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University of Toledo researchers received more than $1.3 million in state funds to buy equipment for efforts to convert diesel and other fuels into hydrogen for powering fuel cells, part of more than $30 million in grants the state has doled out to universities and companies in the last two years.

Across the state line in Michigan, officials have altered and scaled back plans for a duty-free center to house budding alternative fuel companies, including those exploring fuel cells.

Opening of the center that was to be central to Michigan’s plan is roughly a year behind schedule, although the state has spent more than $35 million on alternative-fuel efforts.

Both states are considered to be among the top five nationwide in promoting the research and sale of fuel cells, which essentially work like batteries to produce electricity to power cars, generators, and other items.

Although Michigan was identified as an early leader, some experts contend Ohio has matched, if not eclipsed, its renown.

At UT, for example, faculty and students are working on converting diesel into hydrogen for a fuel cell to generate power for air conditioners, computers, and other appliances in tractor trailer cabs parked overnight.

Such technology, which would require less diesel than keeping a tractor running, is three to five years off, said Martin Abraham, a chemical and environmental engineering professor.

“A lot of the research we’re doing is very applied, very practical, and very near term,” he said, adding that the university has received other funds related to fuel cells and hydrogen.

Ohio and Michigan took different approaches toward fuel cells after announcing their plans two years ago.

The Buckeye state has focused solely on the development of fuel cells, while Michigan is also encouraging other alternative fuels through a program it started with $30 million, called NextEnergy.

Ohio has nearly completed a three-year plan to award $103 million in grants, low-interest loans, and other assistance and is considering how to move into and fund the next phase. Meanwhile, a Michigan Economic Development Corp. official said the state’s three-to-five-year plan will need the full time period.

Originally, NextEnergy was to build a $15 million duty-free incubator near Ann Arbor that should have been opened by now and serve as the center of the plan.

Instead, NextEnergy is building a $9 million center in Detroit near an incubator at Wayne State University, said the development corporation’s Tino Breithaupt, vice president for the Michigan Technology Tri-Corridor.

Michigan has further strayed from its plan to give $500,000 to help develop Kettering University’s Center for Fuel Cell Systems and Powertrain Integration in Flint, Mr. Breithaupt said. That incubator developed independently of the state’s plan, he said.

The goal of encouraging alternative fuels hasn’t changed, and the state is on track, Mr. Breithaupt said. Officials have slowed efforts to recruit companies to Michigan until the groundwork is in place, but they have identified 125 companies doing research with alternative fuels to target for retention, he said.

“That’s a good number for us to work with,” he said.

Ohio is negotiating with some fuel-cell-related companies to place their headquarters, conduct research, or open factories in the state, said Mike McKay, team leader with Ohio’s Fuel Cell Initiative. Plus, the Ohio Department of Development is accepting proposals for $3.5 million in fuel-cell-related grants.

“It’s a very exciting time, I think, to be involved in this technology,” he said. “There’s a lot happening.”

Atish Kataria, left, and Sadashiv Swami, PhD students at UT, collect a sample from a reactor producing hydrogen.
( THE BLADE/DAVE ZAPOTOSKY )

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Other states leading the pack to advance fuel cell research and ultimately attract companies are California, New York, and Florida, said Patrick Serfass, technical coordinator for the National Hydrogen Association.

Companies, too, are working together on fuel cells and sharing information, in part to develop codes and standards for the industry, he said.

“We’re kind of in a pre-competitive phase,” Mr. Serfass said.

In Ohio, much activity with fuel cells is taking place in the northeast part of the state, although UT’s leadership should help propel northwest Ohio, said Ken Alfred, executive director of the Ohio Fuel Cell Coalition in Cleveland. The coalition plans to hold its next meeting in Toledo in September.

Said Mr. Abraham at UT: “I think northwest Ohio is catching on and getting more involved, but definitely the leaders at this point are over in the northeast. I don’t think it’s something we necessarily have to worry about.”

Some local companies or operations — such as Toledo’s Dana Corp., Bulk Molding Compounds Inc.’s Perrysburg factory, and Fremont’s Sierra Lobo Inc. — are among those developing fuel cell products.

Dana has been redeveloping some products, such as heat exchangers and water pumps, to work with fuel cells and can manufacture bipolar plates from different materials for them, said Jim Beyer, the auto supplier’s director of fuel cell business development. Dana has fuel cell support centers in Tennesee, Canada, Germany, England, and Japan.

So far, Dana has about 11 patents related to fuel cell technology, with a couple of dozen more in the submission stage, Mr. Beyer said. Dana has worked with a German company to develop a fuel cell scooter to help test its products, he said.

“Our priority in all of this is to reinvent Dana’s future,” he said.

Bulk Molding’s suburban Toledo factory supplies Dana and other manufacturers with a type of plastic compound from which to make bipolar plates.

Using the compound would lower the cost of making a plate to about $1.50 from $150, which is what it costs to machine one from graphite, said John Clulow, technical specialist.

“It’s a very cost-effective process compared to some other methods,” he said.

Graphite, though, has an advantage over plastic because it can be fabricated in thin pieces, he said.

Automakers want to make fuel cell stacks as small and light as possible, so Bulk Molding has developed a conductive adhesive that allows the two plates that work in tandem to be bound together so each can be more than half as thin as when the company started, he said.

Among Sierra Lobo’s work is the development of a cryogenic system to store hydrogen in liquid form in vehicles, which would provide a longer driving range before refueling than gaseous hydrogen, said Mark Haberbusch, the engineering firm’s director of research and technology.

“We’re looking for opportunities to work with companies that are dealing with fuel cells,” he said.

Contact Julie M. McKinnon at:jmckinnon@theblade.comor 419-724-6087.

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