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    Fuel Cell Technology for home power generation

    bobhardee
    bobhardee


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    Fuel Cell Technology for home power generation  Empty Fuel Cell Technology for home power generation

    Post  bobhardee Tue May 27, 2014 10:38 am

    Since 1999 Panasonic has been working on a fuel cell technology such that power would be produced by the home owner. AKA buy one and and you pay no more power bills....ever. Tokyo Gas and Electric has been promoting this effort but it has failed to make the Western press. Here is a basic of why this event will change energy delivery.


    High efficiency achieved by electricity generation at home

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    Japanese

    "Electricity", a form of energy now indispensable in our daily lives, is generated in large-scale atomic, thermal, or hydroelectric power stations and transmitted along power lines to individual homes. Household fuel cells allow households to generate part of the electricity they require, reducing the electricity purchase from an electric power company. In addition, they serve as a cogeneration system, which use thermal energy produced by electricity generation for water and room heating.
    Highly energy-efficient cogeneration system
    Energy efficiency of centralized electricity generation

    It would be best if exhaust heat emitted during the generation process from large-scale power stations could also be converted to thermal energy for heating rooms or water to use the inputted energy more efficiently. However, it is not considered practical to send hot water (thermal energy) to homes by pipelines from far-removed locations of such large-scale power stations.

    For example, at thermal power stations, a large part of thermal energy to turn turbines for generating electricity is released into the air or sea without being used. Such losses due to waste of unused heat account for approx. 59%.

    Therefore, centralized electricity generation at thermal power stations can only use approximately 41% of the energy supplied as fuel (100%).
    Energy efficiency of electricity generation at home

    Household cogeneration systems allow homes to use thermal energy produced when electricity is generated.

    Electricity generation at home using a fuel cell causes little energy loss because fuel is supplied through the existing city gas supply infrastructure.

    When electricity is generated at home using our household fuel cell at an electricity generation efficiency of 39% (LHV) and heat recovery efficiency of 56% (LHV), 95% of the supplied energy can be used, and in contrast, only 41% can be used with a centralized energy generation system.

    Since a cogeneration system generates and uses electricity at the same place, it does not cause transmission loss, and can effectively use heat produced by electricity generation to heating water and room. Therefore, it eliminates wasted energy and reduces CO2 emissions.
    Fuel cells --- Ideal for electricity generation at home

    Many types of cogeneration systems are already in use.

    Fuel cell type cogeneration systems generate electricity using the chemical reaction of fuel, so the exhaust is clean. In addition, since they have few mechanical moving parts, they operate quietly. The unit size is similar to a CO2 heat pump boiler, which fits well in a home.

    With these advantages, household fuel cell cogeneration systems (ENE FARM) have enabled high-efficiency electricity generation at home that is suitable for the balance of the demands for power and heat for heating water and rooms for household u



    bobhardee
    bobhardee


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    Post  bobhardee Wed May 28, 2014 8:13 pm

    bobhardee
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    Post  bobhardee Wed May 28, 2014 8:19 pm

    bobhardee
    bobhardee


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    Post  bobhardee Wed Jun 04, 2014 9:02 pm

    6 4 2014 Bloom Box energy review and update.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7zq5P0u3Jzg
    Fuel cell technology is coming to both cars and homes.
    bobhardee
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    Post  bobhardee Thu Jun 05, 2014 9:25 pm

    By Christopher Martin Jun 5, 2014 4:52 AM ET
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    Once relegated to the realm of science projects, hydrogen fuel cells are starting to displace fossil fuels as a means of powering cars, homes and businesses.

    On June 10, in the latest addition to mainstream fuel-cell use, Hyundai Motor Co. will begin deliveries of a consumer SUV in Southern California. The technology is already producing electricity for the grid in Connecticut. AT&T Inc. is using fuel cells to power server farms, and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. uses hydrogen-powered fork lifts. Later this summer, FedEx Corp. will begin using hydrogen cargo tractors at its Memphis air hub.

    “This is the most exciting time for fuel cells in my career,” said Daniel Dedrick, head of hydrogen and combustion technologies at Sandia National Laboratories in Livermore, California. The hydrogen market “is starting to accelerate.”

