links:
AIST: http://www.aist.go.jp/index_en.html
NEXT 21:
http://www.arch.hku.hk/~cmhui/japan/next21/next21-index.html
JPO:
http://www19.ipdl.inpit.go.jp/PA1/cgi-bin/PA1INIT?1181710436265 http://www4.ipdl.inpit.go.jp/Tokujitu/tjbansakuen.ipdl?N0000=116

Developed cooperatively by Daiichi Kigenso Kogyo Co., Ltd. & Tanaka Chemical Corporation

Samples may be presented in companies's booth in "10th International Symposium on Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC-X)" Sponsored by The SOFC Society of Japan & The Electrochemical Society, Inc. June 3-8, 2007, Nara New Public Hall, Nara, Japan

The successful results are:
1) to increase the FC output power by about 20%,
2) to decrease the cost to manufacture the FC cell.

Products newly developed:
A) New materials for the anode of SOFC:
1) NiScSZ for low temperature, NiO-ScSZ composite powder
2) NiYSZ for high temperature, NiO-YSZ composite powder
B) SOFC cells using the new materials

Companies's technology:
NiO and ScSZ/YSZ were mixed in the intermediate process proceeding to the pulverization. The companies's know-hows were applied to stabilize the particle shapes and a mixing state in an optimum state.


Current technology:
No solution is presented to the difficulty of securing a sufficient dispersibility of NiO and ScSZ/YSZ which is essential for securing good electrode conductivity, and the complex process (including use of the pore forming agent) to form such pores as to allow an ideal amount of gas to pass therethrough.

Others:
The companies have started to supply samples to clients.
The companies are plan to build an industrial-scale plant in 2008 to 2010 in concert with client's development progress.

About Daiichi Kigenso Kogyo Co., Ltd. :
(Tokyo Stock Exchange, 2nd Section 4082)
Leading manufacturer of zirconium compounds mainly for automobile exhaust gas purifying catalysts, electronic materials, oxygen sensors, fine ceramics materials
Company Profile
The company recognized the prospects of zirconium as the electrolyte material for the fuel cell from early on, and succeeded in producing yttria stabilized zirconia (YSZ) in an industrial stage in 1980.
The company, in collaboration with TOHO GAS Co., Ltd. developed scandia stabilized zirconia (ScSZ) of high performance, and succeeded in producing it in industrial stage.
http://www.tohogas.co.jp/
This material was epoch-making to such an extent as to change the situation of the SOFC situation, and is still being supplied worldwide.

About Tanaka Chemical Corporation (JASDAQ 4080)
http://www.tanaka-chem.co.jp/corporate/index.html
Leading company of positive electrode materials for secondary batteries, such as lithium ion battery and nickel hydrogen battery.
The company has unique and excellent technologies, including " powder spheroidizing technology" and "powder control technology" in the nano-regions.
The company has decided to start the handling of fuel cell materials and ceramics, in addition to battery
materials and catalyst materials
See also Business com. Inc.

Contact:
For further information, please make contact withDaiichi Kigenso Kogyo Co., Ltd., for the present.

The papers as well as the patent applications were searched for in the research report.
A table of contents of the research report is attached to the end of this report, for reference.

The types of fuel cells searched are PEFC, DMFC, PAFC, and SOFC.
Only SOFC is selected from those fuel cells and reported here referring to the digest version. It is believed that the FC technology trend research is very high in completeness and accuracy since it was made by JPO.

It is also believed that the technology trend research is based on the analysis of the patent application information and the papers, and provides various and useful information in selecting and determining research/development themes and directions and in building management and research/development strategies.

To learn more and if you have some questions, please ask JPO.
The research report is available only in Japanese.

>> More

Photograph 1: Left = 1 cm square cube: 2mm tube diameter
Right = 0.8mm tube diameter

Developed by "AIST" (researcher: Toshio Suzuki),
"FCRA" and "NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd." (researcher: Yoshihiro Funabashi).
TOHO Gas Co., Ltd. confirmed the performances of the micro-SOFC cube.

AIST = The National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology
FCRA = fine ceramics research association
NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd
TOHO Gas Co., Ltd. d.

The following results were achieved:
1) To develop a cubic body into which micro ceramics tubular SOFCs are integrated,
2) To realize a high performance micro-SOFC capable of producing 2 watts or high per 1 centimeter square at 600 oC (operation temperature),
3) To easily stack the micro-SOFCs and to open the way to the manufacturing of module systems from several tens watts, volume size = several tens cubic centimeters, to several kilo watts, volume size = several thousands cubic centimeters.

