From the Mines Newsroom: Fuel cell researchers at Colorado School of Mines have been awarded $7.7 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) to develop and test a full-scale hybrid stationary power system that could provide highly efficient electricity to hospitals, supermarkets, large retailers and more.
“We’re targeting the highest electric efficiency ever for something that’s powered by a fossil fuel – the world’s first 70 percent efficient natural-gas fueled power generation system,” said Robert Braun, professor of mechanical engineering and principal investigator on the ARPA-E project. “It’s natural gas, but it’s clean and there are very few emissions other than carbon dioxide.”
The system, which was developed by Braun’s team at Mines, integrates pressurized solid oxide fuel cells with a highly efficient stationary engine fueled by pipeline natural gas – a combination that both increases the efficiency and lowers the cost of power generation. Read more in the Mines Newsroom »
High-efficiency, hybrid fuel cell-engine demonstration system (Courtesy of Shane Garland, CSU)