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Using fuel cells to generate residential power soon may become reality with a new sulfur-tolerant hydrogen generator recently tested at Argonne-East that efficiently produces the hydrogen needed to power fuel cells.
The generator is being developed and tested as part of a cooperative research and development agreement between the Chemical Technology Division (CMT) and H2fuel, LLC, a developer of hydrogen extraction and purification technologies for use in the fuel cell industry.
Hydrogen is used by fuel cells to generate electricity, whether for distribution or for direct use in homes, cars or other applications. But sulfur present in natural gas and other commercial fuels has made hydrogen production a challenge. The new fuel cell hydrogen generator, which uses sulfur-tolerant materials and catalysts, recently logged more than 2,000 hours of continuous operation at Argonne, processing pipeline-grade natural gas containing sulfur.
"So far, the results have been outstanding," noted H2fuel Chairman J. Michael Davis. "We have clearly demonstrated that sulfur is not a problem for us, which means that we can utilize sulfur-containing infrastructure feedstocks without the need for any expensive pretreatment."
In addition to its use of sulfur-tolerant materials, the generator features a unique design geared for efficiency and easy manufacturability. While most others in the industry tend to use a "multiple reactor train" approach, H2fuel and CMT researchers have developed a radically new unit that integrates all necessary functions — autothermal reforming, two water-gas shift steps, and a highly efficient thermal energy management system — into a single compact package.
The unit, sized for a 1-5 kW fuel cell system, is a cylinder about 9 inches in diameter and 15 inches in length. "Compared with an equivalent steam reformer, the H2fuel reactor is strikingly small," explained researcher Sheldon Lee (CMT).
The Argonne Electrochemical Technology Program at CMT has been developing these fuel processors and has made key contributions to fuel processing for fuel cell applications.
Ronald G. Harvey, consul-general of Australia in Chicago, recently came to Argonne-East to pay an official visit to the Office of the Scientific Manager for the Australian Synchrotron Research Program (ASRP) in the U.S. located on site.
"We were extremely gratified that the consul-general came to see our work first-hand, and that he offered to help the U.S.-Australian scientific partnership in any way he could," said David Cookson (APS), beamline scientist for the Australian research program.
Cookson's responsibilities include overseeing Australian research carried out at the University of Chicago's Consortium for Advanced Radiation Sources (CARS). According to Cookson, the consul-general's visit was occasioned by Australia's significant investment of time and money at the Advanced Photon Source (APS) and because Australia is planning its own synchrotron light-source facility at Melbourne, Victoria.
"The APS is a nexus for scientific excellence," Cookson said. "It is attracting interest and attention from all around the world. The consul-general's visit is just one more proof of the growing awareness that the APS is where science happens."
Cookson briefed the consul-general and his party on Australian participation in CARS and led them on a tour of the ChemMatCARS sector and Synchrotron Radiation Instrumentation Collaborative Access Team (SRI-CAT) beamlines.
The group then met with APS Associate Laboratory Director Murray Gibson and John White, president of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute, chairman of the National Committee for Crystallography, and a world-renowned X-ray scientist.
White has just completed four years as science policy secretary of the Australian Academy of Science, the peak body providing advice to the Australian government, and was at Argonne to participate in commissioning of the small-angle scattering X-ray facility at ChemMatCARS when the consul general arrived.
The venue for a symposium celebrating the 70th birthday of researcher Yanglai Cho (APS) has been changed to the Building 402 Conference Center. The symposium will begin at 1:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 11.
The "festtag," or "festival day," is being held in recognition of Cho's scientific accomplishments as well as his pioneering efforts and leadership contributions to the development of several important accelerator facilities. All are invited to the symposium; there is no cost to attend the talks.
Symposium speakers and their topics will include:
Won Namkung, Pohang University,
"Pohang Light Source and Large-scale Scientific Facilities in Korea."
Carlo Pagani, INFN Milan,
"Superconducting Linear Accelerators."
David Moncton (OTD), "Optimizing the
Design of a Fourth-Generation Light Source: Lessons Learned from the APS and SNS."
Malcolm Derrick (HEP), "Physics
Interplay between Hadron Colliders and Electron Colliders."
Thom Mason, Oak Ridge National
Laboratory, "Neutrons as a Probe of the Structure of Dynamics of Materials."
Adrian Cho, Science Magazine, "I Say
Potato, And You Say Solanum Tuberosum: What's News to Journalists and Scientists."
Those who cannot attend may send their best wishes to Cho via a special e-mail address coordinators have set up for the occasion: yangfest@ aps.anl.gov.
