USC to be fuel cell research center

Posted Saturday, June 14, 2003 - 10:32 pm


By James T. Hammond
CAPITAL BUREAU

Woo-Kum Lee, a graduate student in fuel cell research, standing, discusses a project with fellow graduate students Rana Mohtadi of Jordan, Tao Gu of China, Tuchi Nwoga of Nigeria, Wentao Wang of China and Herie Soto of Puerto Rico. e-mail this story Related Related Web site • USC's Center for fuel cell research • How a fuel cell works

COLUMBIA — Tao Gu and Wentao Wang hope clean hydrogen fuel cell technology they are working to develop at the University of South Carolina will one day help clean up the badly polluted cities of their Chinese homeland.

They and several dozen graduate students in USC engineering colleges will see their efforts boosted Monday when the National Science Foundation designates the Columbia campus as its national center for fuel cell research.

That recognition, USC officials said, will help USC continue to expand its already substantial cooperation with industry.

President Bush has made hydrogen fuel cell research a national priority to help break the nation's dependence on foreign oil.

It's a technology that holds great promise, already is used in limited applications, and one day might provide the lion's share of energy for automobiles, cities and industry.

There are also major questions to be answered, such as those raised last week in the magazine Science about the technology's impact on the Earth's atmosphere and its already eroded ozone layer.

Such questions will be part of the task for professors and Ph.D. candidates at USC who participate in this first-ever NSF center for fuel cell research.

The designation initially will provide a small three-year grant to cover administrative costs: $210,000 from the NSF, plus a total of $1.2 million in dues from 11 industrial partners. But its real value to USC and these young researchers will be a higher profile with industries that support their research.

The potential payoff of the new technology is immense.

Hydrogen and oxygen combine in fuel cells to create a chemical reaction that produces electricity, heat and water vapor. USC researchers and the NSF believe that when properly harnessed, the technology could virtually eliminate air pollution from energy production, and become a new energy source for cars and commercial power plants.

A study published in the Journal of Electrochemical Society estimates that fuel cells have a potential $10 billion annual economic impact on the United States.

"I wanted to come here because the research is on the cutting edge," said Tao Gu.

But Professor John Van Zee, the mentor for the fuel cell researchers, urged them not to underrate their own contributions.

"You should not be too modest. The reason they (industry) want to be part of the center is that you showed them something they hadn't thought of," Van Zee told a gathering of six graduate students discussing a fuel cell project.

U.S. Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-S.C., said nearly every university in the U.S. coveted the fuel cell research center designation.

"The NSF picked the University of South Carolina for its excellent research in this critical field. With the growing prospect of a hydrogen-based economy, South Carolina has an opportunity to be a global leader in the development and manufacture of fuel cell technology," Hollings said.

"This designation positions USC at the top of a prestigious list of research universities, and more importantly, enhances our ability to develop the next generation of clean energy right in our own backyard," said Hollings, the senior Democrat and former chairman of the powerful Senate Commerce Committee.

Tuchi Nwoga of Nigeria said the USC fuel cell project will provide a cleaner source of energy for the future.

"I'm stoked about it because it is new stuff. It's going to help mankind and of course I want to be a part of it. We need to get more people involved in this green movement," he said.

Herie Soto of Puerto Rico said the corporate participants "are the people who can give us more opportunities."

And Rana Mohtadi of Jordan said she is eager to participate because "industry is receptive to our ideas."

Knowledge of hydrogen fuel cells began as early as 1838, when an English scientist, William Robert Grove, recorded his work with a primitive electricity generator.

Francis Thomas Bacon developed fuel for use in Royal Navy submarines during World War II, and his later work was adopted by Pratt & Whitney for Apollo spacecraft fuel cells.

But the technology remains expensive. One of the challenges of today's fuel cell research will be to bring the cost within the competitive range of today's common sources of energy.

Van Zee said a future advantage of fuel cell electricity generation may be the elimination of expensive and unsightly electric transmission lines. Small fuel cell generators might be located closer to homes and businesses, he said.

Congress and President Bush have recognized the potential of fuel cell power to loosen the nation's dependence on foreign oil. Bush has proposed spending $1.2 billion over five years on fuel cell research for vehicle propulsion. And U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., estimates auto makers are spending an additional $2 billion to $3 billion on the technology.

It has been estimated that fuel cells can power automobiles at twice the efficiency of current engine technology.

Automakers are already producing concept cars with fuel cell-powered engines. But fuel cell engines today can cost as much as 10 times a conventional engine.

In an effort to speed the acceptance of fuel cell engines, President Bush has proposed a tax credit for hybrid vehicles that incorporate the new technology.

Congressional testimony has indicated auto industry leaders expect mass market production of fuel cell vehicles by 2015 to 2020.

James Clark, chairman of the USC Research Foundation, cautioned that the fuel cell research initiative is a long-term venture.

"The key to the future will be to bring the best and brightest minds together, whether they are at USC or not. That will generate a critical mass in the region and contribute to the region's economic viability," Clark said.

"I don't want to mislead people about the kind of work a research university does. The time frames are far longer than for a commercial entity, for example, that may simply be improving a product," Clark said.

"At a research university, no matter how pragmatic we try to be, it may take five to 10 years before we start seeing the prospect of a real product. And it my be 10 or more years before it begins to have an economic impact on the region. But if we don't get started, we'll never get there," Clark said.