DANBURY, Conn., Oct. 5, 2009 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- FuelCell Energy, Inc. (Nasdaq:FCEL), a leading manufacturer of high efficiency ultra-clean power plants using renewable and other fuels for commercial, industrial, government, and utility customers, today announced that the U.S. Department of Defense's Engineer Research and Development Center - Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) awarded it approximately $1.5 million to continue development of its electrochemical hydrogen separator (EHS). The EHS system separates pure hydrogen from gas internally generated in a fuel cell that can be used for industrial and transportation applications.

The EHS research contributes to the development of FuelCell Energy's DFC-H2 product. The DFC-H2 integrates an EHS system with the company's high-efficiency Direct FuelCell (DFC) power plant to produce ultra-clean electricity, heat and pure hydrogen. A DFC300 combined with an EHS would produce 300 kilowatts of power, heat for combined heat and power applications, and up to 300 lbs. per day of hydrogen. If successful, this combination may produce hydrogen more economically than other methods.

"This award recognizes our expertise in electrochemical separation technology and the opportunity to further develop our fuel cell technology," said Christopher Bentley, Executive Vice President, Government Research and Development Operations for FuelCell Energy. "It also confirms the Department of Defense's continued commitment to support the development of innovative technologies."

Conventional methods of separating hydrogen rely on a complex separation step using mechanical compression. FuelCell Energy's proprietary EHS technology has no moving parts and does not use compression, potentially offering higher reliability and efficiency, resulting in the need for only half the energy compared to conventional compression methods of producing hydrogen.

FuelCell Energy's DFC stationary power plants use biofuels and fossil fuels more efficiently than the electric grid and other distributed generation their size. Their high efficiency results in low CO2 and, because they produce power without combustion, they produce near-zero nitrous oxides, sulfur oxides, and particulate matter.

The $1.5 million ERDC-CERL program will span twenty months and will support the scale-up of the EHS technology and establish readiness for a field demonstration.

About FuelCell Energy

FuelCell Energy is the world leader in the development and production of stationary fuel cells for commercial, industrial, municipal and utility customers. FuelCell Energy's ultra-clean and high efficiency DFC(R) fuel cells are generating power at over 55 locations worldwide.