Prostate screening will be available at Argonne-East Wednesday, Nov. 13, from 8:30 a.m. - noon in the Medical Department, Building 201.
The screening is open to Argonne, Department of Energy and University of Chicago men and costs $70. The screening includes physical prostate and testicular exam and a prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test. No fasting is required. Individual results will be returned to the Medical Department.
To register, visit the Medical Department or download the required forms from the Wellness Web site.
Prostate screenings may be a covered expense under Argonne's health care plans. Cigna covers 80 percent of the screening costs after meeting an annual $300 deductible. The receipt from the screening (from Preventures) then needs to be submitted to Cigna for reimbursement. HMO-Illinois does not cover the screening. Employees who participate in the Health Care Flexible Spending Account may be reimbursed under this plan if they are not covered under their medical plan.
The Advanced Photon Source (APS) set new records in the final user run of the 2002 fiscal year.
"I think it was our best run to date," Accelerator Systems Director Rodney Gerig said. "It was a very good run from an accelerator point of view, and it was the longest run we've had, too."
The facility was scheduled for more than 1,950 hours of user beam time, the most in APS user history. The percentage of scheduled hours available for use continues to improve, Gerig said. The availability during this run was a record 97.4 percent. The mean time between faults — disruptions in beam availability — also set a run record at 42.3 hours.
Strong performance during the recent user run influenced annual statistics as well, bringing the availability in fiscal year 2002 above the 97 percent mark. APS also averaged a record 33 hours between faults for the year.
In addition to improving APS availability to users, beam operators also have been working to improve the beam's quality. During the 2002 fiscal year, they began routine operation using a magnetic lattice that focuses the beam to reduce "horizontal emittance" from the 8.2 nanometers (nm) it was designed for to only 3.5 nm. Like condensing the light of a flashlight beam to the smaller beam of a laser pointer, reducing horizontal emittance makes the APS beam more concentrated and more attractive to researchers, Gerig said. A newly developed lattice is expected to further reduce the horizontal emittance to 2.5 nm during the 2003 fiscal year.
— Jennifer Ann Hutt
Tickets are now on sale for a concert by Sierra Winds, one of the nation's premier chamber music ensembles, at Argonne-East Saturday Nov. 16.
The concert, sponsored by Arts at Argonne, will begin at 8 p.m. in the Building 402 Conference Center. Guest artist Mykola Suk will perform on piano.
Admission to the concert is $20. Call ext. 2-3751 to order tickets. VISA and MasterCard are accepted. Remaining tickets will be sold in the Building 213 Cafeteria Lobby the week of Nov. 11 rom noon to 1 p.m. The Auditorium Box Office will open at 7:30 p.m. the day of the concert.
The concert is open to the public. U.S. citizens will need photo identification to enter the site. Visitors who are not U.S. citizens must register before the concert by calling (630) 252-3751 uring regular working hours.
More information is available on the Arts at Argonne Web site.
The Argonne/DOE Choral Group will begin practicing for its 22nd season Monday, Nov. 11, from 11:45 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. in Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria, Dining Room B.
The choral group, under the direction of Harry Bell (PFS) will perform Wednesday, Dec. 11, at noon in the Building 213 Cafeteria and at 2 p.m. in Building 201.
New singers are welcome. For more information, contact Pat Garner (RAE) at PLGarner@ anl.gov or ext. 2-4872.
The ANL-E 126C Shipping Order is now only available in electronic format, as a function within the PARIS system that is to be used for all materials leaving the Argonne-East site. Employees should stop using paper shipping order forms.
The transition has introduced a few changes. When an order is completed online, a "Transfer Order" is printed. The Transfer Order is used to transfer the materials to the Shipping Department in Building 46.
When materials are brought to Building 46 the Transfer Order is used to track the physical materials until all approvers in the PARIS approval thread complete their approvals. Once the last approval is completed, the order is sent to the Shipping Department for routing and approval, and it becomes a Shipping Order allowing the materials to be released from the site.
With these changes in the approval system, just having the materials at the Shipping Department by 12:30 p.m. doesn't mean that they will be shipped that day. If the order has not been approved and has not reached the Shipping Department, the shipment will be delayed.
Packages containing potentially hazardous materials, those requiring complex packaging and those destined for international addresses, including Mexico and Canada, will take longer to process and may not be shipped on the same day received by the Shipping Department.
Sodexho is running a trio of promotions at Argonne-East's Building 213 Cafeteria during November.
The Coke CD giveaway will run though
Friday, Nov. 15. Purchase a 20-ounce Coca-Cola product along with any sandwich, entrée or
salad to be eligible to win a CD of hits by various artists.
