Thought this article was a fascinating example of one possible direction electricity generation can go. Hope folks enjoy reading it as much as I did.
04/17/00 17:33 Siemens Westinghouse Creates Fuel Cell System for Power Plants
By Liz Skinner
Washington, April 17 (Bloomberg) -- Siemens Westinghouse
Power Corp. has combined a natural gas-powered fuel cell with a
microturbine to create a new system for power plants that
generates electricity more efficiently with little pollution, the
company and the U.S. government said.
The unit is expected to convert 55 percent of its fuel into
electricity, compared to conventional coal plants that convert
about 35 percent, the Energy Department said. Even a small
efficiency increase can reduce fuel costs by millions of dollars
over the life of a plant, the agency said.
The Orlando, Florida-based company, the Energy Department and
some state and local agencies spent $16 million to develop the
hybrid power system, which will undergo commercial tests next
month at the University of California at Irvine.
``The factory testing has proven the viability of the hybrid
concept, which could very well become a commercial model for
future large-scale, highly efficient and environmentally sound
power generation projects,' said Richard M. Rosenblum, a senior
vice president at Southern California Edison, which will conduct
the testing and performance evaluation of the plant in Irvine.
Electric companies are interested in fuel cells because they are
far less polluting than conventional power plants since no fossil
fuel combustion occurs. Fuel cells generate power through an
electrochemical reaction of fuel that leaves mostly water vapor
and carbon dioxide as byproducts.
Two Components
The Siemens Westinghouse power plant has two components that
generate electricity. First, natural gas is used to power the fuel
cell. In tests, the fuel cell generated about 89 percent of the
system's electricity. In the second stage, exhaust gases from the
fuel cell process, mostly water vapors and carbon dioxide, are
directed into a microturbine. That part of the unit created 11
percent of the system's total electricity in factory tests.
The Siemens Westinghouse power plant, which was built at the
company's Pittsburgh facility, is the first to use hot,
pressurized exhaust gases to drive a microturbine generator, the
Energy Department said.
``This kind of system is designed to run at full power
continuously, like for hotels, hospitals or for a utility to use
to replace a substation,' said Rhett Ross, development director
of Breakthrough Technologies Institute, a Washington group that
promotes fuel cells.
Siemens Westinghouse, a unit of Siemens AG, said it doesn't
plan to sell this 220-kilowatt power plant, which executives are
calling a ``proof of concept.' The company plans to create a 350-
kilowatt unit for commercial sale, said Chris Forbes, a business
development manager for fuel cells at Siemens Westinghouse. Forbes
estimated the plants would cost about $1,500 a kilowatt when they
are sold.
`Need is Growing'
Company executives said they believe electrical efficiencies
of more than 70 percent can be achieved as the technology
improves.
The government and Siemens Westinghouse are working towards
development of a 1-megawatt fuel cell and microturbine power plant
in 2002.
``America's need for electricity is growing,' said U.S.
Energy Secretary Bill Richardson in a news release. ``This
innovative hybrid fuel cell-turbine will help meet that need by
providing us with reliable electrical power-generation
resources.'
The new power plant produces no sulfur dioxide pollutants and
its nitrogen oxide emissions are about 50 times less than average
gas turbines today, the Energy Department said.
``The ultra-clean performance is the major reason why fuel
cells can be sited in the most environmentally sensitive
regions,' the agency said. |
