Direct Fuel Cell Durability

摘要

Worldwide demand for fuel cells for green and high efficiency power generation is growing in order to conserve fossil fuels, efficiently utilize renewable biogases, and reduce emissions of greenhouse and acid-rain precursors. FuelCell Energy (FCE) is meeting this growing demand for high efficiency green power with its Direct Fuel Cell products (DFC~R). The current commercial products DFC300, DFC1400, and DFC3000 produce an output of 300kW, 1.4MW, and 2.8MW, respectively. The DFC power plant is based on high-temperature internal-reforming carbonate fuel cell technology, operated at approximately 550-650°C. It is capable of achieving an electric simple-cycle efficiency approaching 50% (LHV), the highest among any distributed generation technologies in a comparable size range. Using the high value heat byproduct for cogeneration or hybrid applications, an overall energy efficiency of 65 to 90% (LHV) could be reached depending on the application. The main challenge to widespread fuel cell commercial acceptance is fuel cell cost of electricity (COE), which, at the moment, is higher than grid electricity without subsidies for its unique environmental attributes. The prime contributor to high fuel cell COE is first-time and periodic replacement costs of the fuel cell stacks. As such, the focus of technology development is on reducing fuel cell cost and extending service life to reduce fuel cell contribution to fixed as well as operating and maintenance costs.