Vice president Al Gore will present the awards to the Los Alamos researchers and fellow PNGV Award recipients from Arthur D. Little/Epyx, Plug Power LLC, Argonne National Laboratory and General Motors Corp. during a March 17 ceremony at the Old Executive Building in Washington, D.C.
"This award demonstrates Los Alamos' continuing commitment to doing its part in curbing global warming and protecting the environment, while also helping U.S. industry remain strong and competitive in today's global economy," said Laboratory Director John Browne. "These researchers' technological achievements in fuel cell technology bring us even closer to a new era of clean-running automobiles."
Begun in 1993, PNGV is a White House initiative involving partnerships among the Big Three automakers and the federal government to design more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly vehicles. DOE and Los Alamos are among the seven agencies and 20 federal laboratories that participate in PNGV, of which fuel cell technology is one of many components currently being developed.
Project leader Nick Vanderborgh, Jose Tafoya, James Hedstrom and Michael Inbody of Los Alamos' Energy and Process Engineering Group and Kenneth Stroh of Los Alamos' Nuclear Systems and Design Analysis Group were selected by award sponsors SAE International and the DOC for "Development of Gasoline Fuel Processing for Automotive Fuel Cells."
"The strong technical capabilities of Los Alamos are really key in what we accomplished, and this award really gives us a sense of satisfaction not just for the quality of our work, but also for being involved in this partnership," said Vanderborgh.
"Technology is certainly the important part of the Lab's program. But it was partnering with ADL and Plug Power that made our accomplishments truly meaningful," he added.
Fuel cells are like car batteries, except that they will produce power so long as fuel is supplied. As part of the fuel cell technology, the Los Alamos team helped develop a fuel processor that transforms fuels such as natural gas, gasoline, ethanol and methanol into hydrogen-rich gases needed by the fuel cell to generate electricity. However, this process generates contaminants such as carbon monoxide that could degrade fuel cell performance.
To manage those contaminants, the Los Alamos team also developed a Preferential Oxidation, or PROX, unit that reduces carbon monoxide levels from about 2,000 parts per million to near-indetectable levels. This allows the fuel cell stack to operate successfully. The end result is a particulate emission-free power system that easily meets ultra-low emission vehicle standards. The team also received a Distinguished Performance Award from Los Alamos last year for this significant achievement. The team is supported by DOE's Office of Advanced Automotive Technologies.
The Los Alamos researchers and their partners successfully demonstrated the new fuel cell technology process in October 1997 in Cambridge, Mass. Later that year, Newsweek magazine hailed the breakthrough in fuel cell technology as one of the two key scientific advancements made worldwide in 1997.
Vanderborgh said his team currently is expanding its efforts to define the precise specifications of the candidate clean fuels for use in these fuel cell engines and determine which fuel offers the most environmental benefit.
This is the second time that Los Alamos has received the PNGV Award. A team of seven Los Alamos employees, along with members from Lawrence Livermore, Sandia and Oak Ridge national laboratories, won the award for their work in reducing nitrogen oxide emissions from automobile exhausts.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and the Washington Division of URS for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.