Yanhai Power, LLCHudson, Ohio, United States

Yanhai Power is focused on developing revolutionary new concepts in clean power generation through solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC).  The company is targeting the 50 watt to 2 kilowatt market using its unique SOFC design and manufacturing technologies.  Our design and manufacturing concepts have the potential to provide significantly higher expected performance than the current state-of-the-art.  Commercially, the future of fuel cells looks bright.  Current projections show this market growing to $2.3 billion by 2016.  Fuel cells are emerging as a viable and cost effective option for providing clean energy.  Many nationally recognized businesses are using fuel cells in their operations.  Forklifts for example are employing fuel cells at a rapid rate.  Fuel cells reduce the overall operating cost by removing the need to store and swap batteries on a regular basis.  Forecast from Pikes Research show that fuel cells in the 100 watt to 2 kilowatt range will be the leading market segments.  Applications include watercraft, combat support systems, auxiliary power units, power tools, and unmanned vehicles.  Our fuel cell solutions are ideally suited to satisfy the needs of this market segment.

Why Fuel Cells?

Hydrogen fuel cell AA (LR6) batteries with & without electrical Fuel cells are uniquely positioned among power generation systems to provide clean, quiet power. Fuel cells work by allowing hydrogen and oxygen to interact in a controlled chemical reaction. The reaction creates electricity and water. Fuel cells were actually invented back in 1838. To date, however, the technology has been primarily used by NASA for space exploration.  Compared to generators, fuel cells are quiet and create little if any pollution due to the fact that the main byproduct is water. They do generate far more heat internally than combustion engines (i.e. 600 to 1,000 degrees Celcius), but the heat is contained well within the structure. Until lately, fuel cells required long startup periods, sometimes as long as 24 hours. This has significantly hampered their potential for energy generation. Recent developments have begun to improve startup times to tens of minutes.  Fuel cells can be small (the size of a quarter) or large (the size of small moving van). Compared to other power sources, fuel cells have been hampered due to their size per watts output. It would require a fuel cell the size of two refrigerators to power a house. However, current research and development has led to reductions in size and weight.

Research and Development Services Yanhai Power currently provides research and development services for the development of next generation Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technologies. Leveraging the extensive background of our team, we are advancing fuel cells. Some areas of interest include:

• Novel manufacturing techniques including freeze casting to increase power density
• Innovative concept designs aimed at increasing power density
• Unique reforming technologies which allow for fuel flexibility
• Advancements in coatings to improve tolerance of sulfur containing fuels
• Fuel optimization and analysis