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| Focus on Scholarship Fuel Cells Power Dr. Al Gates’ Latest Inventive Activities So impressed with Professor of Engineering Technology Alfred Gates and the CCSU class they were taking with him, two engineers employed at FuelCell Energy (FCE), Inc., in Danbury, approached him with an offer. Would he consider being a consultant for FCE and evaluate one of their company’s fuel cell stack components to give advice on its improvement?  “Rich Way and I were taking Dr. Gates’ Finite Element Analysis class,”
recalls Michael Cramer, manager of module engineering at FuelCell. “He
showed an excellent understanding of the subject material and also expressed
an interest in fuel cells. We needed an expert to help refine the parts we
were designing and to provide a wide breadth of experience. Professor Gates
filled the bill, and we have been lucky to have his services since that
time.”Way ’99, a mechanical engineer at FCE and currently pursuing a master’s in engineering technology at CCSU, says, “Al has become a core team member at FCE. He can always back up his results and methodology with no-nonsense explanations based on solid engineering practices. Often his clever ideas find their way into our designs, and we routinely rely on him to crunch out an analysis overnight in order to maintain schedules on critical projects.” Gates has a penchant for innovation and inventiveness. He holds a patent for an underwater propulsion device. A licensed professional engineer with a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, he has an impressively diverse academic and professional experience in industry. He has worked in robotics at Rochester Products Division and as a mechanical engineer at General Dynamics Electric Boat, designing a steam piping system for an attack submarine. At the Naval Undersea Warfare Center, New London, he integrated computer software into the mechanical design process. And, as an aerospace engineer for Kaman Aerospace Corporation, he performed wind-tunnel testing on the SH-2G “Seasprite” helicopter and designed modifications to reduce drag. Intrigued by his students’ offer—after all, fuel cells are a wave of the future, being hailed as a high-efficiency and low-pollution form of energy—Gates, who was once considered by NASA for astronaut training, was eager for another challenge. As a mechanical design and analysis consultant for FCE, Gates says, he’s enjoyed “the company’s open atmosphere which is productive and receptive to using one’s potential.” Now, nearly four and a half years later, he’s “graduated to larger problems and assignments, one of which was to design Navy carbonate fuel cell stack components, piping, and the pressure vessel for marine applications.” What Are Fuel Cells? As if lecturing to one of his classes, Gates defines fuel cells: “Similar to a battery, a fuel cell, which is an electrochemical device, converts energy stored in a fuel into electricity and heat. But in contrast to a battery, it is designed for continuous replenishment of the reactants consumed, that is, it produces electricity from an external fuel supply as opposed to the limited internal energy storage of a battery. So, it does not have to be recharged.” Typically, reactants, such as natural gas and air, flow into the fuel cell and reaction products flow out. “A potential voltage difference between the layers in the cell creates a current, that is, the power,” explains Gates. “The cell produces electricity and heat without combustion and the pollutants associated with burning fuel.” Gates works on molten-carbonate fuel cells at FCE, which manufactures high-temperature hydrogen fuel cells for stationary power generation. The company’s stationary products—sized from 250 kilowatts to 2 megawatts—can be used by municipal/industrial wastewater treatment facilities, hospitals, universities, hotels, telecommunications/data centers, industrial/manufacturing facilities, utilities, prisons, and federal facilities (post offices, military). FCE has developed commercial distribution alliances for its carbonate Direct FuelCell products with such companies as Alliance Power, PPL Energy Plus, Chevron Energy Solutions, Caterpillar, and LOGANEnergy in the U.S., Marubeni Corporation in Asia, MTU CFC Solutions in Europe, and Enbridge, Inc., in Canada. “Molten carbonate fuel cells are rectangular structures approximately 10 feet tall, which operate at about 1,200 degrees F and are housed in an insulated vessel,” explains Gates. “They can achieve higher fuel-to-electricity and overall energy use efficiencies at significant cost reductions.” Gates’ Method of Analysis Interestingly, the methods Gates teaches his CCSU students are the ones he applies at FCE to design and analyze the fuel cell components, which consist of manifolds, compression systems, and piping. “I sit down and study the previous design to see how it might be improved,” he says. “Using my engineering background in stress analysis, I’m able to devise complex assemblies using the finite element method. I tell my students, this method is a powerful tool, a computational method to determine if an assembly or part is structurally sound.” He adds, “Thanks to my experience at FuelCell Energy, I’ve generated more knowledge in this sphere.” “I point out to my students that these components are subject to extremely high temperature and must operate effectively, because if they fail the consequences are loss of operation, maybe damage to the fuel cell, and million-dollar losses could be incurred.” Gates looks forward to producing publishable material based on his first-hand involvement in a promising, forward-looking technology. Stationary plants hold the potential to reduce the load on America’s stressed transmission grid, and molten carbonate fuel cells seem an increasingly attractive option. Further, Direct FuelCell power plants can be sited at or near users and the heat byproduct used for cogeneration applications, such as district heating, hot water, or absorption chilling for air conditioning. Nowadays, Gates reflects on his latest achievement, “With FuelCell engineers, I’ve been able to devise a new design for a manifold retention system that improves performance. It’s satisfying to walk through the manufacturing facility and see what was designed on paper being incorporated into FuelCell products.” In the time he’s been there as a consultant, he’s helped create more than 100 components that have been used in the company’s units worldwide. — Geri Radacsi Back to Courier |
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