Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Reaches One Year of Steady Operations

Netherlands Test Boosts Confidence for Commercial Introduction of New Power Technology by 2004

An experimental all solid-state fuel cell - the possible prototype for a future "combustion-less" power plant - has passed a key milestone in a joint public-private development effort.

Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp., headquartered in Orlando, FL, announced this week that its 100-kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell power system, the world's largest, has completed one year of total operating time, the longest any fuel cell of this type and size has run. The milestone marked the halfway point in a 2-year demonstration program that is verifying the durability and performance of this potentially revolutionary new source of electricity.

Installed at a cogeneration plant in Westervoort, the Netherlands, the unit is one of several being developed by Siemens Westinghouse under a jointly-funded $196 million program ($114 million is the non-federal share) with the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL), a field center for the agency's Office of Fossil Energy.

The unit was developed and manufactured at the Siemens Westinghouse Science and Technology Center in Pittsburgh, PA.

A solid oxide fuel cell is an all-ceramic power generating device. It uses no boiling liquids or moving parts to generate electricity. Like a battery, it produces electric power by an electrochemical reaction, avoiding the air pollutants and efficiency losses associated with traditional combustion processes. Unlike a battery, it can operate continuously as long as a fuel, such as natural gas, is supplied to it.

The test unit installed at the Dutch power station has operated for a record 8,760 hours. It is supplying 110 kilowatts of electricity to the local power grid - better than its "namplate" capacity - along with hot water to the area's district heating system.

To date, the unit fuel-to-electricity efficiency has reached 46 percent - significantly better than a conventional power plant which typically converts only 33 to 35 percent of the energy value of fuel to electric power.

High efficiency is one of the main advantages of the solid oxide fuel cell. Boosting a power plant's fuel use efficiency is one of the best ways to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. It is also key to economical energy production. Future versions of the solid oxide fuel cell are likely to be linked to a gas turbine in a "hybrid" system that could achieve efficiencies as high as 70 percent. When waste heat from the process is used, overall efficiencies could exceed 85 percent, and greenhouse gases could be cut by almost two-thirds compared to a conventional coal-burning plant.

The solid oxide fuel cell also offers other impressive environmental benefits, which are being verified by the Netherlands test. Emissions of nitrogen oxides - a pollutant that can form smog or acid rain - have been held to 0.2 parts per million, well within the most stringent of air quality standards. Sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide and volatile hydrocarbons were all measured at less than 1 part per million.

The test unit was installed at a Dutch cogeneration plant in 1998 as one of several units to be tested in the joint government-industry development effort. The Netherlands test is being carried out by NUON, the local utility in Westervoort, which operates the system for EDB/Elsam, a group of Dutch and Danish utilities. Funding for the test is also being provided by the Dutch government agency Novem, in addition to the Energy Department and Siemens Westinghouse.

"We are very pleased with the operation of the 100 kW system as a whole and the prototype pre-commercial cells in particular," said Siemens Westinghouse Vice President and Chief Technology Officer Nick Bartol. "This gives us and our potential customers great confidence for the commercialization of solid oxide fuel cells as a distributed generation technology."

The company plans to make its first solid oxide commercial deliveries in the 250-kilowatt to 1000 kilowatt range in 2004.

Dr. Mark Williams, the Energy Department's fuel cell product line manager at NETL, agrees that the future is promising for fuel cells as an ultra-clean power technology that can be sited at modular scales near the power consumer. The major hurdle is to reduce the initial costs of the fuel cell units.

"The potential value of fuel cells is already widely recognized," Williams said. "What the technology needs are costs that are competitive with other types of power production."

Williams said that one of the keys to reducing costs will be to complete the development of a high-volume manufacturing process required for lower cost commercial production. Another way to reduce costs is to develop a solid oxide fuel cell module that operates at elevated pressures. A pressurized unit would emit a higher-energy exhaust that would be more suitable for driving a gas turbine-generator to produce two sources of electricity and increase overall efficiencies. Another key is to develop lower cost "balance of plant" equipment.

The Dutch demonstration is to be followed by additional tests at different scales and in varying market applications. A 250-kilowatt fuel cell/gas turbine hybrid power system in California is to begin in March. Ontario Hydro is to be the next North American host for a 250-kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell demonstration later this year. All of the demonstrations, including the system in Holland, use natural gas.

NETL conducts DOE's fuel cell research and development program. The program targets the stationary power-generation sector, and includes extensive participation by private industry. DOE's goals are to enable industry to take advantage of fuel cells by reducing costs and enhancing performance, and to strengthen the nation's economy by developing American leadership in manufacturing fuel cells.

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For more information, contact:
Robert C. Porter, DOE Office of Fossil Energy, 202/586-6503, e-mail: robert.porter@hq.doe.gov
Otis Mills, Jr., National Energy Technology Laboratory, 412/386-5890, e-mail: mills@netl.doe.gov

Technical contact: William Carey Smith, National Energy Technology Laboratory, 304/285-4260, e-mail wsmith@netl.doe.gov.

Siemens Westinghouse contact: Mike Asquino, 407/281-2544