The cubic body has a size of 1 cubic centimeter (cube sugar). Each ceramics tubular SOFC is 0.8 to 2mm in diameter.

The results of the research were presented in "International Ceramic Exhibition 2007", April 4 to 6, Tokyo Big Site.

Background
It is known that the SOFC (solid oxide fuel cell) based on the ceramics technology has the highest efficiency.
The SOFC operates in a higher temperature region than other types of fuel cells. Accordingly, the exhaust heat generated from the SOFC may be utilized for fuel reforming and water storing, improving considerably the efficiency of the overall fuel cell system.
The long-term stability of the SOFC is better than of other fuel cells since all the fuel cell components may be realized with ceramics materials.
The operation temperature of the conventional SOFC is high, 800 to 1000oC.
This limits the application of the SOFCs to the power generation plant of less thermal cycle and load variation.
For the background reasons, there is a strong demand of realizing the SOFC being operable at 650oC or lower and having a quick start ability, with seeking its applications in the residential or home-use distributed power source, mobile device power source, auxiliary power unit (APU) for automobile or the like.

Historical description
AIST has succeeded in developing a quickly startable, high performance tubular micro SOFC of which the diameter is in the order of millimeter to sub-millimeter.
To put the tubular micro-SOFC into practical use, it essential to integrate those micro-SOFCs into a stack at a high density and assemble the stacks into a module.
To this end, it is necessary to develop a structure for the integration having a high air-supplying capability (porous material) and a high current collecting capability (low electric resistance).
The conductive ceramics, when it is porosified, normally increases its electric resistance. It is technically very difficult to incorporate those two opposite functions into one structure.
AIST, FCRA and NGK Spark Plug Co., Ltd. have studied on the ceramic fabrication processes, such as the process of controlling the ceramic electrode structure, and the cell joining process required for fabricating micro integration modules, using commercially available ceramic materials.
The study led to the creation of a novel method of integrating the SOFC cells and a method of fabricating the integration structure.

Study Detail
The success this time results from the fact that lanthanum cobalt based ceramics, which is used also for the air electrode material of the SOFC, is used for the structure for integration and the fine structure control is optimized.
It would say that a process for manufacturing the SOFC unit of the ultra small cube type, which is capable of producing the output power of 2 watts or higher has been established.
It is noted that this process is most suitable for the mass production since it uses the basic ceramic molding process.
It is also noted that the micro-SOFC cube, actually manufactured, has a volume of 1 cm3, substantially equal to in size a square sugar cube, and has such a structure that a number of tubular micro-SOFCs of 0.8 to 2 mm in diameter are integrated into a SOFC cube.
TOHO GAS Co., Ltd. conducted the performance test in which the micro-SOFC cube containing micro-SOFC tubes each having 2mm in diameter was operated at 550oC in operation temperature.
As a result, it was demonstrated that the micro-SOFC cube is capable of outputting 2 watts or higher power (see Photograph 2).

Photograph 2: external shape of micro-SOFC cube and how to test for demonstration

The results of the demonstration test is shown in FIG. 1. The figure shows that the micro-SOFC of only 1 cubic centimeters in volume produces of 2 watts or higher under the conditions that the operation temperature = 550oC and the current = 4.5A.

Legend in photograph 2: black curve = voltage, red curve = power
ordinate (left, black) = voltage V, ordinate (right, red) = power W, and abscissa = current A

The fuel cell performance per unit volume is the world's top level when the fuel cell is operated at 600oC or lower.
The tested SOFC cube is the world's smallest, reliable micro-tube SOFC cube containing fuel and air passages.
The realization of the micro-SOFC cube makes it easy to stack the micro-SOFCs.
The micro-SOFC cube will pave the way for the stacking and the moduling of the micro SOFCs for power sources for small mobiles (several tens watts, volume size = several tens cubic centimeters) to automobiles auxiliary power sources and residential use power sources (several kilo watts, volume size = several thousands cubic centimeters).
Application of the SOFCs to home-use distributed power sources and small electronic device power sources, automobiles auxiliary power sources, and the like will be accelerated.

FIG. 2: Scheme of cell stack module now developed by AIST
Legend in FIG. 2: (left to right and top to bottom)
micro-SOFC cube
1 centimeter square

air
fuel

interconnection
insulation seal
air
fuel
3 cubes connection diagram

Note: This article is rough translation of "Press Release" by AIST, released on Mach 29, 2007.

Number of residential FC cogeneration systems having been installed by both the companies