SUCCESS STORY

The whole environmental engineering world is watching. And waiting . . . for a revolutionary technology that converts paint fumes to energy now being developed at Ford’s Oakville Assembly Complex. “This is the greenest technology out there when it comes to air pollution control and power generation,” says Kit Edgeworth, who is responsible for the Fumes to Fuel cell system project. “This is in a world of its own—it’s Star Trek stuff.”

Edgeworth came to Oakville from Ford’s Michigan headquarters last year to supervise the experimental process stimulated by a $100 million Ontario government investment in the Oakville complex. “That’s real forward-looking thinking,” he says. “If it weren’t for the government money, Ford would have probably waited five years to embark on this project. And then it might have been located elsewhere.”

The provincial support for Fumes to Fuel is part of Ontario’s $500 million Automotive Investment Strategy that is expected to spur 10 times that amount in spending from the auto industry to maintain its long-term competitiveness. That funding goal has already been achieved at Ford where the automaker has committed $1 billion for an expanded Oakville facility with a flexible assembly plant to meet market demand as well as a research and development centre based on fuel cell technology. The Fumes to Fuel project is the centre’s first initiative.

Here’s how it works. The painting process in any auto plant emits what are known as Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs), or waste fumes. These VOCs are also produced in a wide range of manufacturing operations from furniture to adhesive labels. Indeed, any process that involves painting or solvents is likely to produce VOCs that pollute the air.

Up to now, auto plants have eliminated VOCs by burning them off in thermal oxidizers, a kind of incinerator for gases, at temperatures of up to 1,500 degrees. But such thermal oxidizers are expensive to build, use a lot of energy and themselves emit carbon dioxide and nitrogen oxide, although in very small amounts.

Ford’s better way is to capture the VOCs, move them through four filtration chambers, condense them and turn them into a hydrocarbon mixture that eventually is transformed into a hydrogen-rich liquid fuel that is fed to a fuel cell to produce electricity. If successful, the process will provide energy to help operate the plant while reducing greenhouse gases.

Even more significant, the Ford prototype lends itself to use in more than the auto industry. “We’re getting calls from around the world,” says Edgeworth as he shows a group of hard-hatted visitors around the 10,000 sq. ft. Fumes to Fuel conversion facility adjacent to the Oakville paint shop. It’s taken about six months to renovate the two-storey former assembly operation for its new role starting around Labour Day. Before the end of the year, Ford expects to produce electricity from the VOCs with a traditional internal combustion engine generator. The state-of-the-art fuel cell arrives early in 2008, and it is expected to be in operation by the end of next year.

By that time, the Oakville Auto Complex will be the “most modern facility in the world,” according to Edgeworth. As far as he knows, no one else has taken the Fumes to Fuel concept to such an advanced stage. Engineering programs at several Ontario universities want to participate in the research. “People are lining up to get involved,” says Edgeworth.

In the future, the Fumes to Fuel concept with its minimal greenhouse gases and lower energy consumption could replace existing air pollution systems. “It’s so revolutionary that current systems could easily become dinosaurs,” says Edgeworth, adding: “It’s the best conversion system going—and it going to get even better.”

The province’s investment and Ford’s response means the Oakville Assembly Complex’s future looks secure, indeed. “Government vision is responsible for breathing decades of life into this plant,” says Edgeworth. “It will become a showcase plant, a win-win for everyone and everything, including the environment.”

For further information, or to provide comments, email Dino Rocca