The design philosophy of our solid oxide fuel cell system is simplicity, whether it is the versatility of our small scale, unitized, modular market entry design, the ease of maintenance by end users, the efficient organization of internal components, or the construction of our cells and stacks. The common denominator of our goal is to create reliable, affordable fuel cell systems for use by anyone, anywhere, at anytime.

Anyone... Our systems are designed to work for the end user, in his or her own environment. They must be easy to site and operate. One person should be able to maintain our systems without specialized tools, training or specialized parts inventory.

Anywhere... Our systems run on common, available fuels, whether liquid or gaseous, and are compact enough to be sited wherever power is needed. Because they can be shipped overnight using common carriers like FedEx and UPS, you will be up and running in hours.

Anytime... Our systems can be added, removed and easily relocated without total systems shutdown. Multiple redundant systems ensure high availability of power and self back-up.

Core Capabilities

Our core capabilities and intellectual property are derived from years of making and operating scores of complete freestanding SOFC systems. We have been engineering completely integrated kilowatt class SOFC systems since 2002 and are beginning field testing and demonstrations. Individual systems are intentionally small and compact for ease of shipping and handling by one person. Their modularity allows them to be used as building blocks to produce as much power as is required. Systems can also be added on the fly to produce additional power or unplugged and moved to wherever power is required.

Our systems operate efficiently on multiple types of fuels, including those that contain substances that are typically poisonous to fuel cells, such as sulfur, thus allowing the use of commonly available fuels. We have run on natural gas, JP-8 kerosene, propane, and most recently, diesel. In rural areas, TMI systems can operate on renewable bio-derived fuels, including ethanol, digester gas, ammonia and vegetable oil.

Applications

We have developed our fuel cell systems to be compatible with diverse applications and adaptable to unique situations. TMI’s target end users have continuous power applications in the low kilowatt range. Our greatest value is to end users in regions with poor or intermittent power availability and weak or non-existent service support or fuel supply infrastructures. In this scenario the small size, ease of maintenance by local workforce, and multi-fuel capability presents a very high value proposition over other modalities.

• Truck auxiliary power units (APU). High fuel costs and "anti-idling" laws in over 20 states have severe fines when parked trucks fail to turn off their main engines. Early markets include long haul heavy duty trucks that are a major source of noise and air pollution. The picture shows the actual size and proposed location of a 2kW test unit now being engineered. Fuels will be diesel and biodiesel.
• On-site stationary power. In rural and remote regions where grid power is poor or absent, fuel cell systems operating on locally available fuels, including digester biogas, provide a reliable alternative. Example applications include:
  • In developed economies: telecommunications towers and networks requiring high availability premium power, cathodic protection and safety monitoring for natural gas pipelines, and off grid residential and commercial scale buildings.
  • In third world economies: "village" power to provide clean water and refrigeration, lights for clinics and schools and battery recharging for handheld electronic devices and supplement solar array battery banks.
• Spontaneous Power. Rapid response situations do not allow any planning for amount of power, location, or, with the exception of the military, fuel availability:
  • For natural disasters or emergencies situations (e.g. tsunami, earthquakes, Katrina hurricanes, 9-11 terrorists), spontaneous power is needed to support base and satellite emergency relief teams and victims. Particularly when local service support infrastructure may be minimal or absent, the mobility, fuel interoperability and modularity have extremely high value.
  • For military scenarios. Military mobile command and control centers require quiet, auxiliary power and operation that operate efficiently on military logistic fuel (e.g., JP-8 kerosene). TMI’s system operates on military fuel (JP-8).