Siemens Westinghouse to Demo Fuel Cell for Ontario Power Generation
Fueled by natural gas with a maximum electrical output of 250 kW, the plant will be delivered to and operated by OPG's affiliate, Ontario Power Technologies (OPT), at its facilities just west of Toronto. Under normal operation, said Nick Bartol, vice president and chief technology officer for Siemens Westinghouse, it will deliver 225 kW synchronized to the existing power grid, at an electrical efficiency of greater than 45%, and will also supply 145 kW of heat into OPT's site heating system.
Building on previous collaborative fuel cell work with Siemens Westinghouse, OPT will be responsible for selected balance of plant systems, site preparation, installation and operation of the new system. Siemens Westinghouse will be responsible for overall design of the system, manufacture of the SOFC module, and supply of the systems not provided by OPT.
Ontario Power Generation, the Government of Canada, Siemens Westinghouse, and the U.S. Department of Energy will provide funding for the project.
"The purpose of this demonstration is to test a prototype of a future product aimed at small cogeneration or combined heat and power (CHP) applications," Bartol said. "This would be one of Siemens Westinghouse's first products intended for the distributed generation segment of the stationary power generation market."
The 250 kW system is the largest atmospheric pressure SOFC system to be ordered from Siemens Westinghouse, and will have more than twice the output of a successful 100 kW test system now operating in the Netherlands. The new system incorporates a new generator design with 2,304 of Siemens Westinghouse prototype tubular cells.
Bartol said it also incorporates a heat recovery system that will use heat recovered from the SOFC exhaust to provide hot water. This system represents a final step in Siemens Westinghouse commercialization program before embarking on a final product design and manufacturing program for atmospheric SOFC products. Such products, with units expected in the 250 kW to more than 1 MW range, will serve commercial and industrial customers that need significant amounts of heat energy as well as electric power, he said.
Atmospheric SOFC systems are expected to be quiet, highly reliable and simple to operate, with availabilities of greater than 95% and electrical efficiencies of more than 47%.
"As a major electricity supplier we're keenly interested in supporting the development of technologies that meet our customer needs and our commitment to being an environmentally responsible corporate citizen," said Ron Osborne, president and CEO of OPG. "Leading power generation companies need to be close to emerging technologies like SOFC that offer the potential to efficiently produce electricity and heat energy with minimal environmental impact."
Siemens Westinghouse Power is also developing a second product line of pressurized SOFC systems that will be integrated with small gas turbines. These products are expected to have electrical efficiencies in the 60% to70% range but with less heat available for cogeneration. As such, Bartol said they will be more suitable for all-electric applications for commercial, industrial and utility customers.
This development of solid oxide fuel cell systems is part of the U.S. Department of Energy's advanced fuel cell research program. Managed by the Department's Office of Fossil Energy, the program hopes to develop a new generation of high performance fuel cells that can generate clean electricity at power stations or in distributed locations near the consumer. The federal program is overseen by the Department's National Energy Technology Laboratory.
Edited by April C. Murelio