Georgetown University to work with Electro Energy

Georgetown University, which has been associated with the development of transportation fuel cells for over two decades, has chosen Electro Energy for a customised battery pack.

Electro Energy will be supplying the customised battery pack utilising its patented Bipolar Wafer Cell Nickel Metal Hydride technology for the Georgetown University Methanol Fuel Cell Transit Bus Integration and Test Project. In addition to this, it will also provide engineering and technical expertise.

The company will partner with other team members, such as EV America, to develop the bus design as well as the battery and fuel cell integration and test plan to deliver a methanol fuel cell transit bus.

Georgetown University, under a Grant from the Federal Transit Administration (an agency of the US Department of Transportation), is developing the next-generation liquid fueled (methanol) fuel cell power plant to be integrated and tested on a heavy-duty hybrid electric transit bus.

The key objectives of Georgetown University’s Advanced Vehicle programe are to support the development of fuel cell technology and assist industry in commercialisation of fuel cells for transit applications. The Fuel Cell System (FCS) is envisioned to be sufficient to power a 30-foot hybrid electric transit bus when optimised for operation with an energy storage system on the bus.

The fuel cell system will include a fuel cell, fuel processor (methanol), controls, air treatment, cooling system, and water management subsystems.

Advanced Vehicle Development at Georgetown began in 1983, with feasibility studies for fuel cell powered transit buses conducted with Los Alamos National Laboratory.