Stationary Electric Power

The major applications for fuel cells are as stationary electric power plants, including cogeneration units as motive power for vehicles and as on-board electric power for space vehicles or other closed environments. Derivative applications will be summarized. 

AFC cell stacks have demonstrated sufficiently stable operation for at least 5000 hours, with degradation rates of 20 V per hour or less (20). Siemens has reported a total of >8000 operating hours with approximately 20 units (22). For large scale utility applications, economics demand operating times exceeding 40,000 hours which presents perhaps the most significant obstacle to commercialization of AFC devices in the realm of interest to the DOE Stationary Electric Power Program. 

After an intensive period of R and D on fuel cells in the fifties and early sixties, the present day efforts are centered around one major development under way at United Technologies Corp. (U.S.) where a 1 MW stationary testing unit is now completed and a 4.8 MW demonstration system is under elaboration. Finally, a 27 MW stationary electrical power generating system is due for... 

There is now a great interest in developing different kinds of fuel cells with several applications (in addition to the first and most developed application in space programs) depending on their nominal power stationary electric power plants (lOOkW-lOMW), power train sources (20-200kW) for the electrical vehicle (bus, truck and individual car), electricity and heat co-generation for buildings and houses (5-20 kW), auxiliary power units (1-100 kW) for different uses (automobiles, aircraft, space launchers, space stations, uninterruptible power supply, remote power, etc.) and portable electronic devices (1-100 W), for example, cell phones, computers, camcorders [2, 3]. 

The fuels used to make hydrogen for transportation could achieve larger greenhouse gas savings at lower cost if used instead to displace the dirtiest stationary electric power plants. 

The focus of most of this report and this chapter is on light-duty passenger vehicles, the largest segment of the vehicle market. Stationary power systems to produce electric power from hydrogen may be an important part of a possible future H2 energy system, both in a transition to a hydrogen economy and also in the steady state. The committee did not do an extensive analysis of the future stationary electric power system in the United States and the role that H2 may play, but the section below entitled Stationary Power Utilities and Residential Uses delineates some of the developments and opportunities in fuel cells and turbines for stationary power. 

Caterpillar also aims to demonstrate technology to the greatest extent possible that can meet the dual requirements of the transportation industry and the stationary electric power generation industry. In addition to low levels of emissions, we intend to demonstrate high efficiency, durability and reliability. These technical objectives will enable us to calculate the cost of electricity ( /kW-hr) for transportation and stationary power applications. 

Methanol, a clean burning fuel relative to conventional industrial fuels other than natural gas, can be used advantageously in stationary turbines and boilers because of its low flame luminosity and combustion temperature. Low NO emissions and virtually no sulfur or particulate emissions have been observed (83). Methanol is also considered for dual fuel (methanol plus oil or natural gas) combustion power boilers (84) as well as to fuel gas turbines in combined methanol / electric power production plants using coal gasification (85) (see Power generation). 

Fuel cells have attracted considerable interest because of their potential for efficient conversion of the energy (AG) from a chemical reaction to electrical energy (AE). This efficiency is achieved by directly converting chemical energy to electricity. Conventional systems burn fuel in an engine and convert the resulting mechanical output to electrical power. Potential applications include stationary multi-megawatt power plants, battery replacements for personal electronics, and even fuel-cell-powered unmanned autonomous vehicles (UAVs). 

Electric power (stationary or portable plants), desalination, propulsion of submarines and surface ships... 

On the other hand, in comparison to traditional recipe-driven multipurpose batch plants, new technical requirements arise from the use of mobile units. An important pre-requisite for a safe and automatic production are reliable docking systems that provide failure-free connections between the mobile vessels and the stationary processing stations. In the docking process of the mobile vessels the connection of pipes, of electric power and of signal processing equipment is necessary. The vessels therefore must be placed accurately. If vessels of different size are used, the connections must be flexible enough to cope with these. 

Canadian interests span into hydrogen production, delivery and utilization, primarily in fuel cell applications in transportation, stationary and portable systems. Furthermore, codes and standards for hydrogen systems are an important area of activity. The range of future electrical requirements for early adopters, such as the military, is very wide with numerous applications for various electrically powered systems. The introduction of hydrogen as an energy carrier into the commercial and military sector offer similar and sometimes unique challenges in all the areas discussed. 

Several high-value niche markets drove early fuel cell technology development. These were the use of fuel cells for on-board electric power in space vehicles and to demonstrate that fuel cells are an efficient, environmentally-friendly technology for stationary on-site commercial power. 

For purposes of characterization, emission sources are generally divided broadly into stationary and mobile or transportation sources. Stationary sources are further divided into point and area emitters. Typical point sources must include petroleum refineries and electric power plants. Commercial solvent emission and gasoline marketing emission may generally be represented as area sources. A third category has been defined recently—indirect sources—that takes into account hybrid sources like sports arenas and shopping centers. These have fixed locations, but the traffic that is generated by or attracted to such a facility constitutes the source of emission that is combined with the emission of the facility itself. 

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