Tomorrow’s power for today’s challenges
(Published in Mining, September 2012)
By Stef Terblanche
Turning
challenge into opportunity may seem like a favourite cliché of motivational
speakers and spin practitioners. But for South Africa’s mining industry it has
become something of a survival tool, if not a way of life going all the way back
to the early pioneering days of the diamond and gold rushes.
A
national power crisis, rising costs, depressed market conditions, the need for
jobs, regulatory and transformation issues, and switching to a greener economy
are just some of the challenges faced by the mining industry.
To
see how the industry responds to such pressures one need only look at the many
innovative initiatives undertaken by mining companies in the wake of the 2008
power crisis.
One
of these is the exciting work Anglo American Platinum (Amplats) is doing in
conjunction with various partners and government in the field of platinum-based
hydrogen fuel cell technology.
With
just this one project issues such as stimulating demand for platinum, creating
jobs, cleaner energy sources, energy self-sufficiency, environmental concerns,
new technologies, mineral beneficiation, sustainable mining and more are being
simultaneously addressed.
Anglo’s
work in this regard started attracting wider attention when the company
demonstrated a 150kw platinum-based hydrogen fuel cell power plant at the UN’s
COP17 climate change conference in Durban last December. This was followed in
May with Amplats announcing that it had launched the prototype of the first
fuel cell powered locomotive for use in underground mining operations.
“This
event marks a leap forward for fuel cells. The platinum-based hydrogen fuel
cells, used to power the locomotive we are unveiling today, offer one of the
most exciting opportunities for South Africa in the green economy. At Anglo
American, we believe that with platinum at its heart, a South African fuel cell
industry would support the country’s drive for jobs and help to meet its energy
challenges,” enthused Cynthia Carroll, Chief Executive of Anglo American plc
and Chairperson of Amplats at the launch.
In
due course five fuel cell locomotives are to be produced and tested
underground.
What are fuel
cells?
Many
people may be unfamiliar with this somewhat mysterious sounding “new”
technology that promises to be the answer to so many things. So just what
exactly is fuel cell technology?
The
technology is not really that new, nor is it very complicated in theory. German
scientist Christian Friedrich Schönbein first developed the principle of the
fuel cell in 1838.
A
year later the Welsh scientist Sir William Robert Grove published an article
about it in the Philosophical Magazine
and Journal of Science. In 1889 two chemists, Charles Langer and Ludwig
Mond first used the term “fuel cell” to describe the device they had built
using air and coal gas.
Their
device was developed further by Cambridge scientist Dr Francis Thomas Bacon in
1932 into what was essentially the first alkaline fuel cell. Twenty years later
various scientists undertook further development of the technology and by the
1980s car manufacturers, among others, started showing an interest in it.
In
1993 the Canadian Ballard company produced the first commercially viable fuel
cell-powered vehicle. In 1997, Daimler-Chrysler, Ford and Ballard Power Systems
formed a consortium to build fuel cell engines and drive trains for cars. In
2004 30 fuel cell buses built by DaimlerChrysler and Ballard went into service
in Europe.
Today
the diverse applications for fuel cells have included purpose-built vehicles,
hospitals, schools, rural electrification, back-up power for
telecommunications, combined heat and power applications for residential,
commercial and industrial buildings, portable power and battery charging, and
even in city buses. Many large vehicle manufacturers have fuel cell research and
development projects these days.
According
to information supplied by Mpumi Sithole, Media & External Relations
Manager at Amplats, a fuel cell is essentially a gas battery that produces
electricity as long as it is fed with hydrogen gas. It is a device that uses
hydrogen (or hydrogen-rich fuel) and oxygen to create electricity.
They
are more energy-efficient than combustion engines, as they extract more energy
from the same amount of fuel, says the company.
Depending
on the purity of the hydrogen used as fuel, emission of air pollutants or
greenhouse gases may be zero or very little. The amount of power produced by a
fuel cell depends on fuel cell type, cell size, operating temperature and
pressure at which the gases are supplied to the cell, among other things.
Fuel
cells have been used to provide auxiliary power on spacecraft for decades. They
also have a broader range of application than any other currently available
power source, says Amplats. Furthermore, fuel cells provide round-the-clock
availability without any need to change or recharge batteries, which means less
downtime and increased productivity.
