Westwood, Maine-Acumentrics Corp. officials say they will be getting Canadian financial and technical support for a joint undertaking to explore using ammonia as a fuel for Acumentrics’ solid oxide fuel cells. Acumentrics’ Canadian subsidiary is partnering with Natural Resources Canada’s CANMET Energy Technology Centre on the project. Acumentrics spokesman Tom Sommers told Green Markets that it was a natural to locate the project in Canada, where research has already been done on the ammonia fuel. He said at the same time the arrangement carries with it Canadian financial and technical support since a key researcher there has been working on the ammonia theory. The effort, he added, may also focus at some point on recovering the nitrogen for other uses. Scientists on both sides consider ammonia as a prime candidate for fuel cells because it is one of the most efficient ways to store and transport hydrogen. It is already widely available as a synthetic fertilizer, and is both relatively inexpensive to produce and easy to transport. Pipelines for anhydrous ammonia currently exist in the U.S., and the ammonia is transported as a liquid in tankers at pressures similar to propane. Acumentrics describes its solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) as one of the most efficient, cleanest power generating systems currently being developed, producing power electrochemically using solid-state ceramic cells. SOFCs are highly fuel-flexible and can operate on available fossil fuels, including natural gas, propane, methane, and diesel fuel, as well as ethanol and biogas.
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