Ultracell gets $2M grant to improve fuel cell production

Livermore, Calif.-based UltraCell said today it received a $2.4 million grant from the U.S Department of Energy to work with partners to develop a system that could improve fuel cell manufacturing yields by testing as many as 50 units an hour. 

CEO Keith Scott told the Cleantech Group that such a system is necessary for any fuel cell developer to reach commercial production. UltraCell plans to contribute $2.3 million to the work, which Scott said will be shared with other fuel cell developers.

UltraCell plans to design and test the leak-checking system, while Cincinnati Test Systems designs the hardware and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory develops leak-checking methods.

The three-year project is expected to develop a method to test stacks through a rigorous leak detection program. Scott estimated that the company has about 30 percent fallout during manufacturing but could realistically reduce that to less than 10 percent with such a system.

The necessary step of inspecting fuel cells for potential gas leaks within the assembly process can slow manufacturing operations and limit automated assembly, UltraCell said. A high-rate leak-checking system would allow mass manufacturing.

UltraCell is one of the leading methanol fuel cell producers in the country, with production in place for more than a year at its Dayton, Ohio, facility. The company doesn't reveal production numbers, but Scott said UltraCell isn't at commercial-scale yields.

"At this point, it's not a function of the technology not working or our ability to manufacture. The economics are already acceptable," Scott said. "The real issue is getting the fuel cell in real applications that previously used batteries."

The company said its system internally generates fuel cell-ready hydrogen from a highly concentrated methanol solution.

UltraCell has announced contracts with the U.S. military for its 25-watt methanol fuel cells (see UltraCell gets follow-on U.S. military fuel cell contract). Uses include mobile power sources such as wireless relay stations, remote radios, surveillance cameras and sensors, Scott said.

The system could also be configured with large fuel tanks for weeks of runtime in stationary applications such as remote video monitoring, surveillance, and communications equipment, according to UltraCell.

The company is primarily focused on the U.S. market.

UltraCell says its fuel cells can operate at a wide range of temperatures: -20 degrees Celsius to 50 degrees Celsius. The company unveiled its second product line today: a 55-watt fuel cell that's capable of out-of-the-box hybrid use with a battery to provide pulse power. The fuel cell can operate up to altitudes of 8,500 feet, Scott said.

UltraCell was founded in 2002 to commercialize technology invented at the U. S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.

The company won't reveal the amount of funding it has received. In 2007, investor BASF Venture Capital said it contributed $3 million of a $10.3 million Series C round (see Know the name Imperium? You will...). Other investors were revealed to be STAR Ventures, BankInvest Group, OnPoint Technologies, Sevin Rosen and Espirito Santo Ventures.

UltraCell has about 35 employees in Livermore and 15 in its Dayton manufacturing facility.

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