Sulfur Oxide Fuel Cell Generator > Fuel Cell Dispatch

Sulfur Oxide Fuel Cell Generator

From powering remote stations in the north to villages in Bangladesh, Cochranites Marc and Deborah Dionne and their company Dionne Design Inc. are bringing safe, clean and efficient alternative energy around the globe.

They've engineered a Sulfer Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) power generator, which produces electricity through...

electrochemical reactions. Their work is being looked at by governments and corporations worldwide.

Deborah said their products are being used in Haiti, Tanzania, Liberia, Bangladesh, and here at home the University of Calgary will use three of their cells to power their CO2 sequestration facility.

"You can put these anywhere," she said. "Any place where there's a need for power."

Marc said he was fascinated with chemicals ever since he was a boy.

"Most boys like firecrackers and whatnot," said Marc. "When you saw an instantaneous change (in chemicals), it's really neat to describe what's going on."

The pair said they've lived in Cochrane for 11 years, and enjoy the small town atmosphere, proximity to the mountains, and the atmosphere.

"Overall it's just very down to earth," said Marc.

He came to Cochrane after getting his Masters in Chemical Engineering at the University of Calgary.

Dionne Design Inc. got its start in the family's basement in 2003, and since then has grown to 17 staff running out of an office in Cochrane.

The Dionnes said their staff are like family.

"We have a very unique culture in our company," said Marc. "Our goal is to ensure that everybody is taken care of."

Each Fiesta Friday, the company meets at the Dionne household for tacos before the weekend.

Deborah said the pair loves running their own business.

"For us, it's seeing your vision come to fruition," she said. "It's going from an idea on paper to a business.

"We made a promise to our staff that we would see their idea commercialized, and that's exactly what we're doing," said Deborah.

Their design is safer than hydrogen, since there's no massively explosive gas floating around. It's cleaner than combustion engines with no byproducts except heat and water, and it's far more efficient than a diesel generator.

Deborah said the company has done similar designs seven times for other companies, but this time they produced their own device and it has quickly gained notice on the world stage.

"What happened is, the whole world came knocking," she said.

The company is just in the process of manufacturing their product now.

DDI has been nominated as one of the top 50 clean tech companies in Canada, and they said the country has potential to be the centre of clean energy innovation.

"I think that alternative power is the focus of the future," said Deborah. "We're posed to be world leaders now. We have an opportunity to really emerge as a world leader."

While they're off on the world stage now, the Dionnes remain connected to this town where they got their start.

"It's not about just running a business, it's about being a part of the community," said Marc.

Deborah said the staff at Dairy Queen know them when they come through for 16 burgers, for example.

Their company has an education mentoring initiative which employs young adults if they work to finish their schooling and teaches them the skills they need for the field.

"It's to teach them school is a tool," said Deborah. "It's exciting to watch them blossom into their full potential."

After so many years in the town of Cochrane, however, the company is saying a tearful goodbye. In order to produce their device, they needed a larger building that they couldn't find in Cochrane, so they're packing up shop for Airdrie.

"It's saying goodbye to a lot of friends, but the flip side is an opportunity to make new friends in the city of Airdrie," said Deborah. "We're quite excited about the expansion."

They said it makes it easier that not one of their staff is being lost in the move.

"Our condition with having to relocate was we didn't want to lose staff, so we're very thankful we didn't," she said. "We're excited about being a part of the community in Airdrie. They've been so welcome towards us."

As the Dionnes pack up shop in the town where they got their start, they look forward to new frontiers, and look back knowing they're never far away from where it all started.