Scott Lux

The DoD residential PEM fuel cell demonstration program

Abstract US Congressional appropriations in Fiscal Years (FY) 2001 through 2003 provided funds to the US Army Engineer Research & Development Center/Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC/CERL) for a demonstration of residential-scale PEM fuel cells at US military facilities. For this program, ‘residential scale’ is defined as projects ranging in size from 1 to 20 kWe, regardless of the application. Successful applicants are required to provide fuel cell power to the application for one year, with an average availability of 90%. Approximately

Generative Textiles for Non-Rotary Power Production From Wind

6m was awarded from the FY 2001 and FY 2002 appropriations, for a total of 45 fuel cells. Some 75% of these are currently in operation, with two having completed the one-year operation period. The remainder will be installed over the next few months. In addition, approximately

Component Failure Analysis From a Fleet of PEM Fuel Cells

3.5m has been provided in the FY 2003 appropriation. A solicitation for this program was issued, pre-proposals were reviewed, and several applicants were selected to submit follow-on full proposals. It is anticipated that awards will be made before the end of 2003. All units are being closely monitored to assess their performance, and lessons learned are being fed back to the fuel cell community to assist in optimized product development and enhanced operational and maintenance procedures.

Component Failure Analysis From the U.S. Army ERDC-CERL Residential Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells Demonstration

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) is developing a new class of flexible, generative textile as a novel means of sustainable wind energy generation. Flexible, generative carbon nanotube (CNT)-based textiles may have excellent potential for electrical capacitive storage and reuse in conjunction with small-scale energy-harvesting systems, both from wind for fixed applications and from human locomotion.This paper describes the design and optimization of a three-layer generative textile composed of discrete layers for generation, distribution, and storage. Initial results suggest that improvement in the generation layer will provide the highest increase in overall performance. The output of the electromagnetic tests shows a power density of 0.17 mW/cm3. However, the efficiency can be significantly improved through increasing the voltage output of the generation layer from 20 mV to around 1V. In an analysis of the operational envelope, wind data collected locally at ERDC-CERL and at other sites around the world reveal close similarity in the probability distributions, which could allow for a practical engineering approach capable of harvesting the steady “ram” component in addition to a variable energy component of the wind. To further study the textile-wind interactions, a wind simulation environment is being developed and has been able to obtain reproducible wind speed data thus far.© 2012 ASME

Direct Carbon Fuel Cells: Converting Waste to Electricity

The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) managed the Residential Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell Demonstration. The U.S. Congress funded this project for fiscal years 2001–2004. A fleet of 91 residential-scale PEM fuel cells, ranging in size from 1–5 kW, was demonstrated at various U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) facilities worldwide. This detailed analysis looks into the most prevalent means of failure in the PEM fuel cell systems as categorized from the stack, reformer, and power-conditioning systems as well as the subsequent subsystems. Also evaluated are the lifespan and failure modes of selected fuel cell components, based on component type, age, and usage. The analysis shows while the fuel cell stack components had the single highest number of outages, the balance of plant made for 60.6% of the total outages. The hydrogen cartridges were the most prevalent component replaced during the entire program. The natural gas fuel cell stacks had the highest average operational lifetime; one stack reached a total of 10,250 hours.

Component Failure Analysis From a Stationary Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Demonstration

Background: The U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (ERDC-CERL) continues to manage The Department of Defense (DoD) Residential Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cell Demonstration Project. This project was funded by the United States Congress for fiscal years 2001 through 2004. A fleet of 91 residential-scale PEM fuel cells, ranging in size from 1 to 5 kW, has been demonstrated at various U.S. DoD facilities around the world. Approach: The performance of the fuel cells has been monitored over a 12-month field demonstration period. A detailed analysis has been performed cataloging the component failures, investigating the mean time of the failures, and the mean time between failures. A discussion of the lifespan and failure modes of selected fuel cell components, based on component type, age, and usage will be provided. This analysis also addresses fuel cell stack life for both primary and back-up power systems. Several fuels were used throughout the demonstration, including natural gas, propane, and hydrogen. A distinction will be made on any variances in performance based on the input fuel stock. Summary: This analysis will provide an overview of the ERDC-CERL PEM demonstration fuel cell applications and the corresponding data from the field demonstrations. Special emphasis will be placed on the components, fuel cell stack life, and input fuel characteristics of the systems demonstrated.Copyright