Japan power plant fuel cells

The PAFC technology is considered to be the only commercial available fuel cell. The PAFC plants rely heavily on the quality of power produced from the stacks. The largest power of 11 MW has been achieved using the PAFC plant built by international fuel cells and Toshiba for Tokyo Electric Power. The major industrial developers of PAFC are Fuji Electric, Toshiba and Mitsubishi Electric Company (Japan) and UTC fuel cells (ONSI Corporation, United States). Mitsubishi Electric Company has demonstrated cell performance of 0.65 mV at 300 mA/cm. In 1991, Tokyo Electric Company demonstrated cell performance of 0.71 V at 431 mA/cm. Bharat Heavy Electrical Ltd. of India and Caltex Oil Corporation of South Korea are new entrants for the PAFC technology. 

The fuel eell is a nineteenth eentuiy invention in the twentieth eentury it heeame the heart of an eleetroehemical power plant and power souree, whieh is now in a stage of advaneed technology development. Its first and only applieation since the early 1960s, has been as an auxiliary power souree for spaee flights by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). During the past decade, development for terrestrial (eivihan and defense) applieations has led to its commercialization and research on utilization in a variety of applications. Programs in the United States, Japan, Europe, and some other eoimtries are focused on the development of fuel cell power plant/power sources for (1) base-load,... 

Medium-temperature phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFCs). The electrolyte is 85 to 95% phosphoric acid the working temperatures are 180 to 200°C. Such systems were used to build numerous autonomous power plants with an output of up to about 250 kW, and even some with an output of up to 4 MW, in the United States, Japan, and other countries. 

High-temperature solid-oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). The working electrolyte is a solid electrolyte based on zirconium dioxide doped with oxides of yttrium and other metals the working temperatures are 800 to 1000°C. Experimental plants with a power of up to lOOkW have been built with such systems in the United States and Japan. 

Fig, 4, Process flow diagram of 4.5 MW fuel cell power demonstration plant installed at the Tokyo Electric Power Company, Goi, Japan... 

Parker, W.G., Bevc, F.P., SureCELLTM integrated Solid Oxide Fuel Cell / Oxidation Turbine power plants for distributed power applications, in Proceedings 2nd International Fuel Cell Conference, Kobe, Japan, February 5-8, 1996, pp. 275-278. 

Among the dozens of demonstration plants, subsystems, test facilities, and other related hardware constructed or planned in the United States, Europe, and Japan in those years, three examples stand out. The first was the first megawatt-class fuel cell power plant the PC-19 phosphoric acid plant, built by United Technologies in South Windsor, Connecticut and tested during the first half of 1977. 

Other companies working on planar solid oxide fuel cell power plants include Dornier as part of the Daimler-Benz group, and, in Japan, Tonen, Sanyo Electric, Murata, and Mitsubishi. 

The first information on medium-temperature phosphoric-acid fuel cells (PAFC) came out in 1961. Highly concentrated phosphoric acid (85-95%) is the electrolyte in these cells. The working temperature in these cells is in the range of 180-200 C. These fuel cells quickly aroused great interest and found wide distribution. On the basis of such cells, numerous power plants of up to 250 kW were built and used as an autonomous power supply for individual operating units such as hotels and hospitals. Also, in the United States, Japan, and other countries, megawatt plants were built... 

Work to build power plants on the basis of molten carbonate fuel cells has also been done at UTC and a number of companies in different countries in Germany by MTU CFG Solutions GmbH, Munich, jointly with FCE, United States, in Italy by Ansaldo S.p.a., in Japan by Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., and others. 

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