On the role of fuel cells and hydrogen in a more sustainable and renewable energy future

Brouwer, Jacob

doi:10.1016/j.cap.2009.11.002

Cited by 95 publications

(38 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…This is due to lower capital cost as they do not need to use expensive platinum catalysts like PEMFCs and can be fuelled directly by natural gas, with fuel reformation occurring directly on the anode [34,35]. Furthermore SOFCs are often cited as a more attractive fuel cell option for tri-generation system applications because of their high quality exhaust heat [36].…”

Section: Figure 5 Fuel Cell Operating Concept [28]mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…District scale fuel cell operation and interaction has been cited as an effective way to optimise the use of fuel cell technology in the domestic built environment [36]. Work has been carried out by the EU funded FC-DISTRICT project to optimise individual building SOFC CHP systems using district heat storage and distribution networks.…”

Section: Fuel Cell System Optimisation For Domestic Housing Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fuel cell technology for domestic built environment applications: State of-the-art review

Elmer

Worall

et al. 2015

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

265

105

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A note on versions:The version presented here may differ from the published version or from the version of record. If you wish to cite this item you are advised to consult the publisher's version. Please see the repository url above for details on accessing the published version and note that access may require a subscription.For more information, please contact eprints@nottingham.ac.uk 1 FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY FOR DOMESTIC BUILT ENVIRONMENT APPLICATIONS: STATE OF-THE-ART REVIEW ABSTRACTFuel cells produce heat when generating electricity, thus they are of particular interest for combined heat and power (CHP) and combined cooling heat and power (CCHP) applications, also known as tri-generation systems. CHP and tri-generation systems offer high energy conversion efficiency and hence the potential to reduce fuel costs and CO 2 emissions. This paper serves to provide a state-of-the-art review of fuel cell technology operating in the domestic built environment in CHP and tri-generation system applications. The review aims to carry out an assessment of the following topics: (1) the operational advantages fuel cells offer in CHP and tri-generation system configurations, specifically, compared to conventional combustion based technologies such as Stirling engines, (2) how decarbonisation, running cost and energy security in the domestic built environment may be addressed through the use of fuel cell technology, and (3) what has been done to date and what needs to be done in the future. The paper commences with a review of fuel cell technology, then moves on to examine fuel cell CHP systems operating in the domestic built environment, and finally explores fuel cell tri-generation systems in domestic built environment applications. The paper concludes with an assessment of the present development of, and future challenges for, domestic fuel cells operating in CHP and tri-generation systems. As fuel cells are an emergent technology the paper draws on a breadth of literature, data and experience, mostly from the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, America and Australia.Fuel cells are a technology of the future here today, providing a change in the way heat and power are supplied to end users. Fuel cells operating in CHP and tri-generation systems in domestic built environment applications could finally provide the means by which energy generation can transfer from centralised to decentralised locales in a sustainable and effective manner.

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Section: Figure 5 Fuel Cell Operating Concept [28]mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Fuel Cell System Optimisation For Domestic Housing Integrationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fuel cell technology for domestic built environment applications: State of-the-art review

Elmer

Worall

et al. 2015

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

265

105

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…In comparison, PEMFC systems require large, complex and expensive external reforming systems to produce very pure hydrogen, otherwise accelerated stack degradation will occur. Furthermore, SOFCs are often cited as a more attractive fuel cell option for trigeneration system applications because of their high quality exhaust heat (Brouwer, 2010). Extensive literature searches have highlighted that extensive work has been carried out on domestic scale fuel cell CHP systems (BeaussoleilMorrison, 2008;Beausoleil-Morrison and Lombardi, 2009;Farhad, Hamdullahpur et al, 2010;Choudhury, Chandra et al, 2013).…”

