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South Africa- trials of fuel cell cellphone towers
Production, July 14 2010 (The Hydrogen Journal)
- South African industrial gases company Afrox is running a trial of fuel cells to provide power for cell phone towers, according to an article on www.itweb.co.za.
Afrox (African Oxygen Ltd) is part of the Linde Group.
The trial is in partnership with UK company Diverse Energy. It uses hydrogen sourced from ammonia.
The first test will be made in a remote area in Namibia, followed by trials in Johannesburg in September this year.
Currently, the cell phone towers are powered by generators run on diesel - and both the generators and the diesel are often stolen.
Afrox says that ammonia is readily available in most sub Saharan countries.
The by product of the fuel cell, one litre an hour of highly purified water, can also be used for medical purposes. The nitrogen from the ammonia can also be used for fertiliser.
“This is a low cost, environmentally-friendly solution for power in rural areas without access to electricity,” Afrox says.
