Reporting on the business and technologies
driving today's global industrial gas industry

The Art of Selling
Do You Know Why People Are Consistently Grabbing Your Doritos?
By Art Waskey
2008.02
I just read that a seagull in Scotland has developed the unique habit of stealing chips from a neighborhood shop. The seagull waits until the shopkeeper isn't looking, then walks into the store and grabs a snack-size bag of cheese Doritos. Once outside, the seagull rips open the bag and lustily shares the contents with other birds. Since the shoplifting seagull first swooped into the store, he has helped himself to a bag of chips, always choosing the cheese Doritos. Customers have begun paying for the seagull's stolen bags of chips because they think it is absolutely hysterical.

No one knows WHY the seagull has become a regular customer or knows WHY he prefers the cheese Doritos. If you reflect on your customers, do you know WHY they became your customer, or WHY they choose your "chips" to sustain them? Do you know the answer, or are you guessing?

In his best seller, Let's Get Real, or Let's Not Play, author Mahan Khalsa reminds us, "If our intent is to help clients succeed, we have both the right and the obligation not to guess about the key elements of that success." To prevent guessing Khalsa suggests using four principles.

1. Ask the person what he or she means. When customers make a request, do you assume you clearly understand what they mean? Either you or the customer may not be clear on some point. Listen carefully to key words or phrases. Ask for clarification on what they mean by specific words or phrases.

2. What assumptions went unchallenged? Assumptions are a form of guessing. Assumptions can be particularly insidious because they often happen unconsciously.

3. Don't hesitate to ask ANY question. If a question concerning a client forms in your mind... ASK it !!!

4. Do I really understand the criteria on which I am being judged? Never make a presentation or proposal to clients until you understand the criteria they will use to judge your presentation. Build a relationship based on mutual understanding of their real criteria BEFORE you present your solution(s).

In his work, John Maxwell on Leadership, Maxwell states, "Discerning leaders [and sales professionals] are good listeners. They are flexible, intuitive, optimistic, well-networked, and perceptive." These attributes are all indicative of someone who seeks to thoroughly understand the client's needs before offering a solution. The truth is people don't care how much you KNOW until they know how much you CARE.

In short, spend more time getting to know what is at the heart of your customers' needs BEFORE presenting conclusions. We may never know WHY the seagull became a regular customer, but with a little effort, you can learn WHY customers flock to your shop and consistently grab your Doritos!

Art Waskey is the author of The Art of Sales in One Month. He can be reached via e-mail at awaskey@generalair.com.

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Energy Initiatives
Ultra Clean Power Plants
Maura D. Garvey
2008.02
FuelCell Energy, Inc. is a manufacturer of high efficiency, ultra-clean power plants for commercial, industrial, and utility customers. The company recently sold several of its DFC300 power plants in California.

Three power plants were sold to Eastern Municipal Water District (EMWD) and will supply 750 kilowatts (kW) of electricity to run its wastewater processing facility. EMWD estimates that these plants will reduce local greenhouse gas emissions by 10,400 tons annually.

According to FuelCell Energy, the DFC power plants will purify 100 percent of the methane gas generated by EMWD and use it for fuel. DFC units do not burn fuel, but transform it electrochemically into hydrogen, water, and electricity. Because no combustion is involved, and because the units are more efficient than traditional power plants, DFC fuel cells emit near-zero pollutants and much less CO₂ than other power generators in their size class. Their low emissions will also help the District meet California’s CARB 07 requirements — some of the most stringent in the country.

EMWD is in southern California’s Moreno Valley and processes 11.5 million gallons of wastewater per day from 190,000 homes and businesses in the area. Treatment of this waste stream is an aroundthe-clock operation, entailing energy-intensive processes such as disinfecting effluent, removing biosolids and reclaiming usable water.
“Our ability to reduce air emissions and operating and maintenance costs were key factors in our decision to install FuelCell Energy fuel cells,” said Charlie Bachmann, Assistant General Manager of Engineering, EMWD. “Our engineering team determined that DFC fuel cells were a cost-effective and environmentally friendly co-generation technology that meets the needs of our critical wastewater operations.”

The EMWD power plants will also capture heat generated by the DFC fuel cells and use this thermal energy in the wastewater treatment process. By eliminating a boiler and the gas-fired machinery previously used as heat sources, the new power plant further reduces air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.

FuelCell Energy’s fuel cells operate with an electrical efficiency of 47 percent, much higher than traditional fossil fuel power plants that average 30 to 35 percent. When the DFC power plant’s heat is also used, the system efficiency can be as high as 80 percent. This added efficiency results in less fuel being consumed to generate a kilowatt of power or a BTU of heat, saving money and substantially reducing greenhouse gases.

Fuel cells running on digester gas are categorized as renewable in California, qualifying them for the same treatment as either solar or wind power. The California Self-Generation Incentive Program will provide $3.375 million for this project through Southern California Edison. Alliance Power will serve as project manager and is expected to install the three power plants in the first half of 2008.

