Fuel cell firm doubles power density

[Lost Soal]

Fuel cell firm doubles power density


Ceramic Fuel Cells (CFCL) has improved the performance of its solid oxide fuel cells, enabling it to take what it claims is a major step towards commercialisation.

The new cells offer improvements in power density, and will be incorporated into micro-combined heat and power units (m-CHP) to provide clean power for homes.

They are more than twice as powerful as CFCL’s current cells. Power density is measured by how many milliwatts of electricity are generated by each square centimetre of fuel cell.

Early products achieved a power density of more than 200mW/cm2. The new cells have more than doubled that again and further improvements are expected.

Higher power density means that CFCL can produce the same amount of electricity from a much smaller fuel cell stack, which is cheaper and easier to integrate into commercial appliances.

The cell technology will have electric efficiency of 50% and significantly better fuel utilisation of up to 85%. The total efficiency of the integrated m-CHP unit will be higher still, as waste heat is captured and re-used.

The fuel cell stacks are designed to produce 1kW of electricity and significantly less than 1kW of heat. Reducing the amount of heat produced by the fuel cell stack means the m-CHP unit can generate efficient baseload electricity all year round. Other types of m-CHP units that produce more heat may have to be left idle – or else waste the heat – for several months each year.

The technology comprises square ceramic fuel cells, arranged in a window-frame display, supported by ceramic anodes and separated by metal interconnect plates. The cells use thin film technology, comprising extremely thin electrolytes, which are better at conducting oxygen ions. This increases the amount of electricity that each cell can generate.

CFCL has also significantly improved several key components that integrate the fuel cell stack into an m-CHP unit. Significant breakthroughs include a 50% smaller steam generator, a 40% smaller heat exchanger, and a 75% reduction in the airflow through the system.

These achievements will make the m-CHP unit simpler, smaller and more efficient.

Brendan Dow, chief executive of Ceramic Fuel Cells, commented: “This is another major step towards the commercialisation of our solid oxide fuel cell for power companies.

“The developments will deliver significantly higher power density and system efficiency, both of which are key factors in enabling us to meet commercial targets for performance and cost.”

The next stage is to integrate the new fuel cell stacks into micro-CHP units, while ramping up production of the cells, initially in CFCL’s Melbourne pilot plant and then in a planned large-scale manufacturing plant in Europe.

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