Successful demo of reliable and durable solid oxide fuel cell for residential customers

[philb]

Siemens achieves major milestone in Solid Oxide Fuel Cell program


Orlando, USA, November 17, 2006 (News Release)

Siemens Power Generation announced the successful testing of its latest solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology that incorporates its high power density technology being developed under the U. S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA). A prototype 5 kW-class complete system using the SECA technology has operated for 2,800 hours and continues to operate at the Siemens facility near Pittsburgh, PA. It has met or exceeded all of the DOE technical and economic objectives for Phase 1 of the SECA program.

The successful operation of the SECA system is especially noteworthy in that there has been absolutely no degradation of cell or system performance during the period of operation. With lifetime a key factor in the commercialization of fuel cells, Siemens' program is the only SECA program believed to have achieved no cell degradation during extended operation. While the test duration required by the DOE was 1,500 hours, the system continues to be operated to determine lifetime, peak power and efficiency potential as the performance of the cells improve. They will also be put through further tests in the coming months to assess the robustness of the new stack technology.

Siemens' new high power density cells are a further development of the well-known and successful tubular cell design and represent a significant step forward towards commercialization of SOFC systems. This new technology has already demonstrated volumetric power density four times greater than the tubular cells, which translates into significantly reduced volume and reduced cost per kW. A number of configurations have already been tested, and further development and tests are planned to qualify the optimum system configurations.

"The SECA Phase 1 prototype system test has exceeded our expectations and clearly shows we can successfully enhance our proven SOFC technology for higher performance and lower cost," said Thomas Flower, president of Siemens' Stationary Fuel Cells division. "As we move forward, we are examining various cell designs, that substantially increase cell power, stack power density and module simplifications, and results to date have been outstanding," he said.

Recently, Siemens implemented a number of design, material and process changes, and this latest SECA system test validates new manufacturing processes intended to enhance reliability and reduce cost. The next steps are to continue to develop the high power density technology as part of a program that merges the subsequent phases of the SECA program with DOE's coal-based fuel cell systems program. The ultimate objective of this program is for SOFCs to provide clean power fueled by syngas from domestic coal resources as part of DOE's FutureGen program.

About Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs):

[buddysmellgood]

1. That's amazing. I thought carbon monoxide poisoning of the catalyst was a major hurdle.

[NMDemDist2]

2. i only understood 1 word in 30 but it sounds like a good thing eh?

fuel cell good but "coal" bad?

[buddysmellgood]

4. Coal isn't nearly as bad under this scenario. Especially if the carbon is sequestered, although

that remains a hurdle. You still have the environmental issue of digging the stuff up, but it's a huge increase in efficiency compared with how we use coal now...provided you use the heat generated in process. At least that's how I understand it.

[Gregorian]

3. Great news. SOFC's are the future, if I may be so bold to say so.

Their relatively high operating temperature has been a hurdle. But they can be run in forward or reverse as a battery or a power source. Pretty cool.

Now we just need photovolatics. And we're almost there.

This field is HUGE. There are tons of geometric configurations of SOFC stacks alone. It's like integrated circuits all over again.

I was involved in the patenting of a home hot water heating system using sofc's. It heeats water, or generates hydrogen, depending on which way it's running.

[autorank]

5. Do you know anything about the 80% reduced cost solar panel

that was announced in April-May? Google owns the American company working on it and there's a South African partner.

Do you have a source, book/web site, that presents an objective and realistic picture of alternative power and prospects for implementation.

The world would become a pretty fascinating place if these technolgies can be implemented to substitute for oil soon.

I keep remembering a scene in the 1980 movie, The Formula where the 'evil' Brando oil executive character warns about the impact when one day China and India come on line as industrial powers. Damn...great stuff.

Cool work you're doing, keep it up and thanks.

[spag68]

6. RenewableEnergyacces.com

[Gregorian]

7. Yes. I've been watching Nanosolar for several years.

I even had my father attempt to enter their building. Their doors are all locked. They were not allowing visitors. Very cool idea. Printing the photovoltaic medium.

But it's a very interesting idea. Especially since I used to be a roofing contractor in one of my previous lives. I always stood up on those roofs thinking that if I could only find a way to blend roofing and solar energy. Those were nice days.

Energy is the new frontier. And I'm missing out on it. I'm too busy trying find a place to live my life. I've just wasted fifteen years trying to beat the real estate boom. I cannot get away from cars and people. I literally tossed away an opportunity to be president of an electronics corporation in silicon valley, just so I could live like a human being. Bla bla bla.

No, I don't have any good books. There is a Swiss doctor who was working with the guy I knew, doing sofc's. He has a website that discusses the flaw of a hydrogen society. (I just went to my bookmarks for his website. It has been long enough that he's changed his url.) But I do have the website where he had published his website. http://www.efcf.com/fcworld/ I think where we're at right now is a crossroad of old and new technology.

We would be far from the crossroad if it were not for the "Bush's" of the world. I mean the companies that bought up the photovoltaic companies and then ran them into the ground to keep them from profiting. Big oil. So we went nowhere for a long time. Of course, smaller and more powerful computers have had an impact. But we're moving away from silicon based and into other areas.

We are kind of starting to reap the benefits of research that has been done over the last few decades. Like Berekeley labs. They have been working on some kind of solar project. I forget now. Some amorphous multi layered. My brain is dead.

I'm afraid I'm of little use to the world. I'm so busy trying to run from the car crazed baby producing mobs that I can do little else. It's really sad. But I'd bet that I'm not alone. The number of properties for sale is at an all time low. People are jumping on every piece of land that's left. Yet the inventory of houses is at an all time high. But just try finding that 100 acres with a river. None. Call me what you want, but I have a dream. To live like a human. A life with dignity.

I dropped out of that fuel cell company about a year ago. It was too much of a fight for me. I think the guy was a republican, and I just had to battle him to get him to do things. It took me six months to get him to patent the idea. I think he's on the right track. But he's just not doing things the right way. Even simple projects are difficult to implement. Plus, I keep moving. So that makes it impossible to set up my shop and do anything meaningful.

Thanks for the movie link. I have been talking about India and China for at least that long. It'll be interesting to hear someone else's take on it.

One good place to find news is on Berkeley's science site- http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/

The thing about alternative power right now is that there are a number of potential breakthroughs all happening at one time. I'm not sure whether this fusion project is for real or not. It sounds legit. If it is, then we're really onto something that will alter the landscape. Honestly, I think it's all a symptom. Before we had this population, we deforested for the trees. Then we used up whale oil. Then we used up petroleum. So what's next? Water? Food? I think the real problem is learning limits. Limits is a word one never hears. We just try to patch up the symptoms. Well, I for one refuse to live in this mess. And it's taking it's toll on me. I guess what I'm saying is, there is a human factor. At some point more people are going to start feeling like I do. That regardless of how easy it is to live, or how comfortable it is, it isn't dignified. It isn't satisfying.

Well, that's got to be more than you wanted to hear.