Micro Fuel Cell Combined Heat and Power Commercial Demonstration

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is working with industry to deploy and independently monitor 5-kilowatt-electric (kWe) combined heat and power (CHP) fuel cell systems (FCSs) in light commercial buildings. The objective of this project is to demonstrate these micro-CHP FCSs and assess their performance to help determine and document market viability. Fifteen high-temperature, natural gas fueled PEM FCSs were installed in early CY12 at four facilities in California and Oregon.  PNNL data analysis indicated that these systems suffered from performance degradation over time.  As a result, between mid-2013 and early 2014, ten of these systems were upgraded to a more robust phosphoric acid FCS.  PNNL is collecting performance data on these new systems.  The results indicate significant improvement in efficiency, availability, and durability relative to the previous high temperature PEM FCSs systems.  Unlike the previous FCSs, their engineering performance is consistent with the manufacturer’s stated electric power and heat ratings of 5 kW-electrical and 5.5 kW-thermal.