Longest-running 5kW SOFC system for remote, auxiliary & backup power
An Acumentrics Corporation fuel cell system has exceeded 10,500 hours of
operation to become the longest-running small scale solid oxide fuel
cell (SOFC) system.
“This demonstration of durability is an
important step in proving the compelling value proposition of the
tubular SOFC to customers who are using far less efficient technologies,”
said Acumentrics President and CEO Gary Simon.
The 5kW tubular SOFC system, designed to provide stationary, auxiliary
and backup power for commercial, industrial and military applications,
began operation at Acumentrics’ Westwood,
Mass. facility in July 2006 as a demonstration that the technology could
meet the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Solid
State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) minimum performance targets.
After meeting or exceeding all targets in tests at the National Energy
Technology Lab in Morgantown, W. Va., the unit was shipped back and
restarted at Westwood.
Recently, Acumentrics received a $15.6 million DOE award to continue
advancement of the company’s tubular solid
oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology.
“This particular unit has continued to
operate within the specified operating parameters for well over a year
and has been subjected to real world conditions including several power
cycles and transportation to different locations,”
Simon reported. “It is now being disassembled
to inspect all components, after which it may be reassembled and
continue to accumulate runtime hours.”
In parallel with development of the 5kW system, Acumentrics is preparing
to bring a 1kW residential SOFC micro combined heat and power (mCHP)
system – the first fully enclosed residential
CHP unit – to market. The system operates on
natural gas and is designed to meet the power and heating needs of an
average-size European home using a 1 kilowatt solid oxide fuel cell
(SOFC) in combination with a 24 kilowatt condensing boiler. A fully
functional prototype was demonstrated to potential utility partners in
Germany in October 2007.
About Acumentrics
Acumentrics Corporation’s (http://www.acumentrics.com/)
unique, durable, fuel-flexible tubular ceramics-based fuel cell
technology has exceeded performance standards in U.S. Department of
Energy Solid-State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA) Phase I tests. It
has demonstrated the ability to operate for 1000 hours on conventional
JP-8 fuel and became the first biogas-fueled SOFC system in an
installation at the innovative GlashusEtt environmental information
center in Stockholm, and received a 2007 New England Innovation Award
from the Smaller Business Association of New England. The company also
provides rugged, uninterruptible power supplies (UPS) to the military
and other mission-critical markets.
For Acumentrics Corporation
Tom Sommers, 713-222-1600
tsommers@sommersassoc.com
