Jun 22 2006
Delphi Corp. has reached an important milestone in bringing solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology to market by 2011, according to the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
A Delphi-led team working jointly with DOE's Office of Fossil Energy has achieved all Phase 1 goals of the Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance (SECA), according to Wayne Surdoval, DOE's SECA program manager.
The Phase 1 test, completed by Delphi in April and validated by the DOE in May, included four key performance and cost goals. The DOE determined that Delphi's SOFC unit met them all:
- Peak Power Performance -- Delphi's SECA demonstration system produced peak power of 4.24 kW on methane, the primary constituent of natural gas, achieving the goal of 3-10 kW.
- Peak Efficiency -- Delphi's system demonstrated a peak efficiency of 37 percent, exceeding the Phase 1 goal of 35 percent.
- Power Degradation -- Delphi's demonstration system matched the durability goal with power degradation of just 7 percent over 1,500 hours of operation.
- Factory Cost -- For factory cost, Delphi also met the Phase 1 goal of $800 per kW for the total power unit, assuming volume production, by achieving an estimated $770 per kW.
- "The Delphi team has passed an important test,” said Surdoval. "In meeting SECA's Phase 1 goals, Delphi has delivered to DOE's National Energy Technologies Laboratory a fully operational, highly compact demonstration system, capable of meeting the space constraints of many potential mobile and stationary power applications. Their leadership at the systems level has greatly advanced this team's progress toward a modular, broadly applicable SOFC power system by 2011.”
Under SECA, Delphi has teamed with science and technology developer Battelle, its Pacific Northwest Division, and the DOE to aggressively reduce the SOFC system's cost, as well as its mass and volume, while increasing its efficiency and durability.
The DOE identified the SOFC as one of the more promising ways to generate electrical power more cleanly and efficiently for a wide variety of stationary and mobile power applications. Coordinated by the DOE, SECA is currently undergoing a 3-phase, 10-year program that began in 2001 to develop the SOFC technology to help reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, while mitigating environmental concerns. SECA's Phase 1 goals called for industry-led development teams to make meaningful progress in achieving cost, performance and durability improvements.
A major challenge is that the technology is difficult to develop, as it is based upon a whole new class of multi-layered ceramic materials. Additionally, the SOFC unit must be powerful and small enough for practical applications – yet durable enough for years of trouble-free operation, as well as cost-effective to manufacture and for customers to buy.
"We're proud of the progress we've made during the past seven years developing this technology and we remain committed to maintaining our leadership in bringing this innovative SOFC technology to the global marketplace,” said Guy Hachey, president, Delphi Powertrain Systems. "We have a fantastic opportunity to make cleaner and more energy-efficient electrical power systems, not only for vehicles and other mobile equipment, but also for stationary power generation.”