    Fuel cells produce electricity from hydrogen in a process that dates back to the 1830s, yet high costs have historically made the technology better suited for Apollo space missions and Soviet submarines. In recent years, the technology has made big strides, and prices are falling. And because the process produces little or no greenhouse gases, hydrogen power stands to get a boost in the wake of President Barack Obama’s recent call for tighter controls on carbon emissions.
    Early Days

    It’s still early days for hydrogen power. Prominent skeptics, including former Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Tesla Motors Inc. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk, have questioned whether the technology will ever catch on.

    Hydrogen currently provides less than 1 percent of power worldwide, while coal and gas produced 67 percent of U.S. electricity in 2012, according to the Energy Information Administration. Chu, who was appointed by Obama, called for a 44 percent reduction in funding for hydrogen research.

    “People have been working to improve fuel cells for over 150 years, and it’s still not commercially viable,” said Joseph Romm, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a Washington-based think-tank.

    There are only about 1,000 cars and buses in operation worldwide today using hydrogen technology. There are nine hydrogen filling stations in California, with 48 more under development. California promises to boost that number to about 100 over the next several years. By comparison, there are 160,000 traditional filling stations across the country.
    Hydrogen Infrastructure

    Advocates argue the hydrogen landscape could quickly evolve as corporations’ use of hydrogen spreads. The infrastructure for corporate fuel cells has been quietly spreading. Across the U.S., there are now tanks of hydrogen and fueling systems for fleet vehicles and forklifts. There are pipelines delivering the fuel to refiners that use it to make gasoline. As more companies adopt hydrogen power, the needed equipment will come, said Andy Marsh, chief executive officer of Plug Power Inc. (PLUG) in Latham, New York.

    Yet even industry leaders say that, without a national pipeline network, it will be a long time before the nascent industry will enjoy widespread development.

    “You have to get critical mass to build a business case,” said Ed Kiczek, global business director for hydrogen at Air Products and Chemicals Inc. in Allentown, Pennsylvania, the world’s largest supplier of hydrogen. “That could be 30 years away.”
    Shops Buying

    For now, local pockets of hydrogen use are flourishing. Plug supplies fuel-cell powered forklifts for customers including Wal-Mart, the grocery chain Kroger Co. and Bayerische Motoren Werke AG. Plug also provides hydrogen-fueling systems. Once a company has a flock of its forklifts at a warehouse, it’s a short leap to installing larger fuel cells that can produce both hydrogen on site and electricity for the entire building, Marsh said.

    The company is supplying the systems for FedEx’s airport tractors in Memphis, another location where stationary fuel cells might eventually become either a primary or back-up source of electricity.

    AT&T is the largest non-utility fuel cell customer in the U.S.. It has 17.1 megawatts of fuel cells operating at 28 sites in California and Connecticut. The systems offer cleaner power that’s more consistent than electricity supplied by the grid, said John Schinter, the company’s assistant vice president of energy and smart buildings.

    “For us, reliability is so critical and these help us ride through power disruptions,” Schinter said. “We deploy fuel cells in our high-cost markets, so these actually reduce our operating costs. We’re definitely planning to expand.”
    Autos Next

    Proponents of hydrogen say all this activity will soon spill over to the auto market, and it’s already happening in Southern California. Hyundai will begin deliveries of its fuel-cell Tucson SUV next week. Honda Motor Co. already offers one there and Toyota Motor Corp. will follow next year.

    “The shift to hydrogen is inevitable, and it’s happening faster than we expected,” said Amory Lovins, founder of the Rocky Mountain Institute, a non-profit clean energy research organization based in Snowmass, Colorado.

    Not everyone agrees. Elon Musk, a longtime critic of fuel cell technology, particularly in automobiles that compete with Tesla’s Model S, revisited his opposition to the power-generating devices earlier this week.

    “I’m not the biggest fan of fuel cells,” Musk said at the company’s annual meeting in Mountain View, California, on June 3. “I usually call them ‘fool cells.’
    bobhardee
    bobhardee


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    Post  bobhardee Wed Jun 18, 2014 6:12 pm

    June 17, 2014
    It states that this car is on sale in the USA. I don't think that is correct. Maybe it is on a very special order basis.

    If fuel cell cars do start hitting the market, it will not be long before they are used in power generation for the home.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rofx6Gaz40
    bobhardee
    bobhardee


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    Post  bobhardee Fri Jul 11, 2014 12:44 pm


      Current date/time is Wed Dec 11, 2024 11:36 pm