Launch of a UK Hydrogen fuel cell CHP by Pure Energy^® Centre, KTP programme and Lews Castle College 

United Kingdom., July, 2010 – Pure Energy Centre

From left to right: Daniel Aklil, Alasdair MacLeod, of Lews Castle College; KTP associate Vincenzo Ortisi; Ross Gazey of Pure Energy^® Centre; North of Scotland KTP adviser Neil Duncan; Elizabeth Johnson, of Pure Energy^® Centre: Sarah Stott, of KTP.

What is the hydrogen fuel cell CHP project about? 

An innovative project to build small hydrogen fuel cell power units that aim to be more than 90 per cent energy efficient has been launched in Shetland.

The three year scheme aiming to generate, store and supply renewable energy efficiently inside a home has just attracted funding under the Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) programme.

The project is a collaboration between three islands – the Pure Energy^® Centre based on Unst (Shetland), Lews Castle College in Stornoway (Western Isles) and young Sicilian electronic engineer Vincenzo Ortisi who has been employed to develop the Fuel Cell Combined Heat and Power System (FCCHP).

Daniel Aklil, Pure Energy^® Centre Managin Director said: “What we are looking to do is to develop a new type of electricity generator that is 93 per cent efficient.

“The project has three components: the first component is to develop an engine generating electricity with Pure Hydrogen^® fuel that will be 45 per cent efficient. We will then recover the by product heat produced in the process to make the fuel cell 92 or 93 per cent efficient. The third component of the project is to use the Pure Hydrogen^® fuel cell by-product heat to produce cooling.”

“The novelty of this project is that all of the by product heat will be reused either as heat or as cooling. Pure Hydrogen^® fuel cell will therefore be used in hot and cold countries or in countries where it is warm in summer and cold in winter. For instance, if it is summer in North Africa we can produce cooling, if it is a cold winter in UK we can produce heating. At the same time the Pure Hydrogen^® fuel cell will be producing electricity, hence reducing dependence on importing fuel for heating or cooling.

“The fuel powering the Pure Hydrogen^® fuel cell CHP would be hydrogen produced from excess power generated by renewable energy.”

Lews Castle College Views on the Hydrogen Fuel Cell Project

Lews Castle College senior lecturer in renewable energy, Alasdair MacLeod, said that “the project was ground breaking both in terms of what it was trying to achieve and by involving organisations based on two remote Scottish islands.

Producing electricity with hydrogen is generally not very efficient, he said, but by producing it in a house where the waste heat could be used the inefficiency virtually disappeared.”

KTP has a 30 year record of placing young graduates in companies that are seeking fresh academic input to overcome technical problems.

North of Scotland KTP advisor Neil Duncan explained that KTP matches knowledge providers, such as universities, with companies facing a challenge they need help to overcome.

“The company gets its strategic problem solved and therefore becomes more profitable. As a result of taking part in the project the university’s teaching and research is informed,” he said

“The associate has a development opportunity at the beginning of their career, working strategically in a company at high level and also has management training. We look at them as becoming the business leaders of tomorrow.”

For more information on the hydrogen fuel cell project see www.pureenergycentre.com or call +44 1957 711 410.