Engineering topics

Simons, S. N.

Publications and source records attributed to Simons, S. N..

10 records

NASA NTRS1981

Status of commercial phosphoric acid fuel cell system development

In both the electric utility and onsite integrated energy system applications, reducing cost and increasing reliability are the main technology drivers. The longstanding barrier to the attainment of these goals, which manifests itself in a number of ways, was materials. The differences in approach among the three major participants (United Technologies Corporation, Westinghouse Electric Corporation/Energy Research Corporation, and Engelhard Industries) and their unique technological features, including electrodes, matrices, intercell cooling, bipolar/separator plates, electrolyte management, fuel selection and system design philosophy are discussed.

Warshay, M.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Status of commercial phosphoric acid fuel cell system development

A review of the current commercial phosphoric acid fuel cell system development efforts is presented. In both the electric utility and on-site integrated energy system applications, reducing cost and increasing reliability are important. The barrier to the attainment of these goals has been materials. The differences in approach among the three major participants are their technological features, including electrodes, matrices, intercell cooling, bipolar/separator plates, electrolyte management, fuel selection and system design philosophy.

Warshay, M.↗

NASA NTRS1981

Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell Technology Status

A review of the current phosphoric acid fuel cell system technology development efforts is presented both for multimegawatt systems for electric utility applications and for multikilowatt systems for on-site integrated energy system applications. Improving fuel cell performance, reducing cost, and increasing durability are the technology drivers at this time. Electrodes, matrices, intercell cooling, bipolar/separator plates, electrolyte management, and fuel selection are discussed.

Simons, S. N.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Analysis of a fuel cell on-site integrated energy system for a residential complex

The energy use and costs of the on-site integrated energy system (OS/IES) which provides electric power from an on-site power plant and recovers heat that would normally be rejected to the environment is compared to a conventional system purchasing electricity from a utility and a phosphoric acid fuel cell powered system. The analysis showed that for a 500-unit apartment complex a fuel OS/IES would be about 10% more energy conservative in terms of total coal consumption than a diesel OS/IES system or a conventional system. The fuel cell OS/IES capital costs could be 30 to 55% greater than the diesel OS/IES capital costs for the same life cycle costs. The life cycle cost of a fuel cell OS/IES would be lower than that for a conventional system as long as the cost of electricity is greater than $0.05 to $0.065/kWh. An analysis of several parametric combinations of fuel cell power plant and state-of-art energy recovery systems and annual fuel requirement calculations for four locations were made. It was shown that OS/IES component choices are a major factor in fuel consumption, with the least efficient system using 25% more fuel than the most efficient. Central air conditioning and heat pumps result in minimum fuel consumption while individual air conditioning units increase it, and in general the fuel cell of highest electrical efficiency has the lowest fuel consumption.

Simons, S. N.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Analysis of a fuel cell on-site integrated energy system for a residential complex

Declining supplies of domestic oil and gas and the increased cost of energy resulted in a renewed emphasis in utilizing available resources in the most efficient manner possible. This, in turn, brought about a reassessment of a number of methods for converting fossil fuels to end uses at the highest practical efficiency. One of these is the on-site integrated energy system (OS/IES). This system provides electric power from an on-site power plant and recovers heat from the power plant that would normally be rejected to the environment. An OS/IES is potentially useful in any application that requires both electricity and heat. Several OS/IES are analyzed for a residential complex. The paper is divided into two sections; the first compares three energy supply systems, the second compares various designs for fuel cell OS/IES.

Simons, S. N.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Commercial phosphoric acid fuel cell system technology development

Reducing cost and increasing reliability were the technology drivers in both the electric utility and on-site integrated energy system applications. The longstanding barrier to the attainment of these goals was materials. Differences in approaches and their technological features, including electrodes, matrices, intercell cooling, bipolar/separator plates, electrolyte management, fuel selection, and system design philosophy were discussed.

Prokopius, P. R.↗

NASA NTRS1979

Commercial phosphoric acid fuel cell system technology development

A review of the current commercial phosphoric acid fuel cell system technology development efforts is presented. In both the electric utility and on-site integrated energy system applications, reducing cost and increasing reliability are the technology drivers at this time. The longstanding barrier to the attainment of these goals, which manifests itself in a number of ways, has been materials. The differences in approach among the three major participants (United Technologies Corporation (UTC), Westinghouse Electric Corporation/Energy Research Corporation (ERC), and Engelhard Industries) and their unique technological features, including electrodes, matrices, intercell cooling, bipolar/separator plates, electrolyte management, fuel selection and system design philosophy are discussed.

Prokopius, P. R.↗

NASA NTRS1978

Comparison of fuel-cell and diesel integrated energy systems and a conventional system for a 500-unit apartment

The electrical and thermal energy utilization efficiencies of a 500 unit apartment complex are analyzed and compared for each of three energy supply systems. Two on-site integrated energy systems, one powered by diesel engines and the other by phosphoric-acid fuel cells were compared with a conventional system which uses purchased electricity and on-site boilers for heating. All fuels consumed on-site are clean, synthetic fuels (distillate fuel oil or pipeline quality gas) derived from coal. Purchased electricity was generated from coal at a central station utility. The relative energy consumption and economics of the three systems are analyzed and compared.

Simons, S. N.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Fuel cell on-site integrated energy system parametric analysis of a residential complex

The use of phosphoric acid fuel cell powerplant to provide all the electricity required by an 81-unit garden apartment complex is studied. Byproduct heat is recovered and provides some of the heat required by the complex. The onsite integrated energy system contains energy conversion equipment including combinations of compression and absorption chillers, heat pumps, electric resistance heaters, and thermal storage. The annual fuel requirement for several onsite integrated energy systems as well as the fuel cell breakeven cost for one specific system were calculated. It is found that electrical efficiency cannot be traded off against thermal efficiency without paying a penalty in system efficiency.

Simons, S. N.↗

NASA NTRS1977

Fuel cell on-site integrated energy system parametric analysis of a residential complex

A parametric energy-use analysis was performed for a large apartment complex served by a fuel cell on-site integrated energy system (OS/IES). The variables parameterized include operating characteristics for four phosphoric acid fuel cells, eight OS/IES energy recovery systems, and four climatic locations. The annual fuel consumption for selected parametric combinations are presented and a breakeven economic analysis is presented for one parametric combination. The results show fuel cell electrical efficiency and system component choice have the greatest effect on annual fuel consumption; fuel cell thermal efficiency and geographic location have less of an effect.

Simons, S. N.↗