Fuel cell system costs

A complete fuel cell system, even when operating on pure hydrogen, is quite complex because, like most engines, a fuel cell stack cannot produce power without functioning air, fuel, thermal, and electrical systems. Figure 3 illustrates the major elements of a complete system. It is important to understand that the sub-systems are not only critical from an operational standpoint, but also have a major effect on system economics since they account for the majority of the fuel cell system cost. 

The Shell studies imply that fuel cell sales will start with stationary applications to businesses that are willing to pay a premium to ensure highly reliable power without utility voltage fluctuations or outages. This demand helps to push fuel cell system costs below 500 per kW, providing the era of transportation which drives costs to 50 per kilowatt. But, can the high-reliability power market really drive transportation fuel cell demand and cost reductions, especially for proton- exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells ... 

Another important parameter that has to be taken into account when choosing the appropriate diffusion layer is the overall cost of the material. In the last few years, a number of cost analysis studies have been performed in order to determine fuel cell system costs now and in the future, depending on the power output, size of the system, and number of xmits. Carlson et al. [1] reported that in 2005 the manufacturing costs of diffusion layers (for both anode and cathode sides) corresponded to 5% of the total cost for an 80 kW direct hydrogen fuel cell stack (assuming 500,000 units) used in the automotive sector. The total value for the DLs was US 18.40 m-, which included two carbon cloths (E-TEK GDL LT 1200-W) with 27 wt% P ILE, an MPL with PTFE, and Cabot carbon black. Capital, manufacturing, tooling, and labor costs were included in the total. 

Marcinkoski J, James BD, Kalinoski JA, Podolski W, Benjamin T, Kopasz J (2011) Manufacturing process assumptions used in fuel cell system cost analyses. J Power Sources 196 5282-5292... 

Figure 1. 80 kW Fuel Cell System Cost Breakdown... 

Over years of R D, the system cost has been reduced significantly, as shown in Figure 8.4. The cost reduced from 275 to 108 and to 49 per kW from 2002 to 2006 and to 2011, about a 50% reduction every 4 years. The target of 30 per kW by 2017 does not appear to be overly optimistic. At this cost, a 100 kW fuel cell system costs only 3,000, similar to a normal internal combustion engine (ICE) system. 

DOE Fuel Cell Technologies Office Record 13012, (2013). http //eneigy.gov/sites/prod/ files/2014/03/fl l/13012 fuel cell system cost 2013.pdf. Accessed on Sep 2015... 

Ernst WD, Stone C, Wheeler D (2009) Fuel cell system cost for transportation-2008 Cost Estimate, NREL/BK-6A1-45457... 

Typical platinum loading in PEM fuel cells is about 0.4 mg per cm of each electrode active area. Assuming power density of 0.7W/cm (for example 0.7 V and lAcm ), this corresponds to approximately IrngW" or lgkW" . The price of platinum varies on the market, but at say 20 per gram this corresponds to about 20 per kW, thus a significant portion of the total fuel cell system cost allowance. 

From your home energy bills find the price of electricity and natural gas. Also find information on the heating fuel (electricity, natural gas, or heating oil). Estimate the payback time for a 5-kW fuel cell system that operates with 50% capacity factor and average efficiency of 35% with and without cogeneration (assume total efficiency of 75%). The fuel cell system costs 4400, including installation. How could the feasibility of this system be improved ... 

James et al. (1999) have estimated the fuel cell system cost as a function of membrane area, which can be converted to the cost as a function of output power. They used the Design for Manufacture and Assembly (DFMA) technique in their analysis and have shown that the estimated cost of the fuel cell stack can be represented by the following equation ... 

The results of this stationary PEM fuel cell cost analysis are compared with cost projections for PEM vehicle fuel cell systems for a 50 kW stationary fuel cell system cost is projected at 490/kW for 1(X) units, decreasing to 310/kW for 10,000 units, while the 50 kW mobile fuel cell system cost is estimated at 36/ kW in automotive production volumes. 

Power capacity for current electric utilities has been purchased at a cost of about l,000/kW, with costs of about 300/kW for modern natural gas systems (Kempton and Letendre, 1997). Current PEM fuel cell system costs are of the order of 10,000 per kW for automotive systems and at least 2,500 per kW for small stationary systems (compared with costs of about 4,000 per kW for 200-kW stationary phosphoric acid fuel cell systems), but costs for vehicle applications are projected to rapidly decline to much lower levels as production expands—perhaps even as low as 50/kW in mass production (Lomax et al., 1997). 

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