Section: Fuel Cell Technologymentioning

confidence: 99%

A Novel SOFC Tri-generation System for Building Applications

Elmer

2017

Springer Theses

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i AbstractIn response to the critical need to decarbonise the built environment, alternative methods for more effective energy utilisation need to be explored including trigeneration systems.Tri-generation is the simultaneous generation of electricity, heating and/or cooling from a single fuel source. Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and liquid desiccant demonstrate many characteristics that make them an attractive option in the development of an efficient and effective tri-generation system. SOFCs have high operational electrical efficiencies and a thermal output in good agreement with the low temperature regeneration requirement of liquid desiccants.The aim of this thesis is to design, develop and test an efficient and effective proof of concept tri-generation system based on SOFC and liquid desiccant air conditioning technology for building applications. An extensive review of the literature shows that no previous work has been reported on such a system. The research has critically examined, both theoretically and experimentally, the novel tri-generation system concept.Simulations show tri-generation system efficiencies of up to 71% are achievable at a 1.5kW e capacity, which are encouraging values for a system of this size. An integration analysis, based on empirical data, provides good agreement with the simulations. At a 1.5kW e output, a tri-generation efficiency of 69% has been demonstrated. The inclusion of liquid desiccant air conditioning provides an efficiency increase of up to 15% compared to SOFC electrical operation only, demonstrating the merit of the novel tri-generation system in applications that require simultaneous electrical power, heating and dehumidification/cooling. An experimental system, using a micro-tubular SOFC shows the novel system can generate 150W of electrical power, 443W of heat or 279W of cooling. Instantaneous tri-generation system efficiency is low at around 25%. This is primarily due to the low capacity and poor performance of the micro-tubular SOFC. Although the performance is low, the experimental results demonstrate regeneration of a potassium formate desiccant solution using the thermal output from the microtubular SOFC in the first of its kind tri-generation system. The thesis has established that a clear operational advantage of the novel SOFC liquid desiccant Abstract f ii tri-generation system is the potential for nonsynchronous operation. The constant SOFC thermal output can be used to re-concentrate the desiccant solution as a form of thermal energy storage. Unlike thermal storage techniques based on sensible energy, a significant advantage of (chemical) thermal energy storage in the form of strong desiccant solution is that there are minimal losses over time.Using this nonsynchronous operating concept, the experimental system can generate an increased peak cooling output of up to 527W and a daily tri-generation efficiency of 38%.An economic assessment demonstrates questionable performance; however this is anticipated to improve with SOFC capital cost reduct...

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“…into electric energy with low pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions. 1,2) In fuel cells, molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) have received much attention due to their high energy efficiency, usefulness for electrical power and heat energy, low emissions and variety of useful fuels. [3][4][5] For these reasons, MCFCs are very close to commercialization.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Economic Feasibility Study for Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells Fed with Biogas

Song¹,

Han²,

Yoon³

et al. 2010

Journal of Electrochemical Science and Technology

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Molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC) power plants are one of most attractive electricity generation systems for the use of biogas to generate high-efficiency ultra-clean power. However, MCFCs are considerably more expensive than comparable conventional electricity generation systems. The commercialization of MCFCs has been delayed more than expected. After being effective in the Kyoto protocol and considerably increasing the fossil price, the attention focused on CO 2 regression and renewable energy sources has increased dramatically. In particular, the commercialization and application of MCFC systems fed with biogas have been revived because of the characteristics of CO 2 collection and fuel variety of MCFCs. Better economic results of MCFC systems fed with biogas are expected because biogas is a relatively inexpensive fuel compared to liquefied natural gas (LNG). However, the pretreatment cost is added when using anaerobic digester gas (ADG), one of the biogases, as a fuel of MCFC systems because it contains high H 2 S and other contaminants, which are harmful sources to the MCFC stack in ADG. Thus, an accurate economic analysis and comparison between MCFCs fed with biogas and LNG are very necessary before the installation of an MCFC system fed with biogas in a plant. In this paper, the economic analysis of an MCFC fed with ADG was carried out for various conditions of electricity and fuel price and compared with the case of an MCFC fed with LNG.

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On the role of fuel cells and hydrogen in a more sustainable and renewable energy future

Cited by 95 publications

References 19 publications

Fuel cell technology for domestic built environment applications: State of-the-art review

Fuel cell technology for domestic built environment applications: State of-the-art review

A Novel SOFC Tri-generation System for Building Applications

Economic Feasibility Study for Molten Carbonate Fuel Cells Fed with Biogas

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