Fuel cell power plants performance

Fuel cell power plants will become viable substitutes for the internal combustion engine (ICE) in automotive applications only when their benefits of increased fuel efficiency and reduced emissions are accompanied by performance and cost comparable to the ICE. Meeting these requirements is a significant technical challenge that requires an integrated systems approach. This effort encompasses the technical and developmental activities required to incorporate innovations necessary to develop a 50 kW fuel cell stack system to meet the requirements set forth by the DOE. 

Two different fuel cell power plants have been tested. The alkaline type demonstrated good performance during its trouble-free operation, but due to repeated repair work, it was later stopped. Since 1993, a PAFC power plant of 79 kW(e) is in operation which also allows cogeneration of 180 °C heat. It is fueled with either hydrogen or natural gas to be converted to hydrogen in an upstream steam reformer. A 10 kW PEM fuel cell is operating a standard electric fork lift truck... 

Therefore, fuel cell power plant system level models, detailed component models, and their analysis are needed to determine the performance targets for the WGSMR, subject to the power plant cost, weight and performance targets set by the Department of Energy (DOE), USA, for future automotive applications with an on-board fuel processing system as shown in Table 14.1 [7]. Keeping these criteria in mind, the fuel cell power plant must now be considered. 

Patterson et al. [66] with UTC Fuel Cells, EEC (Irvine, California), disclosed a decontamination procedure for a fuel cell power plant. The procedure involves exposing the electrodes to flowing oxygen to heated flowing oxygen to a number of start-stop cycling or to controlled potential. The procedure can be performed on one stack in a fuel cell system with two or multiple stacks... 

The gradual decline of the indices of performance of a fuel cell power plant has many causes, related both to the work of the fuel cells themselves and to the... 

Warren D. et al. (1986) Performance evaluation for the 40 kW fuel cell power plant utilizing a genaic landfill gas feedstock , KTI corporation report. 

BS EN 62282-3-200 2012 Test method for the performance of stationary fuel cell power plants (European Union and UK)... 

Sander, M.T. and Steinfeld, G. Cost and Performance Analysis for a 220 MW Phased Construction Carbonate Fuel Cell Power Plant , 11th Annual Conference on Gasification Power Plants, EPRI, October 1992. 

Fuel cell power systems contain an assembly of electrochemical cells, which oxidize a fuel to generate direct current electricity. Balance-of-plant subsystems may include controls, thermal management, a fuel processor, and a power conditioner. Some fuel cell power systems may contain additional power generating equipment such as steam generators, gas turbine generators, or micro-turbine generators. The net power output and all the fuel input to the system shall be taken into account in the performance test calculations. 

The poor efficiencies of coal-fired power plants in 1896 (2.6 percent on average compared with over forty percent one hundred years later) prompted W. W. Jacques to invent the high temperature (500°C to 600°C [900°F to 1100°F]) fuel cell, and then build a lOO-cell battery to produce electricity from coal combustion. The battery operated intermittently for six months, but with diminishing performance, the carbon dioxide generated and present in the air reacted with and consumed its molten potassium hydroxide electrolyte. In 1910, E. Bauer substituted molten salts (e.g., carbonates, silicates, and borates) and used molten silver as the oxygen electrode. Numerous molten salt batteiy systems have since evolved to handle peak loads in electric power plants, and for electric vehicle propulsion. Of particular note is the sodium and nickel chloride couple in a molten chloroalumi-nate salt electrolyte for electric vehicle propulsion. One special feature is the use of a semi-permeable aluminum oxide ceramic separator to prevent lithium ions from diffusing to the sodium electrode, but still allow the opposing flow of sodium ions. 

Fuel cell/gas turbine hybrids will form the essential power block component of the FutureGen plant, allowing high overall efficiency and exceptional environmental performance to be achieved at low cost. 

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