Stationary Power Plants: Applications
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devganatraStationary Power Plants: Applications
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devganatraApplications
Fuel cells are modular and hence lend themselves to a wide range of applications, from large stationary power plants to small portable power packs.
Stationary Power plants
Stationary power plants obviously use conventional fuels, such as natural gas, which can be piped in and reformed on site. Overall size and warm-up time are less critical issues than in smaller, mobile applications. In addition to the high operating efficiency, low emissions and good transient response characteristic of fuel cell systems, stationary applications also produce copious amounts of hot water and waste heat that can be used directly in the surrounding community, further increasing the overall system effectiveness. One of the large PEMFC power plants is the Ballards 250 kW natural gas power plant. Although 250 kW is a small amount of power compared to conventional power generating stations, it is adequate for isolated places or to provide emergency backup power to critical facilities, such as hospitals.
High capacity ranges are possible with MCFCs.
Submarines
Fuel cells systems are attractive for military submarine applications due to their low noise and infrared signatures. In many ways, fuel cells are a logical replacement for the banks of batteries currently used to power many submarines. As with stationary power plants, hot product water can be used for on-board domestic purposes. Prototype systems using pure reactants and onboard reformers have been demonstrated in recent years.
80 kW Submarine PEM Fuel Cell Power plant
Buses Buses are the most commercially advanced of all fuel cell applications to date. Successful demonstration programs have been carried in Vancouver, Chicago, Palm Springs and Hamburg. In the near future, additional bus services are planned throughout Europe, China and other areas of the world. Presently, all of these buses use pure hydrogen stored as a high-pressure gas. Buses are a logical starting point for fuel cell technology as they offer a reasonably large platform for system components and fuel storage, they can be fueled at a central fueling station, and they are regularly maintained by trained personnel.
Cars
Cars are the ultimate market for FCs due to the huge quantities involved. Cars are a major contributor to air pollution, they also pose some of the greatest challenges to commercialization. These include their relatively small size, the vast fueling infrastructure required, safety and the inconsistent maintenance habits of the public. In addition, performance and reliability expectations are high, while cost expectations are low.
Many major car companies are engaged in automotive FC programs including Daimler-Chrysler, Ford, General Motors, Nissan, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota, Honda and Hyundai. Some of these companies have built prototype vehicles using fuel cells with or without auxiliary batteries, and fueled using either pure (gaseous or liquid) hydrogen or reformate. Lack of hydrogen infrastructure is a serious deterrent to automotive FC use. Hence, many current prototypes use an on-board reformer with methanol as the preferred fuel, although gasoline systems are also under investigation. There are control and performance problems associated with reformers. Of course, use of a reformer does not completely eliminate harmful emissions, and does little or nothing to reduce dependence on fossil fuels.
Fiat Seicento hydrogen fuel cell car
CHINA: Examples of FCV Development for Individual Passenger Transport
CHINA: FC City Bus Development
Munich Airport Demo Project
Refuelling Stations in Berlin
Refuelling Station & Use in Stuttgart
Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles: Tank to Wheel (TTW) Efficiency
Portable Power Systems
Portable fuel cell systems can potentially be used in many applications that currently rely on batteries. Commercial units that provide up to 2 kW of electrical power are available.
Applications for fuel cells up to 5 kW include portable generators, uninterruptible power supplies (UPSs), auxiliary power units, power tools, light vehicles such as electric trolleys, lawn mowers and roadside equipment.
Fuel cell types that are suitable for portable applications include:
proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFCs) using pure hydrogen (H2-PEMFCs); PEMFCs using hydrogen-rich gases from hydrocarbon or alcohol reforming (Ref-PEMFCs); direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs); and high-temperature fuel cells such as solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) and molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) using hydrocarbons directly.
A notebook computer (LG CiNOTE 7400) with an integrated H2-PEMFC system
This power holster for a mobile phone uses DMFCs to charge the phone battery (source: Manhattan Scientifics).
Integrated methanol micro-reformer and chemical heater (Motorola)
VIT
