Sulzer Hexis Systems

The Sulzer-Hexis system is the HXS 1000 PREMIER, illustrated in Fig. 16. The system has a nominal power of 1 kW and 3 kW and, consequently, the electric efficiency is about 33%. Although natural gas is the primary fuel, Sulzer demonstrated the use of bio-fuel, installing an HXS Premier on a farm in Switzerland (Van herle et al. 2004). The biogas production rate is 70 m per day, corresponding to 0.55 TJ per year (Van herle et al. 2004). Other HXS 1000 PREMIER systems have been installed at several employees homes, thus getting a relevant amount of data of real applications , before launching its product to the market. 

Figure 12.18 Example of SOFC geometries, (a) Tubular geometry ofthe Siemens-Westinghouse system (b) Planar structure ofthe Sulzer-Hexis SOFC (for details, see the text).

Switzerland Sulzer Hexis >60 metallic IC, electrolyte substrate anode substrate materials, cells, stack, manufacturing, system... 

Schuler, A. An Intermediate Report on the Way to a Near-Series Sulzer Hexis Fuel Cell System, in Sixth European Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Forum. 2004. Luzern, der Schweiz European Fuel Cell Forum. 

Table 13.2 lists the major SOFC system manufacturers worldwide this list does not include research institutes, universities, and manufacturers of solely ceramic components. Many of these manufacturers have built and tested SOFC stacks in their own facilities. Only Siemens Westinghouse, Sulzer Hexis and a few other companies have built fully integrated SOFC systems, and operated them at customer sites these systems are described in this section. 

Table 13.5 Performance of Sulzer Hexis 1 kW residential CHP system [53,54]...

Sulzer Hexis started its SOFC development in 1989 [53,54], In the period 1989-1997, two proof-of-concept systems were demonstrated in Winterthur, Switzerland, at Sulzer Hexis facilities and in Dortmund, Germany (Dortmund Energy and Water utility company DEW). This proof-of-concept phase was followed by a field test on six customer sites in Switzerland, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain and Germany. Together, these field test units accumulated 65,600 operating hours. The field test phase was finished in 2000 and currently the market entry phase has started. Sulzer Hexis has orders for more than 400 of its HXS 1000 Premiere fuel cell units. The customers are utility companies, mainly located in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. Systems will be delivered from 2003 onward [55], Sulzer Hexis expects to sell 10,000 units in 2005 and to increase annual sales to 260,000 units by 2010. 

Many companies are involved in developing and testing SOFC systems. Two of them. Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation and Sulzer Hexis, have tested many units at customer sites and appear closest to commercialisation. Other... 

M. Schmidt and R. Diethelm, Sulzer Hexis SOFC System First Results of 3-Year Field Test, IFCC Technical Conference, Japan, 1-2 December 1999. 

Fuel cell systems for Switzerland from Sulzer Hexis, European Fuel Cell News, 9(3) (November 2002) 29. 

In parallel with HEXES 1000 Premier, Sulzer Hexis developed the more compact 1 kW system, called Galileo. 

ECN principally works on SOFC fuel cells development both on materials, cells, stack and systems design. During the past years, several SOFC solutions have been developed, including electrolyte supported cells (specifically developed for Sulzer-Hexis) anode supported cells, operating at intermediate temperature (680-800°C). An interconnect supported fuel cell with ferritic stainless steel is currently under development. 

A self-supporting SOFC-based power plant system, HEXIS (Heat Exchanger Integrated Stack), using circular planar elements has been developed by the Sulzer company in Switzerland for natural gas as a fuel and a power of up to 7 kW [26]. Field tests have started in summer 1997 commercialization is planned for the year 2002. The development goal is the construction of small-size systems in the power range of 1 - 200 kW. 

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