Global perspectives: Fuel cell testing in U.K.

qinsdau

By Cris Whetton

U.K.-based alkaline fuel cell producer AFC Energy inked a partnership deal with Akzo Nobel, a major international chemicals company and the fourth largest chlor-alkali producer in Europe.

“The Chlor-Alkali industry is energy intensive, so improving energy efficiency is a top priority to keep the processes sustainable,” said Knut Schwalenberg, general manager Chlor-Alkali of Akzo Nobel. “Huge amounts of hydrogen are produced in the electrolysis process as by-product of chlorine and caustic lye. The immediate conversion of this is hydrogen into electricity, based on locally installed fuel cells, and the use of this electricity back in the electrolysis process would create an ideal loop. Akzo Nobel regards the technology of AFC Energy as promising, and we are looking forward to the results of the cooperation.”

Akzo Nobel will test AFC Energy’s low cost hydrogen fuel cell technology at its Bitterfeld site in Germany to generate clean energy from the substantial quantity of hydrogen that is currently produced as by-product at chlorine production plants. The economic feasibility of larger units to convert hydrogen from an electrolysis process to electricity and useful heat will undergo evaluation.

AFC Energy also entered into an agreement with Waste2Tricity Ltd (W2T) to supply its fuel cells to W2T for integration into its system for the conversion of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) to energy. In conjunction with leading waste management and treatment companies, W2T is setting out to combine AFC Energy’s new generation alkaline fuel cells with proven technologies including plasma gasification with the aim of providing the most efficient technology for the conversion of MSW into electricity. Within the next six months, W2T hopes to fund and commence the construction of a pilot plant with a 50,000-metric-ton capacity with the aim of commencing operation in three years. The first stage will use internal combustion engines to generate electricity, while the second stage should generate sufficient hydrogen to use up to 12MW of AFC’s fuel cells, depending upon successful demonstration.

Meanwhile, Finland’s Wärtsilä Corp. won contracts from three Brazilian independent power producers to provide conversions for their generating stations. The conversions will enable them to attain fuel flexibility and switch from heavy fuel oil (HFO) to gas operation. The combined value of the three contracts is over $63 million (€48 million). These combined plant conversions are the biggest project of its kind ever undertaken by Wärtsilä Services. The converted plants should be fully operational in October 2010.

In addition to the engine conversions, the scope of the contracts include the installation of the main gas fuel system equipment and the gas compressor units, and the modification of the control and electrical systems. The electrical output from the plants will remain the same whether they run on HFO or gas. Furthermore, the fuel sharing system allows the engines to run on gas and liquid fuel in different proportions. This will optimize the operation of the plants according to the availability of the fuels.

The three customers—Geradora de Energia do Amazonas S/A, Companhia Energética Manauara, and Rio Amazonas Energia SA (a part of MULTINER S/A)—all have power plants in Manaus, Brazil. Wärtsilä delivered all three plants in 2006, with each of them designed to facilitate later conversion.

Wärtsilä earned a contract to supply a 100 MW power plant to go in Ewekoro, about 45 miles (70 km) from Lagos, Nigeria, for Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria plc, a manufacturer and marketer of cement. The company is a subsidiary of Lafarge SA of France.

Wärtsilä has also received its first power plant order from Uruguay: a contract to supply equipment and engineering for a new 80 MW baseload power plant for the UTE electrical utility. The value of the order is approximately $45.9 million (€35 million). The UTE plant will supply electricity to the national grid. The plant will be within the existing Central Batlle power plant complex in the capital, Montevideo.