New generations has developed a new era of energy system which is more efficient and environmentally healthy. Especially in areas without access to an electric grid, diesel/gasoline generators for power are common. Such generators are relatively inexpensive to buy but expensive to run, especially taking into consideration the cost of transporting the fuel. They also pollute and are quite noisy. The exhaust consists exclusively of CO2 and water, where the water easily can be separated out before the CO2 is sent for depositing. “Ultra fuel cells”, which are a combination of fuel cells and turbines in an optimised network, can produce electricity at an efficiency of 70-80%. [Hydrogen and fuel cell letter 1998] Fuel cells are relatively quiet and are therefore suitable for local power generation. The advantage is that the excess heat can be used for heating and hot water, and at the same time both the grid loss and the need for developing and strengthening the power grid is reduced. Electrical efficiency is quite high even in small systems and at low loads. These are the main qualities by which fuel cells stand out from other power generation technologies.
One early market for stationary fuel cells is emergency power systems – back-up systems which, in case of power failure, provide electricity to hospitals, larger hotels, computer systems and industry, where power failure could endanger lives or cause great economic loss. In addition, cabins and camping trailers where small-scale quiet generators of heat and power are wanted can also create a market at an early stage in the development. For the time being, the price of such stationary fuel cell systems is higher than those offered by competing technologies, but there are plans to install a great number of these units in the coming years. Several manufacturers like Plug Power, HPower, Idatech, Valiant, Sulzer Hexis and others, are investing heavily in small, stationary units for combined heat and power production. These initial systems will use mainly natural gas and propane for fuel. The exception will be systems that are part of a SAPS A solar and/or wind power system with hydrogen storage and/or batteries would be a much better solution. Using both hydrogen and electricity offers a high quality, pollution-free and efficient energy carrier – both as fuel for transport and to supply stationary energy needs. Many renewable energy sources such as solar power, tidal energy, and wind power fluctuate with the conditions of nature, more often than not giving rise to a conflict between the time when the energy is produced and the preferred time of consumption. Energy systems based on such sources must therefore facilitate intermediate storage of energy.
Stand alone power systems are of special interest combined with renewable energy designs in areas not connected to the electric grid. A “Stand Alone Power System” (SAPS) may encompass anything from a cabin to an entire town or island. These systems will often consist of both batteries and fuel cells, so the batteries can balance out the peak swings while the hydrogen fuel cell system maintains the long-term supplies. As mentioned, there are many thousand SAPS with solar panels and batteries in cabins and lighthouses here in Norway. In larger systems and systems where a large amount of stored energy is needed, it could be more economical to use hydrogen to store energy rather than batteries. One advantage with hydrogen compared to batteries is that hydrogen can be used as gas for food preparation and as fuel for vehicles.
A typical hydrogen/solar system will deliver power directly while the sun shines. At night and on overcast days, the hydrogen which was produced from surplus energy will be fed to the fuel cells to produce electricity. SAPS could become the first markets to utilise fuel cells on a large scale. At present, studies have chiefly concerned wind/hydrogen and sun/hydrogen systems. Several sun/hydrogen systems are being tested in demo projects, some of which have gone on for several years. The Phoebus project in Julich, Germany has been in operation for 8 years. The system supplies a library with power and heat all year round. The system uses a combination of batteries and hydrogen for energy storage. Hydrogen is used for long-term supply, and is mainly produced during the summer, while the batteries provide short-term storage.
The Special Boiler Design Bureau JSC is Russia's only enterprise involved in the shipborne AIP plant development and production with genuine experience in developing electrochemical generator plants for naval submarines. Navy has attached great importance to the development of air-independent propulsion (AIP) systems based on electrochemical generators. In 1978, a dedicated governmental resolution named the All Union Boiler-Engineering Design Bureau (now SKBK Special Boiler Design Bureau) prime developer of AIP systems.
During the first phase, from 1978 to 1986, SKBK, jointly with its subcontractors, developed electrochemical AIP systems for three classes of submarines: the Pirahnya midget submarine, Poisk-6 deep-diving submersible vehicle for sea-bed operations, and Sirena-K submersible transport vehicle. In the late 1980s, work on power plants for Poisk-6 and Sirena-K was suspended, following the acceptance of contract design and successful tests of scaled models and prototypes. The year 1991 saw the completion of overall effort to design an electrochemical generator-based AIP system (Kristall-20) for the Pirahnya-class submarines. This was the first national full-size 130 kW power plant equipped with electrochemical generators, presenting the first generation of Russian marine AIP systems, which was developed, manufactured, tested on stands, and accepted by an interdepartmental commission. During the development project, cooperation infrastructure was fully established with almost 30 specialized enterprises; basic principles and development trends of the marine electrochemical generator-based power plants were formulated, which envisaged provision in the near future for submarines' continuous multi-month submerged missions with assured power plant operational safety; and considerable knowledge was acquired of basic AIP systems and equipment, including various types of hydrogen and oxygen storage systems. The following variants have been researched: bottle-type storage of gaseous reagents at a pressure of 40 MPa; bound hydrogen storage in sodium boron hydrate and hydro-reacting compounds; bound oxygen storage in hydrogen peroxide and sodium and potassium permanganates; hydrogen and oxygen cryogenic storage; and, finally, bound hydrogen storage in intermetallid compounds. The majority of these variants were developed through the phase of scaled models and prototypes which were tested on stands and certified by interdepartmental commissions. As the electrochemical generator AIP plants belong to an unconventional type of power-generating systems which use such agents as hydrogen and oxygen, special attention was paid to the development of fire/detonation proofing techniques, ground storage, and refueling facilities. The Special Boiler Design Bureau JSC is Russia's only enterprise involved in the shipborne AIP plant development and production with genuine experience in developing electrochemical generator plants for naval submarines.
Building on the existing cooperation ties with other organizations, SKBK is prepared to develop, manufacture and deliver to customers the AIP plants rated at 10 to 600 kW (up to 4,000 kW for short time), having 100 to 100,000 kWh power capacity, 150 to 200 W h/kg or 200 to 250 W h/l specific power capacity and complete with all support systems both for marine and ground applications. These powerplants will satisfy your demand in high-quality electricity when you are cut off from atmospheric air supply and when you need a highly effective, small-size, low-noise, ecologically-friendly and low-heat-emitting powerplant.
