Tuesday, April 1, 2008 - 10:10 AM

Testing 500 and 1000 Watt Fuel Cell Backup Power Systems at H2 ECOnomy

Arman Danelyan, Hakob Sargsyan, Armen Nikoghosyan, Vahe Vardanyan, Vahe Odabashian, and Agassy Manoukian. H2 ECOnomy

As many industry experts contend and actual developments show, one of the first adopters of the fuel cell technology, where earlier commercialization can be expected, are the market niches of backup/uninterruptible and premium power.  The relatively high per watt price in these areas implies that fuel cells should be able to successfully compete. Moreover, in the initial stages the fuel cells might not need to compete with the incumbent technologies, but rather, complement them, bringing more reliability and runtime. 

With this in mind, H2 ECOnomy, a fuel cell product development company, has embarked on developing, prototyping and testing fuel cell based uninterruptible power supply extenders (UPX). A number of units have been built, and the two most technically viable prototypes of 500 and 1000 Watt nominal power were put to prolonged testing that currently is still in process. Designed as a supplement to the conventional UPS systems, these units incorporate many of H2 ECOnomy’s own creations, including proprietary bipolar plates, fuel cell assembly techniques, air-cooling technology to regulate the thermal loading, original electronics control system and the overall system operation algorithm.

In the initial testing phase the fuel cell stacks were prepared for integration into the UPX system, by conditioning the membrane electrode assemblies and scan-testing to obtain the polarization curves. Simultaneously, the balance of plant components such as compressor, humidifier, purging subsystem, DC-DC converter and control electronics were set up and tested separately, and as a whole.

In the second phase, once the units were assembled, the following test procedures were carried out:

  • Start-up tests, and estimating the time necessary to reach the nominal power;
  • Testing to obtain polarization curves up to the maximal power;
  • System behavior at different loads (power and voltage vs. time in dynamic loading and stand-by regimes);
  • System behavior in load cycles (power and voltage vs. time in constant current and stand-by regimes);
  • Durability testing (power and voltage vs. time);
  • Distribution of cell voltages in the system integrated fuel cell stack.
  • System behavior after a long time of idle period.
  • The article provides the results of these tests.

It is planned to complete the laboratory tests and commence field test in the nearest future. Upon successful completion thereof, the expected time for delivering the first unit is 12 months. Several local customers are already lined up for installing H2 ECOnomy’s 500 and 1000 Watt fuel cell uninterruptible power supply extenders at their premises, with worldwide expansion to follow shortly.


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