Fuel Cell Demonstrator

Not all of the gas is wasted. About 300 MW of electricity is generated from landfills. A variety of electric generation systems have been employed by a small number of developers. Most projects use simple technology and are small (2—10 MW). However, an EPRI study has estimated that landfill gas resources in the United States could support 6,000 MW of generation if utilized in 2-MW-sized carbonate fuel cells. Constmction on the world s first utihty-scale direct carbonate fuel cell demonstration was begun in California. If successful, EPRI estimates that precommercial 3-MW plants based on this design could become available by the end of this decade at an installed cost of 17,000/kW. 

ESR spectroscopy, used in the direct detection or spin trapping modes, is a sensitive method for the detection of polymer fragments and for determining the degradation mechanism. Recent applications for the study of stability in ionomer membranes used as proton exchange membranes in fuel cells demonstrate the capability of ESR to detect details that cannot be obtained by other methods. 

Twenty-five of the 5-kW fuel cell systems called GenSys5CS will be installed at LIPA s West Babylon Fuel Cell Demonstration Site, which currently contains fuel cell systems feeding directly into the Long Island electrical grid. The remaining 20 systems will generate on-site heat and power for single or multi-family residential sites, for the first time in LIPA s ser-... 

The Department of Defense (DOD) Fuel Cell Demonstration Program is managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It was begun in the mid-1990s to advance the use of PAFCs at DOD installations. Under this program, stationary fuel cells were installed at 30 facilities and locations in the Armed Services. The fuel cells are used for primary and backup power as well as heat. 

Ballard Power Systems supplied one of the first fuel cell demonstration projects for British Columbia Transit. Ballard is a pioneer and major producer of fuel cells which it installed in several Vancouver, Canada city buses. The fuel cell powered New Flier buses are much cleaner than new diesels and they are not adding to Vancouver s smog problem. A similar demonstration has taken place in Chicago, where the modified city buses have been called the Green Machines. 

The DOD has also begun a residential fuel cell demonstration program using polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells ranging in size from 1 to 20 kilowatts. This will include twenty-one PEM fuel cells at nine U.S. military bases. The first units were installed in 2002. 

Because of the modular nature of fuel cells, they are attractive for use in small portable units, ranging in size from 5 W or smaller to 100 W power levels. Examples of uses include the Ballard fuel cell, demonstrating 20 hour operation of a portable power unit (32), and an IFC military backpack. There has also been technology transfer from fuel cell system components. The best example is a joint IFC and Praxair, Inc., venture to develop a unit that converts natural gas to 99.999% pure hydrogen based on using fuel cell reformer technology and pressure swing adsorption process. 

This section of the handbook contains field site information. Most of the worldwide summaries were extracted from an lEA paper. Information on the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) Fuel Cell Demonstration was taken from the following web site www.dodfuelcell.com. Finally, Fuel Cell Energy, IFC, and Siemens Westinghouse provided information on their field sites. The IFC PAFC summary includes a number of projects reported by DoD. In the DoD demonstration program, a total of 30 PAFC units were installed at DoD sites across the United States. These were model B and C PC-25 units. 

In the above expression, the first term represents the accumulation and convective transport of enthalpy, where is the heat capacity of phase k. The second term is energy due to reversible work. For condensed phases this term is negligible, and an order-of-magnitude analysis for ideal gases with the expected pressure drop in a fuel cell demonstrates that this term is negligible compared to the others therefore, it is ignored in all of the models. 

Fuel Cells are taken up in Section 1, which begins with a brief overview of fuel cell fundamentals and a synopsis of each of the major fuel cell types. It then provides a review of lEA government work as it relates to each fuel cell type, including R D efforts directed as specific fuel cell types a review of programs undertaking basic fuel cell R D and, the section concludes with a review of fuel cell demonstrations for transportation and stationary applications. 

A number of European countries also feature their own fuel cell demonstration programs ... 

Canada has a long history of hydrogen and fuel cell demonstrations. In 1993, the world s first fuel cell bus was displayed and in 1996, a second generation bus was demonstrated. With the success of these first fuel cell buses, a bus fleet demonstration was launched in 1997 which integrated numerous HFC technologies and illustrated that fuel cells and ancillary components could function as a whole system. Highlights include ... 

Japan s Stationary Fuel Cell Demonstration Project operates 31 stationary fuel cells at various... 

The hydrogen strategy is to focus on distributed hydrogen related energy systems, network with international activities (EU, lEA, Nordic), and connect with fuel cell activities in Finland. Finland s fuel cell strategy is a bit more developed, with plans to focus on systems, fuel cell demonstrations and applications, build a close relationship with industry to create a national fuel cell group, and network with international fuel cell initiatives. 

Polymer electrolyte membrane and solid oxide fuel cells demonstration of systems and development of new materials. Activity leader National Research Council (CNR). Estimated activity cost 14 million. 

The JHFC (Japan Hydrogen Fuel Cell) Demonstration Project consists of road test demonstrations of FCVs and the operation of hydrogen refuelling stations. 

Stationary Fuel Cell Demonstration Project. In order to estimate the efficiency and identify the problems of commercialization of stationary PEFC, this project operates 31 stationary fuel cells in various sites such as residential areas, heavy traffic areas, and seaside areas. It will also evaluate various fuel types (i.e. natural gas, LP Gas and kerosene). The budget allocations for 2002-2003 total 1.8 billion the 2003 allocation is 1.3 billion. 

Transportation PEMFC Hybrid (Ni-MH + fuel cell) FCV (2002) FCV (75 kW fuel cell) demonstration (2002)... 

Figure 12. Steam reformer under construction for 4.8-MW fuel cell demonstrator power plant (to be operated by Con Edison in New York City)...

As with the technologies considered earlier, the main deterrent is cost. Today s fuel cell demonstration cars and buses are custom-made prototypes that cost about 1 million apiece.41 Economies of scale in mass manufacture would bring this cost to a more reasonable 6,000-10,000 range. This translates to about 125 per kilowatt of engine power, which is about four times as high as the 30 per kilowatt cost of a comparable gasoline-powered internal combustion engine.41 A major cost component in the PEM fuel cell is the noble metal (usually Pt) electrocatalyst. Efforts are underway in many laboratories to find less expensive substitutes (see for example, Refs. 42-44). 

Li, Q. et al., PBI-based polymer membranes for high temperature fuel cells preparation, characterization and fuel cell demonstration. Fuel Cells, 4, 147, 2004. 

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