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U.S. Department of Energy Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy

2013 Webinar Archives

Increase your H2IQ

Learn about Fuel Cell Technologies Office webinars and state and regional initiatives webinars held in 2013 through the descriptions and linked materials below. Also view webinar archives from other years.

Webinars presented in 2013:

Automotive and MHE Fuel Cell System Cost Analysis

April 16, 2013

Battelle Memorial Institute and Strategic Analysis, Inc. gave an overview of automotive and material handling equipment (MHE) fuel cell system cost analyses. Strategic Analysis presented an overview of Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DFMA) techniques and outlined the basic steps and guiding principles of DFMA cost analysis, showed how it can be used to refine system design and select manufacturing process, and how it can be beneficially applied to both early-stage, conceptual concepts as well as late-stage, fully-defined systems. For MHE applications, Battelle described the cost analysis approach; the design of the system, design assumptions, and manufacturing processes modeled using the DFMA software; costs of the system, sub-system, and specific components; the main cost drivers identified through a sensitivity analysis; and a summary of opportunities for cost reduction.

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Testing Oxygen Reduction Reaction Activity with the Rotating Disc Electrode Technique

March 12, 2013

This webinar highlighted the use of the rotating disc electrode (RDE) technique to measure oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) activity in fuel cell applications. A review of recent literature shows that the determination of the ORR activity has numerous intricacies that have not been systemically cataloged, resulting in values for the mass activity of Pt/C that vary significantly. Next steps will be to establish standard procedures and measurement parameters for the RDE technique so that novel catalysts can be benchmarked for ORR activity versus an accepted Pt/C baseline for polymer electrolyte fuel cell applications. The webinar addressed these issues, and introduced a tentative set of testing parameters to allow for RDE experiments to result in reproducible ORR activity and durability values.

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Hydrogen Refueling Protocols

February 22, 2013

More than 200 hydrogen refueling stations are projected to be constructed across the United States, Japan, and Germany in the next few years. Automobile Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) have developed fueling protocols that incorporate critical information related to their vehicles such as fuel temperature and pressure, initial vehicle pressure, and initial state of charge of the vehicle. These protocols allow for a fast and safe fill at the station and complies with the storage system operating limits. However, a single, performance-based protocol is needed to standardize the market and allow for a safe fueling of all vehicles. In March of 2010, SAE International published the Technical Information Report (TIR) guideline, SAE TIR J2601, to standardize hydrogen refueling protocols. This webinar presented the current refueling methods including the TIR guideline, SAE TIR J2601. The TIR guideline was developed using OEM hydrogen storage systems and third-party laboratory testing. The guideline establishes a table-based approach which allows all OEMs to safely fuel vehicles within a few minutes. The fueling protocol has now gone through two years of field trials, being used in hydrogen fueling demonstration projects in the United States, Europe, and Asia.

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Advanced Electrocatalysts for PEM Fuel Cells

February 12, 2013

This webinar highlighted Argonne National Laboratory's development of advanced electrocatalysts for PEM fuel cells, including rational design and synthesis of materials for cathodes. Materials development, based on fundamental principles, is used to produce Pt-Skin structures with unique nanosegregated compositional profiles for electrodes that meet the demanding performance requirements of automotive applications.

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Wind-to-Hydrogen Cost Modeling and Project Findings

January 17, 2013

Chris Ainscough from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) presented findings from NREL's Wind-to-Hydrogen project, focusing on cost modeling of optimized central wind-based water electrolysis production. During the project, NREL analyzed the cost of hydrogen production via wind-based water electrolysis at 42 potential sites in 11 states across the nation. The analysis included centralized plants producing DOE's target of 50,000 kg of hydrogen per day, using both wind and grid electricity.

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