Applications with Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells for a Deregulated Market Place

摘要

The electric utility is in a period of rapid change. The deregulation and restructuring of the utilities will lead to massive industry change with new structures of energy supply. This market's change creates a significant opportunity for fuel cells as on-site generation solutions. This paper considers the applications of Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC) recent development, in particular for premium power applications, commercial distributed power plants, and for users of secure power supplies. The criteria to be considered is separated into broad categories namely, key features, electrical and system aspects, economics and emissions and costs as well. PEMFC will, in the near future, be used in the automotive industry and also in distributed power supply. Due to its excellent dynamic characteristics, PEMFC can be used as emergency generating set for customer, who have special requirements for their critical equipment in case of power interruptions, harmonics etc. in the public electricity supply. This, however, requires the fulfilment of very detailed specifications concerning the grid connections. The bridging time is defined by the size of the hydrogen storage. The quality problems of normal electricity experienced by commercial and small industrial users have an impact on applications, which provide high quality. Reliable electricity is becoming increasingly popular. Use of this technology in housing areas for electricity and heat generation will be possible in the future, when the costs of production have been greatly reduced. General introduction to the market at a large scale is dependent on reasonable costs, and the chances for cost digression of PEMFC are highest through the use in various market sectors. The paper will end with the conclusion of how to approach the goals and what are the steps between.