British Fuel Cell Said to Slash Electric Bills

Ceres Power is product development company founded in 2001 to commercially exploit revolutionary fuel cell technology originally developed within Imperial College during the preceding 10 years.

Ceres Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) fuel cell stacks are comprised of multiple fuel cells layered on top of one another, each made from stainless steel with tiny amounts of ceramic coating. The Company has successfully designed, built and tested a 1kW fuel cell stack (the “Ceres Stack”), which is the fundamental building block of Ceres’ micropower generation products, generating sufficient power for the average home (maybe in the UK, but not in the U.S.). The fuel cell stack, is invisioned to be a fundamental building block of micro-power generation products aimed at a variety of uses ranging from domestic Combined Heat and Power (CHP) to off-grid applications and auxiliary power units (APU) in the transport sector, capable of generating between 1kWe and 25kWe.

The production-engineered Ceres Stack is extremely compact, both smaller and lighter than a typical car battery. It is designed to be reliable, robust and economical, lending itself to rapid mass market uptake. And unlike many fuel cells, the Ceres cell can run on widely available fuels like natural gas, LPG and biofuels as well as on hydrogen.

According to fuelcellworks, electricity bills could be slashed up to 40% with this technology and "conversion of domestic boilers is said to be straight-foreword and cost about GBP 2,500, the same as a conventional premium boiler."

Ceres has developed a unique adaptation of Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) technology, able to operate at temperatures substantially lower than conventional designs which run at 800 – 1000 degrees C. By using a new generation of ceramic materials known as CGO (cerium gadolinium oxide) instead of the industry standard YSZ (yttria stabilised zirconia), operation at 500 - 600 degrees becomes possible. This in turn allows use of conventional stainless steel as the cell substrate, separating the functions of mechanical support from electrochemistry.

The electrochemical layers can then be made extremely thin and optimized for maximum performance, resulting in industry-leading power density levels, while the stack material costs are radically reduced. The efficiency of converting fuel into electricity and heat is therefore very high and this efficiency is maintained across a wide part-load range. In addition, the heat-to-power ratio is approximately one-to-one making the technology ideal for applications such as CHP, where levels of electrical output need to be maintained even where heat demand is modest.

In contrast to totally ceramic cells, these metal-supported cells are mechanically highly robust and can be easily sealed (e.g. through welding) and have thermal expansion coefficients well matched to their ceramic coatings. This allows great resistance to thermal shock, permitting rapid start-up times and the potential for thousands of ON / OFF cycles for everyday usability.

It has secured a new ‘product facility’ to design, build and test complete products. The new facility is anticipated to be operational by mid-2007 and represents a 70% increase in available space for Ceres Power. It will take output from the cell ‘pilot plant’ already commissioned at the Company’s Crawley headquarters, and integrate these into complete systems. The facility will also accommodate an expanded design engineering capability for their targeted range of market applications. It will also enable them to validate manufacturing processes and assembly methods ahead of transfer for volume manufacture.

Comments

[Harvey D.]

A 1KW cell can produce 24 KWh/day. This should by almost enough to supply the energy required for a well designed all electric home equipped with ultra efficient HVAC, computer, TV, lights and appliances.

We went from 67 KWh/day to 37 KWh/day ten years ago and our next place should be as confortable on an average of about 27 KWh/day.

[mcr]

Last Updated: Monday, 23 October 2006, 15:32 GMT 16:32 UK
UK 'tops energy wasters league' - BBC .

Any device with a remote consumes electricity when on standby
Britons are the worst energy wasters in Europe with bad habits which could cost £11bn by 2010, a survey of Europe's five most populous nations suggests.
ENERGY WASTERS' LEAGUE
1. UK
2. Italy
3. France
4. Spain
5. Germany
Source: Energy Saving Trust

This sort of CHP technology coupled with / in tandem to CONSUMPTION DECREASES due to changes in society aught to make a real difference.

I recently made some suggestions on developments in SOFCs to someone also interested in them.

The key point is the relatively cheap components compared to other FCs. But the operating temperatures still need bringing down...

The trick is to discover further CATALYSIS PROMOTIONAL EFFECTS or "better"(?) CATALYSIS in this reaction system.

Thanks for the info - James Fraser!

Mark C R (Chemist), UK

[Jay Draiman]

Mandatory Renewable Energy

In order to insure our energy independence, without being blackmailed by foreign countries and better economic growth.
The Federal, State and local government should implement a mandatory Renewable Energy installation for residential and commercial property on new construction and remodeling, with the use of Energy Efficient material, mechanical systems, appliances, lighting etc.
Source of Energy must be Renewable Energy, such as Solar-Photovoltaic, Geothermal, Wind, Biofuels etc.
The implementation could be done on a gradual scale over the next 10 years. At the end of the 10 year period all construction throughout the United States must be 100% powered by renewable energy.
In addition the governments must impose laws, rules and regulations, whereby the utility companies must comply with a fair “NET METERING” (the buying of excess generation from the consumer)
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It will take a maximum effort of the private, commercial, industrial and government sectors commitments to renewal energy, in order to achieve our energy independence.

Jay Draiman
Northridge, CA. 91325

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[Tori Meyer]

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