N. M. Josefik, M.J. Binder, W.R. Taylor, and F.H. Holcomb (USA)
DoD, CERL, ONSI, PAFC
The U.S. Department of Defense has been operating a fleet of 200 kW Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell power plants at 30 sites in the U.S. Eleven power plants began operation in 1995, the remaining nineteen power plants were installed in 1997. The fleet has logged more than 775,000 operating hours. Several individual power plants have more than 30,000 operating hours and have started consideration for end-of-life types of issues: degradation rate, estimation of economic end-of-life, replacement removal options, etc. Fleet-wide performance data, including system efficiency, availability, and outages, are presented. An analysis has been performed of cell stack voltage degradation, and subsequently used for an assessment of life expectancy of operating fuel cell power plants. End-of-life issues facing Department of Defense facility managers are discussed.
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