LINDE SALE
FuelCell Energy Inc. also sold four power plants with 3.9 megawatts of annual generating capacity to Linde AG. Linde will install the plants — three 1.2 megawatt plants and one 300 kilowatt plant — at three customer locations in the San Diego area. The plants will use purified biogas from the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant as a primary fuel source. Electricity generated by the three units will be sold to the host customers under power-purchase agreements. Linde’s purchase of the FuelCell units is funded in part by California’s Self-Generation Incentive Program and the Federal Investment Tax Credit for fuel cells.

Linde will use methane gas that is currently being flared at the Point Loma Wastewater Treatment Plant (PLWTP) in San Diego to fuel the four Direct FuelCell (DFC) power plants being purchased from FuelCell Energy. Most of the gas collected and purified by Linde will be transported off-site to three separate customer locations in southern California where DFC1500 ultra-clean power plants will be installed. Linde will deliver purified methane by tube trailers to local off-site customers for the production of renewable heat and power. The remainder of the methane will be used on-site to fuel a DFC300, which will provide renewable baseload power for Linde’s purification plant. The electricity generated by the three DFC1500 units will be sold to the host customers under Power Purchase Agreements — establishing the first commercial DFC fuel cell installations to run on transported renewable fuel.

“The demand for new sources of renewable energy provides a host of opportunities for Linde. This project is just one example of how we are leveraging Linde’s core gases competencies to bring new energy solutions to the table,” said Christopher Carson, Linde’s Head of Biogas Business Development. “The ability to generate renewable fuel in one location and transport it economically to another where it can be used effectively fundamentally alters the economics of putting clean energy in place. We are working on a number of opportunities in this area, and strongly believe that projects such as this one, with the added benefits from high efficiency, ultra-clean Direct FuelCell technology, help maximize the economics and utilization of renewable resources.”

In January, FuelCell Energy formed a marketing and distribution agreement with The Linde Group. Under terms of the agreement, Linde gains the non-exclusive right to sell and market Direct Fuel-Cell^® (DFC^®) power plants worldwide — except where FuelCell Energy already has granted exclusive distribution agreements.

Information for this report was derived from Fuel Cell Energy press releases, http://www.fuelcellenergy.com.

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Basic Cryogenics — That Even I Can Understand!
This Month We Review Hydrogen Basics — It's Elemental!
Keith Hall
2008.02
Hydrogen, composed of a single proton and electron, is the simplest of all elements, yet is also the most abundant in the universe. It is estimated that 90% of all atoms — 75% of the elemental mass of the visible universe is hydrogen; mysterious dark matter excepted.

Like other stars, our sun is mainly composed of hydrogen in its plasma state. Hydrogen atoms, under tremendous temperature and pressure in the sun’s dense core region, are fused together to make helium. The nuclear fusion of hydrogen atoms to make helium produces intense radiant energy. It is estimated that the sun has enough hydrogen to burn for another five-billion years.

The planet Jupiter, and other giant gas planets, are composed primarily of hydrogen. Deep within Jupiter the pressure is so intense that solid molecular hydrogen becomes solid metallic hydrogen.

At the atomic level, all heavier elements were made from hydrogen, or from other elements that were originally made from hydrogen. Hydrogen is the third most abundant element on earth after oxygen and silicon; however it does not exist on earth as a gas. Hydrogen is the lightest element, even lighter than helium. There are only trace amounts of pure diatomic hydrogen gas (H₂) in our atmosphere; less than one ppm. Any uncombined hydrogen gas soon gains velocity from collisions with other molecules, and quickly rises and is lost from the atmosphere. It is estimated that even in the vacuum of dark interstellar space, every cubic inch, essentially void of any other known matter, contains a few atoms of hydrogen.

Hydrogen must be separated from other molecules. For example, using electrolysis, hydrogen (and oxygen) can be split from water. Steam reforming is currently the most economical industrial process to generate hydrogen, as hydrogen and carbon atoms are split from methane. Other common hydrogen production processes include: using heat to decompose certain hydrocarbons; creating a chemical reaction with potassium or sodium on aluminum; or using certain metals in acids to displace hydrogen. Interestingly, in nature certain bacteria and algae have been found to emit hydrogen.

While not very reactive under standard conditions, hydrogen does combine with most elements, sometimes explosively, to form compounds. Perhaps the most common hydrogen compound we are familiar with is formed when two hydrogen molecules (₂H₂) combine with one oxygen molecule (O₂2) to form two molecules of di-hydrogen-oxide, better known to us chemistry challenged as H₂0. Thus the name hydrogen is very apropos as it is derived from the Greek words hydro, meaning water, and genes meaning forming.

Hydrogen combines with carbon to form the organic/hydrocarbon compounds in all living things, including you and me. Other common organic compounds include methane (CH₄), coal, petroleum and a vast array of other hydrocarbons. Hydrogen combines with nitrogen to form ammonia (NH₃). Other common hydrogen compounds include table sugar (C₁₂H₂₂O₁₁), hydrogen-peroxide (H₂O₂), and hydrochloric acid (HCl).

