A group of former Westinghouse Electric Corp. engineers are developing a turbo fuel cell engine they say could be a significant advance in transportation power systems. Pittsburgh Electric Engines Inc. will be the cornerstone tenant at the former Westinghouse Industrial Ceramics Inc. plant in Derry, now called Porcelain Park. The company plans to employ more than 150 workers once it reaches manufacturing stage in several years. The company, initially announced last October, was officially opened Tuesday with U.S. Rep. John Murtha, a Johnstown Democrat, attending along with local officials. Fuel cell development has become big business in southwestern Pennsylvania. Last fall, Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp. agreed to spend $122 million to build a fuel cell manufacturing plant at the Waterfront in Munhall that eventually could employ 500. While the Siemens Westinghouse project is concentrating mainly on fuel cell development for electric power generation, the Westmoreland plant is focusing on transportation, according to Owen Taylor, president of Pittsburgh Electric Engines. “It’s similar technology, but (transportation) gives us our niche,” Taylor said. Pittsburgh Electric Engines was formed in 1997 to design, manufacture, and sell clean engines for transportation markets. Three years ago, the company secured patent rights to Fuel Cell Powered Propulsion Systems from CBS Corp. (formerly Westinghouse Electric) in order to establish a separate, independently owned and operated business. The fuel cell engine will eventually be comparable in size to a diesel engine. “It’s the whole engine. A fuel cell is part of it. The key is integration of all components. Next year we’ll work on the prototype, but actual manufacturing is probably years away,” Taylor said. He said the company expects to employ 40 workers within two years, and more than 150 when the company moves from development into production. A former Westinghouse executive with 24 years’ service, Taylor was previously a manager at Westinghouse’s Science and Technology Center in Churchill. He retired several years ago to start Pittsburgh Electric Engines. In fact, Taylor said many of the company’s current personnel are former Westinghouse employees. Taylor said once the demonstration engine is ready, it will be tested in commercial passenger buses. “At first there will be problems. Once we get them ironed out, you want to put out something commercial to keep costs down. Then the military can use it and take advantage of the lower costs,” Taylor said. Although the project is in relative infancy, Murtha and Westmoreland County economic development officials are looking further down the road. Murtha said he has already brought government defense contractors to visit the site. Murtha, an ex-Marine, said the seeds for fuel cell development were sown many years ago, particularly in the aftermath of the Arab oil embargo in the mid 1970’s. “We started the synthetic fuel program using coal, but ultimately it proved to be too expensive. … We couldn’t get costs below $30 a barrel,” Murtha said. The veteran legislator said the turbo fuel cell engine holds promise of substantially reducing energy imports and pollution. The fuel cell engine combines the power generation of two sources — a fuel cell and a turbine. The engine is a solid oxide fuel cell combined with a turbo-alternator, which is a “turbo charger” that produces electricity. The engine can operate on fuels such as diesel, jet, kerosene, gasoline, ethanol, methanol and natural gas. Separately yesterday, Murtha and officials of Aeptec Microsystems Inc. joined Navy officials to open the Navy’s Ready Response Center in the Blairsville Interchange Center, a business park along Routes 22 and 119 in Indiana County. The center is expected to provide 100 jobs. The Ready Response Center will support the Navy by maintaining status information, help analyze and solve logistics problems and analyze specific maintenance issues which affect surface fleet readiness for deployment. “We can’t fill every ship with spare parts. Technicians will be able to solve problems right here,” Murtha said. The response center will be managed by Aeptec Microsystems, which employs 18 workers at the Blairsville Interchange Center. Aeptec employs about 80 people at its headquarters in Rockville, Md. The company also has offices in Reno, Nev., and Dahlgren, Va.

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