HARC uses its relationship with universities in Texas and elsewhere, government and industrial researchers active in hydrogen economy to identify and access innovative hydrogen and fuel cell technologies.
- Fully-equipped laboratory suitable for the test and evaluation of fuel cells, reformers, hydrogen production, and related equipment
- Access to the universities research facilities like (material characterization tools, gas chromatography, etc.)
- Access to the universities libraries for fuel cell and hydrogen related literature
- Journal subscription for Electrochimica Acta, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, Journal of Power Sources, Journal of Electrochemical Society, and Journal of Fuel Cells and Technology.
- Access to several industry newsletters, fuel cell related magazine and other pertinent material.
- Members of Electrochemical Society (ECS), International Society for Electrochemistry (ISE), American Society for Mechanical Engineers (ASME), and International Association for Hydrogen Energy (IHE). Membership with the societies provides an opportunity to interact with researchers active in conducting fundamental research thereby gathering intelligence.
- Access to broad technical experts internally and through university partners externally.
HARC has a fully-equipped laboratory suitable for the test and evaluation of fuel cells, fuel reformers, hydrogen production, and related equipment. The laboratory has the following capabilities:
- Laboratory floor space of 2000 s.f. expandable to 4000 s.f. An additional 20,000 s.f. is available adjacent to the facility to allow outdoor testing under local ambient conditions. Easy access to deionized water, city water, compressed air, liquid or gaseous nitrogen, liquid helium, and vacuum as needed to facilitate testing.
- Testing can be performed on a continuous 24/7 basis
- Testing of fuel cell power plants from 1 - 250 kW
- Testing can be performed using any fuel including hydrogen, natural gas, propane, methanol, or other hydrocarbon
- Testing can evaluate combined heat and power capabilities
- Testing can evaluate performance under variable environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, etc.) and power outputs.
- Testing can be performed using grid interconnected or grid-independent operation
- Testing of AC or DC equipment
- Testing of reformate quality including H2 and CO concentrations to 5ppm
- Testing of air emissions including NOx, SOx, and CO2
- Testing of power quality to the IEEE519 specification
- Testing of safety and reliability issues
- Testing of fuel cell system applicability for a particular application (UPS, residential, etc.)
- Testing and reporting fuel cell systems performance in accordance with ASME PTC 50-2002
- Testing of all equipment follows written procedures and test plans
The lab is fully equipped with sensors and detection units for gas leakage, fire or and hazardous conditions.
AC/DC Load Banks
- Description: Load banks are used to simulate a wide range of load profiles. The load bank simulates non-linear (i.e., any combination of power and crest factor) and transient loads (potential inductive loads with additional hardware) and can be used for testing AC supplies, for DC battery discharge, UPS testing, or fuel cell testing. The load bank size is expressed in kilowatts (kW) or amps (A) at the rated voltage.
- Manufacturer: NHR
- Rating: 3 kW
- Qty: 8 (4 AC and 4 DC)
Power Quality Analyzer
- Description: Power quality analyzer is used to identify and solve power problems by recording various types of anomalies that may occur on power lines. These include measurement of transient overvoltage (impulse), voltage dip, voltage swell, flicker, instantaneous interruptions, harmonics, etc. These anomalies can results in malfunctioning, resetting, or damage of the equipment.
- Manufacturer: HIOKI USA Corporation
- Rating: 1P2W, 1P3W, 3P3W, 3P4W; up to 600 V; up to 5000 A
Automated Test Stations
- Description: The test stations allow automated acquisition of operational data. In most cases, HARC gathers a wide range of equipment performance metrics on a 10 second basis. The stations utilize Lab View programming for added flexibility. The stations can be integrated with our load banks to follow continuous power or load profiles. The test stations include:
- SCXI Data Acquisition System
- Manufacturer: National Instruments
- Qty. 3
- PCI-MIO-16XE-50- 16 Analog Input Multifunction DAQ
- SCXI-1000 chassis
- SCXI-1102- 32-channel analog input modules for SCXI 1000 and high-accuracy thermocouple measurements
- SCXI-1104 -32-channel analog input modules for SCXI 1000
- SCXI-1125- Continuous acquisition of analog voltage data
- SCXI-1327- Extend signal input range to 300 Vrms or 300 VDC
- TC-2095- 32 thermocouple connector
- BNC-2095- 32 BNC connector
- Field Point and Field Point Compact
- Manufacturer: National Instruments
- Qty. 2
- Field Point -System 1
- NI FP 2000 controller (RS-232 output)
- NI FP-AI-100 (8 channel analog inputs, 0-30V)
- NI FP-TC-120 (8 channel two wire Temperature input)
- Terminal Base w/ power supply (0-24DC)
- Field Point Compact -System 2
- NI cFP-2000 controller (RS232/J48 output)
- NI cFP-AI-100 (8 channel analog inputs, 0-60V)
- NI cFP-TC-120 (8 channel two wire Temperature input)
- Terminal Base w/ power supply (0-24DC)
Reformate Quality Measurements
- Description: HARC can measure the amount of H2 and CO in the reformate gas stream produced by a reformer technology. This is important in determining the suitability of the reformer for use in PEM and other fuel cell systems. The H2 detection equipment measures the percentage of hydrogen using a Pd/Ni membrane and resistance measurement. The CO measurement uses a non-dispersive infrared gas analyzer accurate to 5ppm.
- Hydrogen Sensor: DCHT/ Model H2Scan
- Carbon Monoxide Sensor: Liston Scientific/ Model 2010
Fuel Cell Emissions Measurements
- Description: HARC can measure the stack emission from the fuel cells and reformers using the ENERAC Model 3000E emission analyzer. The equipment uses the state-or-art technology and provides accurate and reliable data for compliance monitoring purposes.
- Manufacturer: Enerac
- Specifications
- O2 - (0-25%)
- CO - (0-15,000ppm)
- CO2 - (0-20%)
- Combustibles - (0-10,000ppm)
- NO2 (0-500ppm)
- NO (0-3,500ppm) DUAL RANGE
- SO2 (0-6,000ppm) DUAL RANGE
Weather Data
- Description: HARC monitors local weather information on a continual basis so that relative humidity and temperature can be easily matched with other performance data.
- Temperature: Omega/TMQSS-125
- Humidity: Omega/HX-97
- Qty: 1 each
Remote Data Monitoring Unit (RTU)
- Description: The RTU allows HARC to monitor fuel cell operation, regardless of the actual location of the fuel cell. Thus, fuel cells do not need to be located in HARC's test laboratory for HARC to evaluate the unit. The RTU is housed in a Nema3/4 Enclosure to allow outdoor use. It is fully programmable and can be accessed by modem or cellular phone. The RTU is configurable to 32 analog inputs.
- Gems Sensors Remote Terminal Unit- 8 analog signal inputs
- Natural/ Propane Gas flow meter
- Grid Voltage transducer
- Temperature thermocouple
- Relative Humidity meter
- Current transducer-1st leg
- Current transducer-2nd leg
- DI flow meter
- BTU Meter- BTU Pulse
Fuel Storage
- HARC has existing storage tanks for hydrogen, nitrogen, helium and propane, and a natural gas supply line.
- Hydrogen tank: 20,000 scf
- Natural gas: Pipeline grade from local supplier
- Propane tanks (2): 1500 gallons each
- Nitrogen tank: 3000 liters
- Helium tank (2): 12,000 gallons each
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