THE ONSITE FUEL CELL COGENERATION SYSTEM

R. Root Woods, John J. Cuttica and Karen A. Trimble

Gas Research Institute, Chicago, Illinois
ABSTRACT
This paper describes the experiences and results
of the major field test of forty-six 40kW onsite
fuel cell power plants in the U.S. and Japan through
1985. The field test is a cooperative effort
between the Gas Research Institute, gas and electric
utility companies, private sector companies, and the
U.S. Department of Energy and Department of Defense.
The field test is conducted in parallel with tech
nology development efforts sponsored by the Gas Re
search Institute and the U. S. Department of Energy.
Operation of the field test units began in December
1983 with the initial start-up of two units at a
racquetball club sponsored by the Southern Califor
nia Gas Corporation. As of May 1985, over 300,000
hours of operating experience was achieved on the
fleet of 40kW units. This experience has demon
strated the onsite fuel cell's superior technical
specification, ease of installation, operation and
maintenance, and economic benefits over convention
al energy service. In addition, this effort iden
tified operating deficiencies in the 40kW units'
which were either corrected through field retrofits
or provided guidance to the parallel technology
development efforts.
THE ONSITE FUEL CELL COGENERATION SYSTEM
ONSITE ELECTRICITY FROM GAS
With over 300,000 hours of cumulative operating
experience (equivalent to 34 years) on forty-six
40-kW phosphoric acid onsite fuel cell power
plants, the gas industry, in cooperation with
International Fuel Cells Corporation (formerly the
Power Systems Division of United Technologies
Corporation), has demonstrated in extensive field
tests that onsite fuel cell technology works, that
it represents a new business opportunity for the
gas industry, and that this high tech hardware can
be installed, operated, and maintained by utility
personnel. The test results show that onsite fuel
cell technology could be used to provide gas
industry customers with a complete, economically
competitive energy service.
The key advantages of fuel cell technology for
providing such an energy service would be that it
(1) efficiently provides both electricity and heat
over a wide demand range and at a net saving to the
customer; (2) has potentially high reliability, low
maintenance, and automatic, unattended operation
requiring minimal support from the gas utility; and
(3) emits virtually no environmental pollutants,
operates quietly, and conforms to building codes
and standards to allow broad application. Because
of these advantages, Gas Research Institute (GRI),
612
the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and 37
participants (utility companies, private sector
corporations, and U.S. government facilities)
embarked on a jointly funded program that could
lead to the commercial introduction of onsite fuel
cell power plants by 1990.
Under this program, a field test has been conducted
over three years, efficiently providing both elec
tricity and heat to a variety of multifamily resid
ential, .commercial, and light industrial buildings
in the linited States and Japan. The program has
included two other efforts complementing the field
test: ~ .
I
o a parallel technology development project to
improve reliability, performance, and maintain
ability as well as to decrease manufacturing costs,
o activities of the Onsite Fuel Cell Users Group,
which performs economic studies and business
assessments pertinent to the commercialization and
application of the technology.
ONSITE FUEL CELL CONCEPT
The high overall fuel efficiency of 72 to 80 per
cent (HHV) of onsite fuel cell plants results from
the high electric generation efficiency of 36 per
cent (HHV) of the electrochemical operation as well
as from the cogeneration of electricity and heat at
the point of end use. Installed at multifamily
residential, commercial, or industrial buildings,
the system can provide electricity and heat econ
omically while conserving energy and minimizing the
environmental impact (one-tenth the pollution of
the cleanest conventional electric power plants).
Modular design permits quick, economical factory
production and easy expansion of installed capacity.
Using natural gas or other fuels (gaseous and
liquid fuels derived from coal and biomass and
petroleum products), the onsite system produces
alternating current electricity at the frequency
(60 Hz or 50 Hz) and voltage (120/208 V or
277/480 V) required by the user, maintaining its
high fuel-use efficiency over a broad range of
electrical output (one-quarter to full-rated
power). The system can either be connected to or
isolated from the electric utility grid. The heat
produced as a byproduct can be transferred to
nearby buildings in the form of hot water or steam
for space conditioning, water heating, and thermal
processing. The system's flexible operational
capability allows it to respond instantaneously to
changes in the user's demand for energy.
ESL-IE-86-06-101
Proceedings from the Eighth Annual Industrial Energy Technology Conference, Houston, TX, June 17-19, 1986
Figure 1. ONSITE FUEL CELL POWER PLANT CONCEPT
Fuel Processing Section Power Section Power Conditioning
Natural gas is converted to . The hydrogen-rich fuel is Section
a hydrogen-rIch fuel by a reacted with oxygen by an The electricity is converted
catalyic steam-reforming electrochemical process to by a solid-state Inverter to
process. produce DC, electricity and alternating current of the
by-product heat in the form frequency and voltage re
of hot water or steam. qUired by the customer.
