23
www.convion.fi © CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
www.convion.fi© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
High temperature SOFC fuel cells with biogas in practice
Tuomas HakalaCo-founder, Convion Oy
© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
Convion Oy
© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
BACKGROUND
▪Corporate R&D of Wärtsilä through 2000-2012
▪Convion started in 2013 by 9 founding members
CURRENT STATUS
▪Unique IPR portfolio including 38 patented inventions
▪Focus on mid-range SOFC co-generation solutions
▪First customer delivery in Q2/2017
C50 PRODUCT
▪Power 58kW, heat 30kW
▪>53% (net-AC), >80% total
▪Biogas or natural gas
© CONVION Fuel Cell Technology
What is an SOFC fuel cell ?
▪ A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that directly converts chemical energy of a fuel into electricity and heat
▪ Produces low-voltage DC directly from natural gas or biogas – works with H2 but does not require it.
▪ Key properties
▪ High electrical efficiency
▪ Low emissions
▪ Fuel flexible
▪ Scalable from mW to MW
May 7, 2018
References
Convion Fuel Cells Public
▪ Several validated 20 – 60 kW systems▪ Natural gas, landfill gas, methanol and AD biogas
WFC20 20kWeα-PrototypeNGηe 41%
WFC20NewEnergyLand fill gas ηe > 49 %
WFC20MethapuMethanol ηe > 43 %
WFC50 50kWeLaboratory units NG, Biogas ηe ~47 %
Convion C5050kW, NG, Biogas
Validation 2015
X00 concept 175 kWe, Biogasηe > 53 %2016
© CONVION 7-May-18© CONVION May 7, 2018
© CONVION
May 7, 2018Smart grid renewal by micro grids
Increasing need forflexibility
Central generation as a back-bone
Co-locating CHP-generation and high
local loads
Increasing need for
power reliability and
quality
Organic waste as a
dependable source of
energy
© CONVION
Potential fuel cell applications
▪ Energy efficiency with distributed CHP
▪ Commercial buildings, small industries
▪ Continuous onsite power generation
▪ Power security and energy independence
▪ Grid parallel, islanding capable micro
grids
▪ Direct biogas utilization
▪ Sustainable biogas from waste
▪ Avoiding logistic costs and auxiliary
systems’ costs associated to gas
upgradingMay 7, 2018
Photo courtecy of Photographic Archives SMAT
• SOFC has the highest electrical efficiency of all technologies, independent of scale.
• Exhaust gas temperature is well suited for domestic heating and hot water production.
• Power-to-heat generation ratio matches well with thermal loads of modern buildings
Competitive performance of SOFC in distributed CHP
© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
© CONVION Biogas and circular economyMay 7, 2018
• Waste streams are a distributed resource.
• SOFC makes possible high efficiency electrification of biogas locally in small scale.
• Matching of thermal output of co-generationwith local loads maximizestotal efficiency.
• Distributed architecture is resilient and scalable.
© CONVION The case for SOFC CHP in medium scale WWTP’sMay 7, 2018
21 966
12 395
26 727
19 968
36 944
29 727
35 045
46 476
28 813
EU IT DE FR UK ES FI NL PL
Ave
rage
en
teri
ng
load
[P
E]
Country
Number of plants Entering load (PE)
0 -10 kPE10 -100 kPE100 -500 kPE>500 kPE
15l biogas/PE/day ▪ 0-10kPE 0 - 3.8 m3 CH4/h▪ 10-100kPE 3.8-38 m3 CH4/h ▪ 100-500kPE 38 – 188 m3 CH4/h▪ >500kPE >188 m3 CH4/h
▪ Vast majority of the waste water treatment facilities are in the small and medium size categories
▪ Majority of the waste water load treated at the small & medium sized facilities
© CONVION
Industrial scale demonstration of Biogas fueled SOFC CHP
Photo courtesy of Photographic Archives SMAT
DEMOSOFC site in Europe
© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
SMAT Collegno
CH4 %-mol
CO2 %-mol
O2 %-mol
CO %-mol
Total S (as H2S) mg/m3
Total siloxanesmg/m3
D5 mg/m3
D4 mg/m3
L5 mg/m3
L3 mg/m3
Relhum %
Mean 63.9 33.3 0.1 1.41 28 14.4 11 2.46 0.82 0.36 65Min 62 30.2 0 0.2 24 0.8 0.8 0.07 0.17 0.08 48Max 66 38 0.3 3.1 36 43.8 33.2 8.1 1.92 0.63 72
Raw gas at Collegno
© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
Tolerable fuel gas contaminant level - Sulphur < 30ppb i.e. <0.04 mg(S)/m3;
- Siloxanes < 0.06 mg(Si)/m3;
- Halogens <0.01 mg/m3
© CONVION May 7, 2018
• Experimental sulfur and siloxane removal system in Collegno
• Electrical islanding of the SOFC’s was successfully verified. SOFC’s together with a UPS can flexibly secure critical loads on-site.
