Hillsboro Fire Department unveils fuel cell for backup power

 

Hillsboro Fire Department unveils fuel cell for backup power

Publication Date:03-November-2006
04:30 PM US Eastern Timezone
Source: Kurt Eckert-The Hillsboro Argus
Hoping to be a pioneer player in an energy revolution, the Hillsboro
Fire Department installed a hydrogen fuel cell last week to power its
emergency operations center at the Ronler Fire Station when primary
electricity sources aren't available. The Bonneville Power
Administration, the not-for-profit federal agency that markets about 40
percent of the energy used in the Pacific Northwest, is partnered with
several other agencies in sharing the cost of this demonstration
project, said Mike Weedall, one of BPA's vice presidents.

The project also is sponsored by the city of Hillsboro, the HFD, and
the Oregon Department of Energy.

"Investing in this technology and placing it in a real world
application gives us valuable experience, particularly at a time when
government and industry are working to reduce fossil fuel dependency,"
Weedall said.

Should there be a grid power interruption, the fuel cell will provide
up to 6,000 watts of continuous power to emergency circuits and
lighting in the center.

The ClearEdge Power fuel cell is fueled by commercial grade hydrogen
gas stored in four pressurized cylinders near the cell. With these
cylinders, the operations center can get 25,000 hours of backup power
in case of a primary power interruption. Additional power can be
provided by simply replacing the cylinders.

Hydrogen fuel cells produce electricity directly from the
electrochemical reaction between hydrogen fuel and oxygen in the air.
The fuel cell provides power by chemically converting hydrogen gas and
air into water. The only exhaust from the fuel cell is water vapor and
heat. The heat produced can be harnessed for other uses, Weedall said,
giving fuel cells an energy efficiency of 80-90 percent. In contrast,
only about 30 percent of burned fossil fuels produce energy, he said.

The fuel cell produces direct current, which is turned into standard
alternating current power through an electrical inverter, similar to
solar power systems.

The six-kilowatt fuel cell, being leased for two years from ClearEdge
Power of Hillsboro, can produce enough power for six average homes.

 

lkgeo1 wrote:
...

Fossil fuels also produce heat and when you harness that heat for other
uses the fossil fueled generator can be 80-90 percent efficient as well.
Clearly the author didn't feel that a truthful comparison would work.

Anthony

 



I am no expert but my understanding is you get hydrogen from using DC to
split it from water or heat and pressure to convert natural gas. What is the
point? 6,000 watts of power, that is like two 3,000 Honda generators.  When
the fuel cell efficiency is calculated you need to include producing the
hydrogen. Yes fuel cells work, so why is the BPA, Oregon and Hillsboro
wasting money on using it for emergency power.

 




You're correct, of course.  Hydrogen is NOT an energy source.  It is
an energy transport medium and a particularly poor one at that.

Fossil fuels, nuclear, wind, solar, etc are SOURCES of energy here on
earth (yes, one can argue that all the above except nuclear are
transport media for energy from the sun but let's play along here in
modern times.)  Hydrogen can be made from any of those through means
of varying inefficiency.

Hydrogen is little different than electricity in its transportation of
energy from point A to point B.  Except that electricity is more
efficient, of course.

They're using hydrogen in this instance because they've found a
federal tit to suck on, nothing more, nothing less.  Remove the
federal dollars and the fuel cell just sorta evaporates.

John
---
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
Cleveland, Occupied TN
Don't let your schooling interfere with your education-Mark Twain

 

Tha OP's article says:

"The six-kilowatt fuel cell, being leased for two years from ClearEdge
Power of Hillsboro, can produce enough power for six average homes."

------------

Where?

My water heater uses 4.5kw and my well pump uses 2kw+, so their
zillion-dollar fuel cell makes almost enough juice to take a shower.
And my place is about as average as you can get.