The hydrogenation process adds hydrogen to unsaturated fat and oil molecules to increase the melting point so the vegetable oil becomes a solid at room temperature; i.e., margarine. Another “everyday” example is high purity hydrogen used in the manufacture of the microchips in your computer.

Large quantities of hydrogen are used in the petroleum industry to “upgrade” fuels. Petrochemical plants also use large volumes of hydrogen in the production of many chemicals and plastics that are used in our daily lives.


INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT HYDROGEN
At ambient conditions hydrogen is odorless, colorless, tasteless, and has the highest thermal conductivity of any gas. Hydrogen is also highly flammable. Gaseous hydrogen will burn in concentrations as low as 4 percent in air. The flame is very difficult to detect with the naked eye as it burns (with oxygen) in the ultraviolet color range. The products of combustion are water and nitrogen (air being 21 percent oxygen and 78 percent nitrogen). The expansion factor of liquid hydrogen to gaseous hydrogen, at ambient conditions, is 1 to 848.

The density of hydrogen is about 1/15th that of air and hence being lighter than air, and more readily available than helium, hydrogen gas was once used as a lifting agent in balloons and airships and is still sometimes used in weather balloons.

Many people incorrectly think that the tragic Hindenburg Zeppelin airship maiden voyage disaster, which occurred on May 6, 1937 at the Lakehurst Navel Air Station in New Jersey, resulted from a hydrogen explosion. There was no explosion. While hydrogen does explode when exposed to pure oxygen, it “only” burns violently and rapidly in air. An interesting characteristic of hydrogen fires is that the flames tend to rise as the gas rises in the air (note the large ball of fire is above the Hindenburg). Many of the deaths from the Hindenburg were from falling or diesel fuel burns. Two-thirds of the passengers survived. A great portion of the fire and smoke was created as the airship’s bladder material burned. One former NASA researcher (and MythBusters) believes that the varnish used to treat the outside of the fabric, which made-up the giant cigar-shaped balloon was highly combustible and was most likely to be blamed (see http://www.geocities.com/hydrogenpower1/essays/hindenburg.html; and see a video of the Hindenburg, with the radio commentator’s description of the disaster, “Oh, the humanity!” at: http://www.encyclomedia.com/hindenburg.html).

When used as a rocket propellant with pure oxygen, hydrogen is not only environmentally clean — water being the only product of combustion — but also has the highest energy content by weight (three times that of gasoline), than other common propellants or fuels. However, when compared on a volumetric basis, the energy content of hydrogen is four times less than that of gasoline, as hydrogen is lightest element.

The newest Super Lightweight External Tank on NASA’s Space Shuttle holds approximately 395,582 gallons (234,265 pounds) of liquid hydrogen (-423.0°F, -252.8°C, 20°K), and 146,182 gallons (629,340 pounds) liquid oxygen (-297.4°F (-183.0°C, 90°K). The hydrogen tank is 2 1/2 times larger in volume than the oxygen tank, but weighs only 1/3 as much when filled. Oxygen is 16 times heavier than hydrogen.

Hydrogen fuel cells are also very environmental friendly, giving off only pure water as they generate electricity. The downside; they are currently very expensive.

Much hydrogen car research and development is being conducted, but few hydrogen cars have made it to the road. Getting affordable hydrogen cars on the road is only half of the challenge. Building the infrastructure to support hydrogen cars — the fueling stations and other refueling units, trained mechanics and service technicians, etc. — are equally important to the hydrogen challenge.
 
HYDROGEN ISOTOPES
An isotope is a different form of the same element but having a different atomic mass. An isotope has the same numbers of protons in the nucleus of the atom, but different numbers of neutrons. Hydrogen has three naturally occurring isotopes, and even though you may not be a physicist, I bet you’ve heard of them — deuterium and tritium. The name you may not have heard of is protium, the name given to common hydrogen, which is 99.98 percent of all hydrogen.

Deuterium, often called heavy water has one proton and one neutron in its nucleus. It is not radioactive and is not a significant toxic threat. Deuterium is, however, used as a coolant in nuclear reactors as it is a neutron moderator. There is only about one atom of deuterium in every 6000 common (protium) hydrogen atoms.

Tritium contains one proton and two neutrons in its nucleus and is radioactive with a half-life of 12.32 years. Tritium is used in the production of the hydrogen bomb (fusion — not fission which splits the atom). Tritium is also used in nuclear fusion reactions as a tracer isotope. Tritium atoms are only found in trace amounts in common hydrogen.

Keith Hall is the Customer Technical Support Manager at Cryogenic Vessel Alternatives, headquartered in Mont Belvieu, TX. He can be reached at khall@cvatanks.com, www.cvatanks.com, or by phone at 281-385-1204.


 

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