The
Smithsonian Institution describes a fuel cell as generating electricity by a
chemical reaction taking place in two electrodes, the positive anode and
negative cathode. Every fuel cell also has an electrolyte, which carries
electrically charged particles from one electrode to the other, and a catalyst,
which speeds the reactions at the electrodes.
The
electrical current thus produced is directed outside the cell to power a motor
or illuminate a light bulb, for instance.
While
basic fuel cell technology is relatively simple to illustrate, building
inexpensive, efficient, and reliable fuel cells is a different matter
altogether. The biggest current obstacle to fuel cell commercialisation is the
high cost, says Amplats partner Johnson Matthey.
Many
different types of fuel cells have been developed, with differing technical
details for each, much of it centred on the choice of electrolyte.
The
main electrolyte types currently being used are alkali, molten carbonate,
phosphoric acid, proton exchange membrane and solid oxide. Different types of
fuel used also require different designs. Platinum catalysts are used in most
types of fuel cells.
Suited to Africa
According
to Amplats, fuel cells are well suited to the provision of distributed power in
Africa. The attractiveness of fuel cells is that their most efficient fuel
source, hydrogen, is an energy carrier and can be stored. Hydrogen is the most
abundant element in the universe and any hydrogen-rich liquid or gaseous fuel
can be used to provide the hydrogen for a fuel cell. Fuel cells can be deployed
where they are needed, and use whatever fuels are available locally.
Amplats’
partner in the locomotive project, the US company Vehicle Projects Inc, has
successfully developed a number of fuel cell vehicles in the US.
“A
fuel cell locomotive incorporates the advantages of its competitors, namely
catenary-electric and diesel-electric units, while avoiding their
disadvantages. It possesses the environmental benefits, at the vehicle, of an
electric locomotive but the higher overall efficiency and lower infrastructure
costs of a diesel locomotive,” says Dr. Arnold Miller, who heads Vehicle Projects.
Miller
was in South Africa in September to present a paper on the project at
the Platinum conference of the Southern African Institute of Mining and
Metallurgy at Sun City.
Dr
Miller says the hydrogen for the locomotives would be produced on site on the
surface at the mine and piped down to the underground locomotive for
refuelling.
“For
underground vehicles reversible metal hydride storage is the preferred type
based on safety considerations. Reversible metal hydrides are low flammability,
solid materials that use metal hydrogen chemical bonds to store hydrogen safely
and compactly,” he says.
Amplats
says fuel cells are relatively new in Africa with the complete value chain
still under development and presenting significant opportunities for
manufacture, assembly, installation, support, maintenance and fuel supply.
“At
Anglo American, we believe that with platinum at its heart, a South African
fuel cell industry would support the country’s drive for jobs and help to meet
its energy challenges,” Carroll said. The company believes it will also promote
knowledge transfer and export opportunities.
It
stands to reason that Amplats would be focusing on new technologies involving
the use of platinum, especially given the current downturn in the sector. After
all, Amplats is the world’s top primary platinum producer, having contributed
42% of global supply in 2010.
The
company says it is implementing its fuel cell strategy in order to drive demand
for platinum group metals (PGM’s), specifically in South Africa.
“This
is aligned to government’s beneficiation strategy of moving from an extractive
economy to adding value where viable, and to potentially creating a new fuel
cell industry,” it says.
Partners
Amplats
has teamed up with various research, technology and manufacturing partners such
as Vehicle Projects, Trident South Africa, Battery Electric, Johnson Matthey,
Air Products, Doking, Dantherm and Clean Energy. The company has also
established the Platinum Group Metals Development Fund (PGMDF) towards
expanding industrialisation and beneficiation of PMGs. And it is also
collaborating with the South African government.
The
company believes fuel cell technology as a strategic and emerging industry is
well aligned with the vision of the Department of Science and Technology and
the company is working together with the Departments of Mineral Resources and
of Science and Technology to encourage and support greater local beneficiation
of platinum.
In
fact the Department of Trade and Industry is already thinking of creating a
Special Economic Zone (SEZ) focused solely on platinum development.