All
(Oxygen Source)
Steam
Nat ... ral
(or other fuels) .Ii----;tto.-.r---
Hydrogen-Rich
Gas
Heat
Usable Heat
External
Fuel
Cavity
Hydrogen
Electrical
Oxygen
Circuit
The power plant consists of three integrated
sections (Figure 1) designed to process the
incoming fuel, generate power, and condition the
power to user specifications. The thermal energy
is used to maintain the operating temperature of
the power plant components and to supply usable
heat to the customer. Steam is recovered for use
in the fuel-processing section.
PARTICIPANTS' ACTIVITIES
The
gas
37 participants in the field test
utilities, 13 combination gas and
included
electric
13
utilities, 5 electric utilities, 2 private sector
corporations, and 4 Department of Defense facil
ities. These participants tested forty-six 40-kW
power plants at 42 sites in the United States and
Japan (Figure 2 and Table 1). Many building types
were represented, which demonstrated that the
onsite fuel cell technology can meet a wide variety
of customer electrical and heating needs.
The field test also provided the participants with
the experience needed to evaluate and implement an
energy service business. Initially, the particip
ants instrumented over 100 sites collecting more
than 800 site-months of building energy use data.
This data base was used to evaluate
economics, assess siting considerations, select
sites for field test units, and optimize power
Electrochemical Process
The power secHon of the 4O-kW power
plant contains a stack of 270 fuel cells,
each made up of an anode, phosphonc
acid electrolyte solution, and cathode.
The hydrogen in the processed fuel IS
passed over the anode, where it
dissociates into electrons (carrying a
negative charge) and ions (carrying a
positive charge). The electrons are coi
lected and then flow out through an exter
nal electrical circuit, creating a direct
current output to the power conditioner.
The hydrogen ions move through the
electrolyte solution to the cathode, which
is bathed with air. As the hydrogen ions
contact the cathode, they unite With oxy
gen from the air and with the electrons
returning from the power conditioner,
forming steam that is further processed to
yield heat and water.
plant interfaces with the existing buildings'
systems.
Utilities were able to install the field test units
without major difficulties. Installation required
an average of nine weeks--five weeks to prepare the
site and four weeks to complete the installation
once the power plant arrived.
After completing a two-week training course,
service personnel from the participating companies
operated and maintained the power plants at their
sites. This experience included normal scheduled
maintenance, failure diagnosis, component repair
and replacement, and return to normal operation,
demonstrating that an onsite fuel cell plant can be
serviced and maintained by gas utility personnel.
OPERATING EXPERIENCE
A jointly funded GRI/DOE contract was issued in
January of 1982 to manufacture the forty-six 40-kW
field test power plants. The first field test unit
was completed 18 months later, and the last unit
was completed in January 1985. This was the
largest manufacturing effort undertaken to date in
the production of fuel cell systems.
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Proceedings from the Eighth Annual Industrial Energy Technology Conference, Houston, TX, June 17-19, 1986
JAPAN 0
HONOLULU
ANCHORAGE, AK 0
Figure 2. LOCATION OF FIELD TEST SITES
Market segment
R=residential
Table 1. FIELD TEST PARTICIPANTS AND TEST SITE DESCRIPTIONS C=commercial
I-industrial Location
Participant Location S=spec1al ty
~ a . . L
Atlanta Gas Light Co. MarIetta, GA R - dormitory 35
Baltimore Gas &Electric Co. Pikesville, MD C - restaurant 30
Brooklyn Union Gas Co. Queens, NY C - airport arrivals 26
Staten Island, NY C - hospital
Central Hudson Gas &Electric Corp. Wappinger Falls, NY R - apartments 21
Columbia Gas of Ohio, Inc. Cambridge, OH C - hotel/restaurant 19
Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, Inc. Croton/Hudson, NY C - nursing home 25
Consumers Power Co. Jackson, MI R - apartments 16
Dayton Power &Light Co. Vandalia, OH C - hotel 17
Delmarva Power & Light Co. Hockessin, DE C - nursing home 29
Florida Power Corp. Orlando, FL S - electric generating plant 37
Gasco, Inc. Honolulu, HI C - hotel 3
Georgia Power Co. Gainesville, GA C - hospital 36
International Business Machines Corp. Kingston, NY I - data processing 22
International Fuel Cells Corp. South.Windsor, CT S R&D lab 24
Memphis Light, Gas & Water Div. Memphis, TN I - photo lab 33
Mountain Fuel Resources, Inc. Layton, UT I - photo lab 10
National Fuel Gas Distribution Corp. Cheektowage, NY C - hotel 20
Northeast Utilities Vernon, CT S - telephone switching 23
Northwest Natural Gas Co. Portland, OR C - laundry 5
