ENG launches new alternative fuel effort

Boston University's College of Engineering and an international company recently signed a license and development agreement for a research project that focuses on improving processes used to manufacture solid oxide fuel cells, an alternative energy source.

ENG professors Uday Pal and Srikanth Gopalan will lead a team of five university researchers working to lower the cost of creating the fuel cells.

While the partnership did not come to fruition until the Nov. 16 agreement, BU became acquainted with BTU International, Inc. a few years ago after the company attended one of ENG's biannual Emerging Technology conferences, Pal said. BTU is an international supplier of thermal processing equipment to the electronics manufacturing and energy generation markets. The company will test the products developed by Pal and Gopalan's team.

"Combining this with BTU's extensive experience in thermal processing applications will allow us to develop a unique and important body of knowledge that will be used for the cost-effective manufacturing of solid oxide fuel cells," a BTU press release stated.

The fuel cells generate greener electrical energy because the process does not burn fossil fuels like natural gas or coal and it produces less pollution, Pal said.

"There are already prototypes of SOFC used in home complexes," he said, "but they are not commercially available because the cost is so high."

According to Pal's website, his team aims to produce 1 kilowatt of energy for less than $500 - a cost that is dramatically lower than current production figures, which are well above the $1,000 mark.

One objective is to produce SOFC more cheaply by creating it continuously instead of in batches, as it is traditionally made. Pal said that he and the other researchers also hope to figure out a way to establish a single-step firing process to produce energy for houses, industries and transportation.

College of Engineering senior Gavin Hayes said he knew a little about SOFC. He said he was surprised a company was willing to fund research for the cells because he said SOFC is expensive and inefficient.

"It's a catch-22 because you can't improve on SOFC without putting a lot of money into it," Hayes said. "It doesn't seem as efficient as other forms like hydrogen that BMW and Shell are looking into."

College of Arts and Sciences sophomore Andrew Komaromi said he could not see the fuel cells being used in cars, but possibly in powering homes.

"It's a good idea for research," he said, "but who knows where it will go."

CAS senior Lauren Dehaven, an environmental policy student, said she used to work for Envirocitizen, a grassroots organization that tried to get BU to use more environmentally friendly energy on campus.

"BU's involvement in the environment is laughable otherwise," Dehaven said. "It's good to see BU contributing something to helping the environment."