Voller Announces Achievement of 1kW Auxiliary Power Unit Milestone
Voller Energy Group PLC announced that the company has achieved another milestone towards the commercialization of their 1kW class auxiliary power units (APU’s) running from standard Calor Gas, propane or liquefied petroleum gas (LPG). Voller engineers claim to have now successfully assembled and demonstrated the operation of a complete and totally self-contained prototype fuel cell system including a proprietary fully automated control and safety system, gas reformate clean-up and cooling.
Voller claims that this development is a significant step forward for the fuel cell industry as its APU will run from standard fuels. Most other fuel cell systems require pure hydrogen, which is only available from specialist gas suppliers. Hydrogen also has a low energy density which means that a car traveling 100 miles on a tank of diesel would travel just 4 miles on an equivalent volume tank of hydrogen at 200 bar pressure. By contrast, LPG and propane are commonly available worldwide. Calor Gas is available from 10,000 outlets in the UK.
Recognising the realities of the marketplace, Voller has concentrated its developments on fuel cell technology which uses as its base commonly available fuel products such as LPG. These products have a high energy density, but when used in a fuel cell produce much lower emissions than a conventional generator. In developing these products, Voller intends to assist the transition from today’s high carbon economy to a low carbon economy, using high efficiency fuel cell systems as an important step along the path to the ultimate solution of the future zero carbon economy.
Stephen Voller, Chief Executive stated, "Fuel cells are an important technology for the future. The next vital step is to commercialise these systems and for users to experience fuel cells themselves. I am proud that Voller Energy is going to be one of the first companies in the world to bring products like these to market".