Osaka Gas Company, Ltd. Osaka, Japan C - restaurant 2
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. San Francisco, CA C - office 6
Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. Louisburg, KS S - gas compressor station 13
Peoples Natural Gas Co. Omaha, NE C - office 12
Philadelphia Electric Co. Philadelphia, PA C - variety club 28
Public Service Electric & Gas Co. Avenel, NJ I - aluminum products 27
Princeton, NJ R - dormitory
San Diego Gas & Electric Co. Carlsbad, CA C - nursery 9
Escondido, CA C - health club
Southern California Edison Co. City of Industry, CA C - laundry 7
Southern California Gas Co. Fountain Valley, CA C - health club 8
C - restaurant
Southern Company Services, Inc. Uni vers1ty, AL S - recreation center 34
Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. East Bernard, TX S - gas compressor station 15
Tokyo Gas Company, Ltd. Tsukuba, Japan S - gas expo/restaurant 1
Tokyo, Japan C - hotel
United Power Association Willmar, MN I - food processing 11
Virginia Natural Gas Norfolk, VA R - dormitory 32
Department of Defense sites
Fort Belvoir Ft. Belvoir, VA S - dining hall 31
Elmendorf Air Force Base Anchorage, AK S - base power plant 4
Sheppard Air Force Base Wichita Falls, TX S - dormitory 14
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base Dayton, OR S - USAF museum 18
614
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Proceedings from the Eighth Annual Industrial Energy Technology Conference, Houston, TX, June 17-19, 1986
Figure 3. HOURS OF ONSITE PLANT OPERATION
Cumulative Operation
~ Active Power Plants
80
400
70
Operating Goal 60
300
z
Vl
c:
:;
~ 3
0 50
CY
:I:
~
'0 /
40 "1J
~
200
/' c
~ . ;5:
Vl
'"
~
30 0 ::>
::> 0
~
.c:
S
...
~
, 20
100
~
f?;l
l!.l !fj
I
. ; ~
10
~ ~ ., !!Hff
I
0 o
J FMAM J JASONDJ FMAMJ J ASONDJ FMA
I 1984 I I 1985 I L1986-.J
The experience obtained by International Fuel Cells
Corporation (IFC) validated many aspects of the
commercial-level quality control techniques used.
Over 30,000 fuel cell electrodes were manufactured
utilizing only visual and nonoperational quality
control techniques. These cells were assembled
into stacks of 270 cells, incorporated into the
power plants, and initially operated during the
power plant's acceptance test at the manufacturer's
facility. This technique proved very economical
and effective -- only one electrode failed to
perform during the test, demonstrating a 99.997%
acceptance rate.
While the field test units were being manufactured,
three pre-field-test experimental 40-kW units were
installed and operated for 13,000 hours through
1983. This experience provided verification of the
design and uncovered deficiencies that were correc
ted in the field test units.
The first of the 46 field test units began opera
tion in December of 1983 and the last started
during the summer of 1985. As of the end of April
1986, over 300,000 hours of operation had been
logged on these 40-kW units (Figure 3). While
demonstrating the operational feasibility of onsite
fuel cell technology, the field test verified and
demonstrated every major aspect of the 40-kW
specification. This 34 years of cumulative experi
ence resulted in approximately 9.3 million kWh of
power production. Power plants operated over the
full range of a to 40 kW output. In addition,
grid-independent units, which are required to
handle large motor starts, successfully demonstra
ted the 56 kW/80 kVA overload characteristic for 5
seconds without variation in the output voltage.
The power plants also verified the heat recovery
specification of 100 kBtu/hr low-grade heat up to
laOoF and 45 to 55 kBtu/hr of high-grade heat up
to 250
0
F.
During the operation of each unit, detailed data
collection allowed the comparison of measured to
predicted efficiency. Using hourly simulations,
these analyses indicated that 75 percent of the
power plants met or exceeded the predicted electric
generation efficiency. On average, low-grade heat
recovery reached 95 percent of the predicted values
based on actual site flow rates and return temper
atures. High-grade heat recovery was also demon
strated at specified temperatures and rates.
As of the end of April 1986, the power plant with
the most operating time had accumulated 11,000
hours of operation. 13 units exceeded 8,000 hOUl"S,
28 passed 6,000 hours, and 39 operated more than
4,000 hours. The average operating time was over
6,000 hours. The fleet's average unadjusted
availability (operating time divided by calendar
time after initial start-up) is 63 percent at
300,000 hours, well within the range of 55 to 65
percent established as a goal for the field test
based on the research nature of the project and the
maturity of the equipment. Commercial units are
expected to achieve operating availabilities of 95
percent or better to minimize the cost of backup
power and service visits.
