New fuel-cell powered products for low-wattage, extended run monitoring

2 February 2012

Industrial gases and engineering business BOC has launched the Hymera DC, a hydrogen-powered fuel cell system capable of delivering 150W of DC power in off-grid and remote locations.

The new system from BOC, a member of The Linde Group, is ideal for powering a wide range of applications, particularly monitoring. The Hymera DC incorporates an automatic battery charger, so that power can be maintained in locations where changing batteries is not practicable. In many applications it is a silent, cheaper and much cleaner alternative to diesel and petrol generators.

Morgan Sindall, a leading UK construction and regeneration group, has been using the Hymera DC on its Pudding Mill Lane contract for the London Crossrail project. It was recently recognised in the Innovation category of Crossrail’s Green Line Environmental awards.

Casey Fleming, Morgan Sindall’s environmental manager said: "The Hymera hydrogen fuel cell’s innovative qualities helped us solve a difficult project conundrum. The cell has now successfully powered a remote noise monitor for eight weeks, the location of which was proving difficult to supply with conventional power. We needed it to operate silently, which was impossible with traditional power generators."

When used in conjunction with BOC’s 54ZH portable hydrogen fuel cylinder, the Hymera DC can provide 2-3 kWh of electrical energy. Depending on conditions, this is equivalent to around 75kg of lead-acid batteries.

The 54ZH is a user-friendly integrated ‘energy source’ which removes the need for pressure regulators and uses easy hand-operated connections. A single cylinder will keep a 3W average load powered for almost one month, or a 20W security camera powered for approximately five days.

For loads up to 50W, it has a substantially lower cost of ownership compared to diesel or petrol generators. With recent developments in lighting, computing and display technology, 50W goes a long way. For instance, 50W could light a small house with the latest generation DC LED technology.

The Hymera DC is also ideal for providing power in hard-to-reach places. Advanced Monitoring, a CCTV and access control security group with offices in Limerick and Dublin, has been using the Hymera DC to provide discreet and zero-emissions power for its security cameras since May 2011. Previously, the group had to change the batteries on their CCTV solutions every four to five days. 

"You can imagine how disruptive that can be to a covert operation," said Tom Ryan, Business Development Manager at Advanced Monitoring. "Using the BOC Hymera DC, our CCTV solutions can operate for around three weeks without interruption. Because it is silent and doesn’t require changing, no one is alerted to the presence of a camera."

"This is a product that will make a big impact, not only in the security industry but for any application that requires an unobtrusive, long-lasting and energy efficient power source."

"The type of capability the Hymera DC offers is increasingly crucial in the portable power market," said Stewart Dow, Packaged Energy Manager at BOC. "Businesses sometimes believe that cutting costs and carbon emissions are two conflicting goals, but with the family of Hymera products, this needn’t to be the case. With its high performance and low cost, the Hymera DC is now opening up a whole new range of exciting applications and opportunities."

Product specifications:

• The Hymera DC is clean, silent and highly portable.
• It has minimal service requirements.
• It is ideally suited to today’s high-efficiency electrical applications such as LED lights.
• It is well suited to low power, long duration loads such as remote monitoring, control and surveillance.
• For loads of up to 50W, it has a lower cost of ownership than comparable diesel or petrol generators.