Two four-hour courses designed to assist Florida Professional Engineers in meeting the continuing education requirements for license renewal (four professional development hours every two years in their areas of practice) have been developed by the Florida Solar Energy Center in Cocoa. Read more
hydrogen
James Fenton Named Director of the Florida Solar Energy Center
James M. Fenton, associate director and co-founder of the Environmental Research Institute and professor of chemical engineering at the University of Connecticut, has been named director of the Florida Solar Energy Center. He began his new duties at FSEC on Jan. 3.
Fenton, who has been at the University of Connecticut since 1984, also served as acting head of the chemical engineering department and director of UConn’s Pollution Prevention Research and Development Center funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He co-founded the Connecticut Global Fuel Cell Center and is part-owner of a University of Connecticut spin-off company, Ionomem Corp., which manufactures high-temperature membrane electrode assemblies for fuel cells. Read more
Early Holiday Gifts for Universities as Florida Solar Energy Center Awards $4.85 Million to Continue Hydrogen Research for NASA
Cocoa, December 22, 2004 The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) has awarded $4.85 million to Florida universities to conduct hydrogen research. As welcome as any holiday gift, the new awards will allow university researchers to continue work on existing projects and begin research on fuel cells for flight. Universities participating in the program are Florida A&M University, Florida International University, Florida State University, University of Central Florida, University of Florida, University of South Florida and University of West Florida. Read more
Florida Solar Energy Center and Partners to Receive $3.99 Million from U.S. Department of Energy for Hydrogen Research
A team comprised of the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC), Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) of San Diego, CA and Universidad del Turabo (UT), Gurabo, PR, will receive $3,999,805 from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to conduct research on the production of hydrogen by thermochemical water-splitting cycles. This project is one of 36 research projects that will receive more than $75 million to support the President’s Hydrogen Fuel Initiative announced on October 19 by DOE. Read more
Florida Solar Energy Center Researchers Receive Honor at the 15th World Hydrogen Energy Conference
Dr. Ali T-Raissi and Dr. Cunping Huang of the Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC) received the Innovative Technology Award at the 15th World Hydrogen Energy Conference in Yokohama, Japan earlier this month. The award was presented to the hydrogen research scientists for their work on “A New Solar Thermochemical Water-Splitting Cycle for Hydrogen Production.” It was the only award presented to research scientists from the U.S.
The World Hydrogen Energy Conference provided a setting for scientists to present their research on methods to provide the world with clean energy, including a new paradigm featuring hydrogen. The budding hydrogen economy will be brought about by emerging science and technologies such as those featured at the conference.
The research conducted by Drs. Huang and Raissi was initially supported by the U.S. Department of Energy. It is now part of a multi-year, multi-million dollar grant for a hydrogen research and development program funded by NASA Glenn Research Center, involving research at several Florida universities. The program is managed by FSEC.
Dr. Huang, principal investigator for this project, said, “I am honored to receive this award. To have my work recognized by the leaders of this conference is, indeed, an honor.” Dr. Raissi added that “This is a real honor for us since our work was recognized by the scientific committee of WHEC-15 and especially the committee’s chair Professor Hideo Kameyama, who is the world-renowned researcher in the thermochemical hydrogen production arena and the inventor of the famous UT-3 cycle.”
Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe, but on earth, it is chemically reactive and exists at normal conditions in combination with other elements such as oxygen in water or carbon in natural gas. This leads to a technical problem with hydrogen: it must be produced or extracted from the compound in which it is contained. In the long term, hydrogen must be produced from sustainable resources such as solar energy and water. In their research, Drs. Raissi and Huang address the production of hydrogen through high-temperature thermochemical water-splitting cycles.
The use of thermochemical water-splitting cycles (TCWSCs) employing solar energy as a heat source is an innovative approach to produce hydrogen. It presents a viable option for the future production of hydrogen. TCWSCs can be highly efficient processes compared to other hydrogen production methods based on water splitting.
Several presentations submitted by FSEC researchers were presented at the conference. To view their presentations, please visit http://www.hydrogenresearch.org/WHEC15.htm The Florida Solar Energy Center is the largest and most active state-supported renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development organization in the United States and functions as the State’s energy research and training center. For more information about FSEC’s hydrogen research programs, visit http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/hydrogen or call FSEC Public Information Office at (321) 638-1015 or go to http://www.fsec.ucf.edu.