The
DTI’s director-general, Lionel October, was quoted in one report as saying that
a DTI team was already engaging with various people to establish whether a
central platinum hub with satellite zones would be economically viable in line
with the government’s Special Economic Zone Bill gazetted in January. The
government was hoping through the licensing of SEZs it could industrialise
outlying rural areas, attract foreign investment and boost job creation.
More projects
The
fuel cell power plant demonstrated at COP17 and the fuel cell locomotive
project, are but two of Amplats’ current projects.
A
stationary 200kw fuel cell power plant installed near Lephalele in Limpopo on a
Coal Bed Methane (CBM) site of Anglo American’s Thermal Coal business is used
to provide electricity for the exploration operations in the area.
And
a 50kw platinum based fuel cell was used to power Anglo American’s recent
Mining Indaba gala dinner, held at Vergelegen Wine Estate in Cape Town. In
conjunction with the SA government’s Hydrogen Economy Strategy (HYSA) Amplats
also supports research in fuel cell related technologies in developing
competence and capability locally.
Amplats
and partners use these projects to demonstrate and showcase the fuel cell
technology developed to date and the opportunities it could create for mining
and the South African economy in general.
Focus on mining
Amplats
has also initiated a “Fuel Cells in Mining” programme to investigate, develop,
and pilot technologies that could improve current mining practices and where
viable, adopt the technology. In this vein, for example, the fuel cell locomotive
project aims to produce a fuel cell/battery hybrid that will operate more
effectively and efficiently than current lead acid batteries.
“Technology
is core to our approach to carbon reduction and energy saving activities. We
have invested $180 million in low carbon technology. We are investing in
technologies that will enable us to run cost efficient, carbon neutral mines in
20 years' time,” said Carroll.
Another
project involves the development of the Dozer, a remote driven machine that
performs a variety of functions in the underground environment that enhances
the productivity and safety of miners.
And the Mining Cap Lamp project aims to produce a lamp that is as
efficient in lighting as current products whilst providing a lighter more durable
product that has an easy refilling mechanism to reduce overall costs.
Amplats,
in conjunction with Dantherm, a Ballard subsidiary, is also investigating the
opportunity and viability of providing fuel cell technology to power in-house
residential housing projects.
But
there are also challenges to the Amplats drive to promote the wider use of
platinum through fuel cell technology. Last year scientists from the US-based
Los Alamos National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory published a
paper claiming they had developed the use of a platinum-free catalyst in the
cathode of a hydrogen fuel cell.
Having
to use platinum catalysts has been singled out as one of the major factors
contributing to the high cost of hydrogen fuel cells that has thwarted
widespread use.
Nonetheless,
it remains an exciting project and any challenges are likely to be met head on
and overcome.
Some current global fuel cell technology
developments
•
Fuel
cell technology is now so important that the US Senate now boasts a dedicated
Senate Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Caucus with 4 co-chairs.
•
Five
hydrogen fuel cell taxis were built to transport VIPs during the recent
Olympics in London.
•
Danish
car builders’ consortium ECOmove has unveiled an electric car able to travel
500 miles without refuelling.
•
Mercedes-Benz
in the US has purchased 72 fuel cell units to operate a portion of its Alabama
plant’s lift truck fleet.
•
Boeing
is partnering with American Airlines and the US Federal Aviation Administration
on a 737-800 airplane project as a flying test bed for environmentally
progressive technologies, including fuel cell technology.
•
South
Korea’s Pyeongtaek Energy Service purchased 14 UTC Power fuel cell systems for
energy supply purposes.
•
California-based
Life Technologies Corporation has installed a 1 MW Bloom Energy fuel cell
system to power its company headquarters and other buildings.
•
US
company FuelCell Energy, Inc. was awarded a $3.8 million contract by the US
Navy to develop and test a fuel cell power system for underwater propulsion.
•
A
major US defence supplier has ordered a 25-watt fuel cell for testing in the use of a range of
applications including soldier power, remote power stations, and unmanned
underwater and aerial vehicles.
•
NASA’s
Kennedy Space Center entered a five-year Space Act Agreement with Cella
Energy’s American subsidiary to make its micro-bead technology practical enough
to be used as a fuel in most kinds of machinery, cars and even spacesuits and
portable electronics.
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