Deployed on a commercial airplane, proton exchange membrane fuel cells may offer emissions reductions, thermal efficiency gains, and enable locating the power near the point of use. This work seeks to understand whether on-board fuel cell systems are technically feasible, and, if so, if they offer a performance advantage for the airplane as a whole.Through hardware analysis and thermodynamic and electrical simulation, we found that while adding a fuel cell system using today's technology for the PEM fuel cell and hydrogen storage is technically feasible, it will not likely give the airplane a performance benefit. However, when we re-did the analysis using DOE-target technology for the PEM fuel cell and hydrogen storage, we found that the fuel cell system would provide a performance benefit to the airplane (i.e., it can save the airplane some fuel), depending on the way it is configured. 3 AcknowledgementsThe authors of this study had a great deal of enthusiastic support from both within and outside of Sandia National Laboratories.Dr. Joe Breit of The Boeing Company directly or indirectly provided most of the information about airplane electrical systems and issues in current airplane design that might be able to leverage the capabilities of a fuel cell. In the rare cases he could not answer our frequent questions, he referred us to others at Boeing who were just as happy to help: Andy Bayliss for issues concerning airplane performance, Trevor Laib for information on the existing environmental control systems, and Farhad Nozari and Casey Roberts for more electrical system details.Ryan Sookhoo of Hydrogenics was gracious in his support of our project, offering details on their PEM fuel cell technology to assist us in making reasonable estimates for the current state of the art as well as predictions of what may be possible for future aviation-designed fuel cell systems. His insight into the European world of aviation fuel cells was also useful to help put this study into perspective.Dr. Andy Lutz of Sandia (now at the University of Pacific) provided his extensive knowledge on the Simulink thermodynamic models that were used in this study.Of course, this project would not have taken place without the support of the Department of Energy's Fuel Cell Technologies Program, Pete Devlin and Nancy Garland in the Market Transportation group in particular. The encouragement and suggestions we received from them was invaluable. 4 SummaryFuel cells have become increasingly important as alternative sources of power, offering the potential for drastic reduction in emissions in particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), and CO 2 . In addition, they offer exceptionally quiet operation, highly efficient use of the fuel energy, and a high energy storage density compared to batteries. For a number of years, the manufacturers of commercial aircraft, most notably Boeing and Airbus, have realized that fuel cells may offer advantages for commercial aircraft operation. Apart from emissions reductions and thermal efficiency...

Deployed on a commercial airplane, proton exchange membrane fuel cells may offer emissions reductions, thermal efficiency gains, and enable locating the power near the point of use. This work seeks to understand whether on-board fuel cell systems are technically feasible, and, if so, if they offer a performance advantage for the airplane as a whole.Through hardware analysis and thermodynamic and electrical simulation, we found that while adding a fuel cell system using today's technology for the PEM fuel cell and hydrogen storage is technically feasible, it will not likely give the airplane a performance benefit. However, when we re-did the analysis using DOE-target technology for the PEM fuel cell and hydrogen storage, we found that the fuel cell system would provide a performance benefit to the airplane (i.e., it can save the airplane some fuel), depending on the way it is configured. 3 AcknowledgementsThe authors of this study had a great deal of enthusiastic support from both within and outside of Sandia National Laboratories.Dr. Joe Breit of The Boeing Company directly or indirectly provided most of the information about airplane electrical systems and issues in current airplane design that might be able to leverage the capabilities of a fuel cell. In the rare cases he could not answer our frequent questions, he referred us to others at Boeing who were just as happy to help: Andy Bayliss for issues concerning airplane performance, Trevor Laib for information on the existing environmental control systems, and Farhad Nozari and Casey Roberts for more electrical system details.Ryan Sookhoo of Hydrogenics was gracious in his support of our project, offering details on their PEM fuel cell technology to assist us in making reasonable estimates for the current state of the art as well as predictions of what may be possible for future aviation-designed fuel cell systems. His insight into the European world of aviation fuel cells was also useful to help put this study into perspective.Dr. Andy Lutz of Sandia (now at the University of Pacific) provided his extensive knowledge on the Simulink thermodynamic models that were used in this study.Of course, this project would not have taken place without the support of the Department of Energy's Fuel Cell Technologies Program, Pete Devlin and Nancy Garland in the Market Transportation group in particular. The encouragement and suggestions we received from them was invaluable. 4 SummaryFuel cells have become increasingly important as alternative sources of power, offering the potential for drastic reduction in emissions in particulate matter (PM), nitrogen oxides (NO x ), and CO 2 . In addition, they offer exceptionally quiet operation, highly efficient use of the fuel energy, and a high energy storage density compared to batteries. For a number of years, the manufacturers of commercial aircraft, most notably Boeing and Airbus, have realized that fuel cells may offer advantages for commercial aircraft operation. Apart from emissions reductions and thermal efficiency...

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Many critical loads rely on simple backup generation to provide electricity in the event of a power outage. An Energy Surety Microgrid TM can protect against outages caused by single generator failures to improve reliability. An ESM will also provide a host of other benefits, including integration of renewable energy, fuel optimization, and maximizing the value of