Algona's Hydrogen Engine Center signs deal with India's Grasim
Posted: Tuesday, August 29, 2006
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- An Iowa company specializing in hydrogen engine production said Monday it signed an agreement with a chlorine factory in India to use waste hydrogen, a byproduct of production, to generate electricity.
Algona-based Hydrogen Engine Center Inc. signed an agreement with Grasim Industries Ltd. to test hydrogen engine technology in an industrial setting.
Grasim, an Aditya Birla Group flagship company, based in India, has purchased a hydrogen fueled engine from HEC for test runs.
HEC President Ted Hollinger said successful testing could result in a major market boost for his engines and proof that they can successfully power industries, utilities and other major power users using renewable hydrogen instead of fossil fuels.
"This is a good opportunity for us to get a lot of hours running time on a hydrogen engine, prove to the world that they are durable, that our technology is sound," Hollinger said. "If we can prove that, then hopefully we'll have other people in distributed generation -- utilities and other factories around the world -- saying we can use that technology here to help us reduce our electrical cost."
The advantage of testing at a chlorine manufacturing facility is that such a plant produces hydrogen as a byproduct, much of which is burned off because it is not practical to use for any other purpose.
Under the model developed for Grasim, the plant will use its excess hydrogen to power the generator, which will produce electricity, replacing a portion of the plant's purchased power.
The hydrogen engine emissions are nearly zero, Hollinger said.
If the first test engine works, Hollinger said the deal has the company providing as many as 80 engines running continuously producing up to 4 megawatts of power, which could be about 5 percent of the plant's power demand.
A success at Grasim will open up an entire industry for similar application.
Hollinger said it is estimated by his company and Grasim that as many as 70 or more chlorine plants worldwide could burn excess hydrogen in engines for energy generation.
"This is like opening the door to a nice market. This could be quite a lot of engines running on hydrogen," Hollinger said.
There are an estimated 150 to 200 chlorine plants worldwide, which use an electrolysis process to convert saltwater into chlorine and an alkali known as caustic soda or sodium hydroxide, which has many industrial applications including use in making textiles, paper, soaps, detergents and other uses.
The byproduct of the electrolysis process is hydrogen. Some plants bottle as much as possible and sell it, but frequently significant amounts of hydrogen is burned off.
Under the agreement, Grasim will use HEC engines at its plants and help market the idea to other chlorine facilities around the world.
HEC was incorporated in Iowa in 2003 and two years later in Canada. It became a publicly traded company in 2005.
Hollinger, a retired Ford Motor Co. engineer, founded the company with the goal of making flex fuel engines. The company currently has engines that can run on hydrogen, ethanol, natural gas, propane or digester gas from landfills. It's products are used in generation equipment for distributed power, agricultural, industrial, airport ground support, vehicular, business and home applications.
HEC shares were up 8.6 percent, trading up 75 cents at $9.50 on the over-the-counter bulletin board.
Algona-based Hydrogen Engine Center Inc. signed an agreement with Grasim Industries Ltd. to test hydrogen engine technology in an industrial setting.
Grasim, an Aditya Birla Group flagship company, based in India, has purchased a hydrogen fueled engine from HEC for test runs.
HEC President Ted Hollinger said successful testing could result in a major market boost for his engines and proof that they can successfully power industries, utilities and other major power users using renewable hydrogen instead of fossil fuels.
"This is a good opportunity for us to get a lot of hours running time on a hydrogen engine, prove to the world that they are durable, that our technology is sound," Hollinger said. "If we can prove that, then hopefully we'll have other people in distributed generation -- utilities and other factories around the world -- saying we can use that technology here to help us reduce our electrical cost."
The advantage of testing at a chlorine manufacturing facility is that such a plant produces hydrogen as a byproduct, much of which is burned off because it is not practical to use for any other purpose.
Under the model developed for Grasim, the plant will use its excess hydrogen to power the generator, which will produce electricity, replacing a portion of the plant's purchased power.
The hydrogen engine emissions are nearly zero, Hollinger said.
If the first test engine works, Hollinger said the deal has the company providing as many as 80 engines running continuously producing up to 4 megawatts of power, which could be about 5 percent of the plant's power demand.
A success at Grasim will open up an entire industry for similar application.
Hollinger said it is estimated by his company and Grasim that as many as 70 or more chlorine plants worldwide could burn excess hydrogen in engines for energy generation.
"This is like opening the door to a nice market. This could be quite a lot of engines running on hydrogen," Hollinger said.
There are an estimated 150 to 200 chlorine plants worldwide, which use an electrolysis process to convert saltwater into chlorine and an alkali known as caustic soda or sodium hydroxide, which has many industrial applications including use in making textiles, paper, soaps, detergents and other uses.
The byproduct of the electrolysis process is hydrogen. Some plants bottle as much as possible and sell it, but frequently significant amounts of hydrogen is burned off.
Under the agreement, Grasim will use HEC engines at its plants and help market the idea to other chlorine facilities around the world.
HEC was incorporated in Iowa in 2003 and two years later in Canada. It became a publicly traded company in 2005.
Hollinger, a retired Ford Motor Co. engineer, founded the company with the goal of making flex fuel engines. The company currently has engines that can run on hydrogen, ethanol, natural gas, propane or digester gas from landfills. It's products are used in generation equipment for distributed power, agricultural, industrial, airport ground support, vehicular, business and home applications.
HEC shares were up 8.6 percent, trading up 75 cents at $9.50 on the over-the-counter bulletin board.
Story Comments
Read More and Post Comments 3 comment(s)
Please note: The following are comments from readers. In no way do they represent the views of The Sioux City Journal or Lee Enterprises. We will not edit or alter your comments, but we do reserve the right to not post or to remove comments that violate our code of conduct. No comment may contain potentially libelous statements; obscene, explicit or racist language; personal attacks, insults or threats. Terms of Service
j wrote on Mar 26, 2007 7:40 AM:
richr wrote on Nov 22, 2006 11:32 PM:
jacob wrote on Oct 27, 2006 9:25 PM: