Power Generation - Hydrogen and Fuel Cells: Advances in Transportation and Power - page 178

During the 1970s and early 1980s, the Federal program included
the development of the phosphoric acid fuel cell system. This was con-
sidered the first generation of modern-day fuel cells. Largely because
of the support provided by the Federal program, United Technologies
Corporation and its subsidiaries manufactured and sold phosphoric acid
fuel cells throughout the world.
In the late 1980s, the DOE shifted to the development of advanced
higher temperature fuel cell technologies, especially molten carbonate
and solid oxide fuel cell systems. Federal funding for these technologies
resulted in private commercial manufacturing facilities and commercial
sales.
While first generation fuel cells continued to be of interest, the pres-
ent goal of the DOE's Fossil Energy fuel cell program is to develop low
cost fuel cells. The target cost is $400 per kilowatt or less, which is sig-
nificantly lower than today's fuel cell products. It is expected that lower
cost fuel cells will result in more widespread utilization.
Fuel cells are not being installed in more applications because of
their cost. The fuel cells used in the space program were extremely ex-
pensive at $600,000/kW and impractical for most power applications.
But, over the decades, significant efforts have made them more practical
and affordable.
Fuel cells can cost about $4,000 per kilowatt, but a gas or diesel
generator is $800 to $1,500 per kilowatt, and a natural gas turbine may
be even less. A modern gas turbine such as General Electric's 7H turbine
is a 40-foot-long, 400,000-pound unit that runs on natural gas. It pro-
duces 50% more power than the earlier 7FA with lower NO x and CO 2
emissions. Conventional gas turbines use air for cooling, but the 7H uses
steam at 700°F. The steam absorbs heat better than air which allows a
higher peak operating temperature without increasing the temperature
in the combustor, where most the unit's greenhouse gases are produced.
Two 7H turbines are to be used in a plant at Riverside, California, where
they will provide 775-MW to power about 600,000 homes.
The U.S. Department of Energy has a major program in the Solid
State Energy Conversion Alliance to bring about dramatic reductions in
fuel cell costs. The goal to cut costs to $400 per kilowatt by the year 2010
would make fuel cells competitive for most power applications. The ob-
jective is to develop a modular, all-solid-state fuel cell that can be mass-
produced for different products in the same way as electronic compo-
nents are made.