MiddletownJournal.com

KETTERING — Ohio manufacturers of fuel cells said Wednesday they expect to provide the electric power sources to customers including the military, dairy farmers, automakers, utilities and Third World countries hungry for electricity.

That was good news for their audience at a conference of representatives of companies that want to supply materials, parts and services to fuel cell manufacturers. A number of the potential suppliers approached the speakers to offer business cards during breaks in the conference at the National Composite Center, an organization which promotes technology development for commercial markets. The building's parking lot was full as the two-day conference concluded.

Executives from California-based UltraCell Corp., which is starting up a plant near Dayton International Airport this year to make micro fuel cells, and Cleveland-based Technology Management Inc. briefed the audience on their companies' marketing plans.

UltraCell has invested more than $600,000 in the Dayton area so far and expects that to top $1 million later this year as it gets its plant up and running, said Frank Beafore, the company's vice president for manufacturing. The company is buying most of its materials and components in this region and welcomes new suppliers, he said.

UltraCell, which has four Dayton employees now and hopes to increase that to 360 by January 2012, wants to market its 25-watt fuel cell to the Army and Air Force for use by troops in the field. The company anticipates expanding its sales to emergency responders and eventually farmers and others who need portable power sources, Beafore said.

Fuel cells run on hydrogen and generate electricity, water and heat. Technology Management has designed fuel cells that can run on hydrogen extracted from methane given off by decomposing animal wastes and other organic wastes, so its customers could include dairy farms and food processing plants in Ohio and elsewhere, company executive Benson Lee said.

Edison Materials Technology Center, a state-assisted organization that sponsored the conference and promotes commercialization of energy and manufacturing technologies, has compiled a list of at least 700 companies that can provide supplies and materials for fuel cell makers, said Frank Svet, EMTEC's president and chief executive officer. Some of those companies have been longtime suppliers of parts or machining services for the auto industry, Svet said.

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2242 or jnolan@DaytonDailyNews.com.