Resiliency
© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
Commissioning of the DEMOSOFC
© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
>1000 h of testing in Espoo Truck transport
Unloaded in Collegno Ready for final commissioning
© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
SOFC systems are not just for baseload
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Po
we
r
Time
Dissipativebuffer
From grid
Load
SOFCSecured loads
Non-critical loads
Island mode
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
0 20 40 60 80 100
Net
AC
eff
icie
ncy
%
Power %
Normal modulation
range
▪ In grid-tied mode, SOFC can be modulated from 100% to 50% with little compromise in efficiency.
▪ During a grid outage, SOFC system with built-in dissipative means can form an intentionally islanding grid and supply dynamic loads with power.
Island mode
modulation range
© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
▪ Low local emissions, noise level < 70dB, no vibrations
Emissions of an SOFC system
Sources1. 30 kW CNG turbine, http://www.greencarcongress.com/2010/12/c30-20101227.html2. Tier 4 emission standard for 56-130 kW compression-ignition (diesel) engines, EPA Title 40: Protection of Environment, Part 10393. EU Stage V standard for all engine types, 56-130 kW, DieselNet - EU standards, Nonroad Engines
▪ NOTE! Convion fuel cell CO, NOx and VOC emissions are measurement determination limits actual emissions are lower (or equal); measured PM at exhaust was 0.0002g/kWh which was below ambient air PM level at measurement location; EPA and turbine reference VOC emissions include non-methane hydrocarbons only, Convion FC figure includes also methane.
© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
Particulate emission measurements by VTT - C50 unit’s exhaust gas vs. ambient air
© CONVION Measured vs. simulated efficiencyMay 7, 2018
• Net eff at WWTP measured from steady state operation is consistent with results at laboratory conditions and simulations
• Stacks with longest operational history are now beyond the 8000h mark.
• Difference between laboratory and WWTP efficiency is a result of cabinet heating and modest voltage degradation, affected by a rather high amount of thermocycles in the testing
© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
• Demand driven, thermally matched biogas co-generation power plants to provide flexibility to the generating mix
• Biogas CHP + carbon capture
• Clean exhaust of a SOFC system can be used as CO2 fertilization to green houses.
• Fuel cell is a gas separator – carbon capture and storage is more practical with SOFC exhaust than with combustion exhaust
• Reversible SOC’s can turn gas-to-power or power-to-gas depending on needs.
Future possibilities
• The SOFC technology for biogas co-generation is ready and available for demonstrations.
• Fuel cells are an enabling technology for a transition from centralized toward de-centralized infrastructure in energy, water & waste services.
• Small and medium scale SOFC co-generation systems make possible exploitation of smaller biogas sources, vastly extending the resource base for biogas electricity.
• High efficiency and availability of SOFC’s generate up to two times more electrical energy annually from a given amount of biogas as compared to conventional generators energy autonomy
Conclusions
© CONVION May 7, 2018 Convion Fuel Cells Public
© CONVION
Thank You!
May 7, 2018
Fore more information, please contact Tuomas Hakala, [email protected]
The DEMOSOFC project has received funding from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking under grant agreement No 671470. Other partners of the project are SMAT, POLITO, VTT, and Imperial College of London