A "Bakers Market" will be held every
Friday. Bakery items can be purchased to go.
Through the end of November, the
second cup of coffee or a fountain drink refill is free when purchased from 7-10 a.m.
Service Awards for September include:
40 Years
Rolland M. Ambrose, Sr. (PFS), James A. Biggs, Jr. (ASD), Ronald L. Cox (PFS), Walter S. Czyz (IPNS), William R. Erdman (ECT), David L. Kurth (PHY).
35 Years
Kenneth W. Larson (PFS), Donna L. Moore (FAC), Bruce Necker (PFS), Ronald R. Rezmer (HEP), Richard J. Voogd (ECT), Raymond L. Wittkamp (OCF).
30 Years
Linda L. Chamberlin (EQO), Frances L. Coose (ER), Rigoverto Gonzales, Jr. (FAC), William M. Kelleher (FAC), Gary L. Lentz (FAC), Rebecca Spencer (ER).
25 Years
Birger B. Back (PHY), Laural L. Briggs (RAE), Willie A. Campbell (PFS), Lee A. Ciarlette (TD), Denis E. Jensen (RPS), John L. Krazinski (RAE), John R. Lee (FAC), Becky L. McCauley (AOD), Thomas E. Noeth (PFS), James L. Schlereth (HEP), Charlotte M. Sholeen (PFS), Edward J. Simek (TD), B. Gail Walters (NT), Alice M. Walton (PFS), Dieter Wolf (MSD).
20 Years
Annette M. Bates (ECT), R. Warren Bratt (FAC), Michael J. Davis (CHM), Bruce G. Glagola (AOD), L. Paul Martinez (FAC), David W. Skelley, II (ECT), Charles N. VanGroningen (DIS), Kenneth J. Volin (IPNS), John A. Volmer (ECT).
15 Years
Daniel V. Applegate (CMT), Mary Duffy Braun (DIS), Ali Erdemir (ET), David L. Hendrix (ENT), Thanh Quoc Hua (TD), Debra S. Kirschner (RPS), Ronald L. Kolpa (EA), Wai-Kwong Kwok (MSD), Barbara A. McCarthy (FAC), Dawn M. Meredith (IPD), Dennis M. Mills (APS), Robert G. Schuessler (BIO), Bruce M. Young (DIS).
10 Years
Gregory Banks (AOD), Laurie J. Christensen (ENT), Steve C. Christensen (AOD), David R. Francis (ASD), Guy Harris (ASD), Eugene Kendall (PFS), Carolyn Koren (HR), Szczesny Krasnicki (XFD), Try Leng Kruy (ASD), Raul Mascote (ASD), Nancy L. Ranek (EA), Angela Ross (AOD), Elbio Rotela (ASD), Anthony Sendra (PFS), Ronald Swanson (PFS).
5 Years
Jacqueline E. Fonnesbeck (NT), Jorg M. Maser (XFD), Bert S. Secrist (FAC), Karen L. Toews (ENT), James D. Wiest (FAC).
Louis Kaplan, a retired chemist from Argonne-East, died Oct. 20 in Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove. He was 85.
Kaplan began working at Argonne shortly after its establishment in 1946. In 1947 he was named a senior chemist, a position he retained until his retirement in 1984. Kaplan returned as a special term appointee from 1985 to 1993.
Early in his career, Kaplan worked principally with Kenneth Wilsback, preparing various compounds containing radioactive tritium. His research emphasis shifted later to investigations of the radiotlytic and photolytic transformations of organic compounds. Kaplan later worked to develop substances for the treatment of radioactive wastes.
He is survived by his wife Bettye; two daughters, Ruth and Judith; a son, David; a sister, Doris; and seven grandchildren.
A special information session for prospective University of Chicago students and their parents affiliated with Argonne will be held during the university's open house Monday, Nov. 11.
The session for Argonne parents and students will be held from 12:30-1:20 p.m. at Ida Noyes Hall, 1212 East 59th Street, at the corner of 59th St. and University Avenue.
Students and their families attending the open house will have an opportunity to meet current students, tour the campus, speak with faculty and coaches and eat in a dining hall. Students may also visit classes.
For more information about the special information session, call Rosemary O'Neill, the university's assistant director of admissions, at (773) 834-9132. For more information on the open house or visiting the campus at another time, visit the university's Web site.
Due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the deadline for news, seminars and classified ads for the Monday, Dec. 2, issue of Argonne News will be Friday, Nov. 22.
The last issue of 2002 will be Monday, Dec. 16. The deadline for the first issue of the new year, on Monday, Jan. 13, will be Monday, Jan. 6.