The field test demonstrated the automatic, unatten
ded operating characteristics required for energy
service. Thirty-seven units achieved a continuous
operating run in excess of 1,000 hours (42 days).
The longest continuous run exceeded 90 days.
Approximately 40 percent of the operating exper
ience was obtained during 75 runs greater than
1,000 hours. As another indication of the tech
nology's ability to provide energy service with
minimal support infrastructure, approximately 25
percent of the units achieved actual time between
forced outages in the. range of 90 to 170 days.
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Proceedings from the Eighth Annual Industrial Energy Technology Conference, Houston, TX, June 17-19, 1986
Although the high-technology components of the
onsite plant (cell stack, reformer, and inverter)
operated relatively trouble-free, some problems
were encountered involving the durability and
reliability of some of the more conventional
components. In these cases, the automatic control
functions of the power plant safely shut the units
down without further equipment damage. Electrical
and electronic control system failures--resulting
from poor quality control of printed circuit cards
and improper specification of control band widths-
caused electrical disconnects and plant shut-downs.
The power section cooling system has exhibited
plugging from corrosion products after about 2,000
hr of operation; for the field tests, this was
corrected by flushing the system every 1,500 to
2,000 hr. To eliminate this problem, two field
test units were installed in 1985 with modified
cooling system manifolds. To date, these units
have reached 1,900 and 3,600 hr of operation and
have shown no indication of plugging. Shutdowns
were also caused by failures in non-fuel-cell
ancillary components such as pumps, valves, and
leaky pipe fittings. All these problems have been
analyzed and should be eliminated.
COMMERCIAL SECTOR MARKETS
Commercial buildings in the United States represent
a sizable potential market for gas-fired cogenera
tion systems. A study performed by the Onsite Fuel
Cell Users Group characterized this sector as con
taining about 4 million buildings, representing
approximately 175,000 MW of cumulative 'peak elec
trical demand, and expanding at an annual rate of 3
percent. Placement of the 40-kW test units in a
variety of commercial building types provided an
excellent demonstration of the system's flexibility
in meeting the varied energy requirements of the
commercial market (Table 2).
The market study assumed that the onsite plants
would be owned and operated by the gas utility
under the regulated portion of its business. The
utility would serve as the customer's energy
company, meeting his electric and thermal energy
demands from the fuel cell while collecting
revenues from the customer for gas sold and a
leasing or facility fee in return for the use of
the fuel cell power plant. At an installed cost of
$l,OOO/kW and with the onsite plant operating
independent of the electric utility grid, the
market for a full catalog of plants ranging from 40
to 500 kW was estimated to be 18,000 MW with
potential annual revenues of $11.5 billion.
Table 2. THERMAL AND ELECTRICAL INTERFACES
OF FIELD TEST UNITS
Electrical Interfaces
Number of Sites*
GC ~ - - ' - - ' = - " - - - - ' - - = - " - - - C ; l -
Type of Site
-5- [)
Multifamily residential
Commercial 16 5
Light industrial 4 1
Specialty 8 3
~ = Connected to utility grid.
I = Independent of utility grid.
Thermal Interfaces
Number of Sites**
Type of Site wlS wo/S
-1-3- 12
Domestic hot water
Space heating o 2
Process heating 6 6
Combination 1 2
** w/S With thermal energy storage.
wo/S = Without thermal energy storage.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
As a result of the technology development project,
IFC has developed the technology basis for an
initial commercial onsite fuel cell power plant
that will be competitive on a combined cost and
performance basis as required by the marketplace.
Full-scale components have undergone verification
testing. A 200-kW power plant design approach
(Figure 4) has been defined that would be suitable
for manufacturing in low production rates of 100
units per year and achieve installed costs in the
range of $2500 to $3000/kW.
IFC is currently in the process of forming a
consortium to manufacture and market 200-kW power
plants. With initial deliveries expected by 1990,
the consortium's efforts over the next few years
will be directed at completing the detailed engin
eering design, building and testing preproduction
prototype units, and providing the facilities to
manufacture the initial lot of commercial units.
With market acceptance and scaled-up production,
the power plant is projected to achieve installed
costs in the range of $1,000 to'Sl,500/kW.
()16
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Proceedings from the Eighth Annual Industrial Energy Technology Conference, Houston, TX, June 17-19, 1986
DC Module
8 x 24 x "-1/2 h
Fuel processor
Cell stack
Heat recovery
Water recovery
Cooling Module
6x12x7ft
(Remotely sited)
Figure 4. DESIGN APPROACH TO 200 kloJ ONSITE POWER PLANT
Electrical Module
8 x 8 x 111/2 h
Inverter
Transformer
Controller
Diagnostics
617
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Proceedings from the Eighth Annual Industrial Energy Technology Conference, Houston, TX, June 17-19, 1986