battery

UK-based ACAL Energy has appointed a new Chief Executive. Greg McCray will lead the hydrogen fuel cell company as it continues fundraising and trialing products in the automotive and stationary power industries.

ACAL is now ready to license its technology - a smaller, more durable fuel cell designed with 80% less platinum to keep costs low.

McCray said: “The clean power sector is on the crest of a new wave of technology innovation. Hydrogen fuel cells are an important part of that wave and commercialising hydrogen power will mean we break our reliance on fossil fuels. The future looks very exciting as auto-makers and power-hungry industries, such as manufacturing, explore hydrogen as an alternative fuel source.”

ACAL has spent eight years developing what it calls a revolutionary approach to fuel cell technology that is ready to progress from trial deployments to licensing to car manufacturers.

McCray joins ACAL from Antenova Ltd, a global wireless components company, which he transformed into a fast-growing antenna business backed by venture capitalists worldwide. This experience will be utilised to mass-market the ACAL fuel cell, via licensing agreements, into the automotive industry.

Cummins India expects a 15-20% price rise in the cost of its genset engines once new emissions control regulations are introduced.

CPCB (Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB ) II emissions control regulations apply to genset engines below 800 kVA.  CPCB II was due to be introduced in July 2013, but the CPCB is yet to notify engine manufacturers of the new standards.

Speaking to CNBC-TV18 in India, chief financial officer Rajiv Batra said: “So far the CPCB II norms have not been notified and after notification there is a cooling period, which the law stipulates as one year. But there could be a 15-20% price increase in the cost of the engine.”

The company said last year that engines would cost 10-15% higher while gensets would cost 5-7% higher (up to 800 kVA) once CPCB II is implemented.

Enersys and Ioxus have entered a joint agreement to develop and market new products incorporating the core experience of both companies. The benefits will combine Enersys’s knowledge of batteries with Ioxus’s expertise in the ultracapacitor market.

The partnership will focus on bringing to market products related to regenerative braking and energy recovery in the material handling market markets, UPS bridge to generator markets, automotive and heavy truck critical and cold start markets, as well as energy storage/power conditioning markets.

“The combination of Enersys battery technology with Ioxus ultracapacitor technology will benefit many vertical markets in need of high-performance, extended energy storage life under harsh environmental conditions, including select automotive markets,” said Mark McGough, CEO of Ioxus.

John Gagge, Vice President of Enersys America's Reserve Power Sales and Service, said Enersys is pleased to be working with Ioxus to bring better solutions to its customer base. The joining of ultracapacitors with Enersys’s product portfolio will expand the markets for both companies and Enersys hopes to bring benefits to users in both stand-alone and hybrid applications.

Genset engine manufacturer Perkins is exhibiting a new range of 400 Series ElectropaKs at Middle East Electricity 2013, which takes place in Dubai on 17-19 February.

There are four engines in total, all of which come in ElectropaK specification providing a turnkey package for direct integration into generating plant. The 403A-11G1 offers 9.2 kVA prime power at 1500 rpm, the 403-15G1 is rated at 13.2 kVA prime power, slightly less than its G2 counterpart, while the larger displacement 404A-22G1 completes the line up with 20.3 kVA prime power on tap.

In the field the 400A range has the option of the Extended Service Interval (ESI) package, which doubles the service interval to 1,000 hours. OEMs and Perkins distributors will be allowed to source all the individual components to create an oil top-up kit that meets Perkins’ recommended specification. As long as the kit is installed to Perkins standards, all warranty cover will be unaffected.

Perkins will also be exhibiting its 4006-23TRS gas engine. A turbocharged, air to water chargecooled, 6 cylinder inline engine, it is designed for operation on a wide range of methane based gases.

JCB is to supply Ecomax engines for a range of rotating telescopic handlers from Italian firm Magni Telescopic Handlers.

The deal between the UK and Italian companies is for up to 1000 machines a year, made at Magni’s factory in Castelfranco Emilia, in northern Italy.

Magni is producing seven models of its Magni Rotos range, each powered by JCB’s Ecomax Tier 4i engine. The Rotos payloads will be between four and six tonnes, and have lift heights of between 18 and 30m. Production is due to begin in Spring 2013.

JCB said the introduction of Tier 4 interim legislation meant most engine manufacturers had set out to meet the massive reductions in particulate emissions by incorporating a diesel particulate filter. JCB claimed to have used the new laws as an opportunity to innovate and engineer a solution that would mean no after-treatment, and consequently lower running costs for the customer.