A Norwegian company is developing silent diesel generators based on a new kind of fuel cell. Nordic Power Systems, which is making the generators for that country's military, has successfully tested a 250-watt solid-acid fuel cell developed by SAFCell, a spinoff from Caltech. The companies are now working on a 1.2-kilowatt system.
The new generators work by producing hydrogen gas from diesel in a process called reforming (the fuel is heated, but not combusted, and mixed with air and steam). The hydrogen is then fed into the fuel cell to make electricity. Unlike the fuel cells that have been tested in cars, the new ones can tolerate impurities, such as carbon monoxide, that are present in hydrogen made from diesel.
