The Chlorine industry produces vast quantities of hydrogen as a by-product. In many cases, this hydrogen is not fully utilized. Nedstack PEM fuel cells offer an excellent opportunity to maximize the energy recovery from this hydrogen, yielding a saving of up to 20% on the electricity consumption of the chlorine plant. In addition, the heat from the fuel cells can be reused in the process, adding even more savings on energy consumption.
There are other systems in use to create energy from process hydrogen in chlor-alkali plants. Nedstack FC compares favourably against these, resulting in higher energy recovery from hydrogen. The table below compares our PEM Power Plant against two other fuel cell options (Alkaline and Solid Oxide fuel cells, or AFC and SOFC), a boiler system and internal combustion engines (ICE).
PEM power plants reach an electric system efficiency of around 50%. To put this in perspective: gas engines can reach 44% electric efficiency at their optimal point of operation, but show a sharp decrease in efficiency at part load.
Chlorine and caustic soda production, and sodium chlorate factories are energy intensive industries that produce significant quantities of hydrogen as a by-product. Reusing by-product hydrogen to generate electricity can cut their electricity bill by up to 20%. Given the large amounts of energy consumed by these industries these savings can go a long way towards meeting environmental and energy conservations goals.
High reliability and durability
Whereas Alkaline fuel cells (AFC) are extremely sensitive to carbon dioxide poisoning, which leads to rapid degradation of their performance, Nedstack PEM fuel cells are highly reliable and withstand the demands of an industrial environment. The lifetime of our stacks in industrial conditions has proven to exceed 10,000 hours. The current generation of stacks installed in a power plant has been in operation for 11,000hrs. The degradation levels measured so far indicate an economic stack life of over 20,000hrs.
Low maintenance frequency/costs
PEM fuel cells require no maintenance. Nedstack fuel cells can be equipped with a cell voltage monitoring (CVM) system, which allows an operator to remotely check the stack status in detail. Surprises are avoided. In the rare event that a stack needs to be replaced prematurely, the operator will know beforehand. Even the Balance of Plant (BOP) systems need very little maintenance: a regular inspection is sufficient.
No emissions
Combustion engines can be used to generate electricity from by-product hydrogen. However, because these engines operate at high temperature, nitrogen oxides are formed that have to be removed by an exhaust catalyst. At the same time, the efficiency of such an engine is generally lower than that of a fuel cell, especially at partial loads. Fuel cell technology will only generate heat and ultrapure water as by-products. Both can often be reused in the production process.
Low initial investment
Next to unfamiliarity, there is one other aspect slowing down the uptake of fuel cell systems: they still require a higher initial investment (CapEx) than internal combustion engines (ICE) and batteries. At Nedstack, we are working hard to further decrease the cost levels. In time, fuel cell stacks will become economically competitive from the start.
Low total cost of ownership
Despite their higher CapEx, material handling systems with Nedstack fuel cell stacks already offer a lower cost of ownership than other options. Nedstack fuel cells enable the Chlorine industry to reliably and efficiently convert their surplus hydrogen into electricity. In this way, they reduce their dependence on external electricity and lower their electricity bill by as much as 20%. Thanks to Nedstack’s PEM Power Plant, this can be achieved without adding operational complexity.
Contact Us
+31 (0)26 319 7600
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
P.O. box 5167 6802 ED ARNHEM The Netherlands
Nedstack: world class in PEM Power Plants
Nedstack’s origins lie with PEM Power Plants. Since early 2007, Nedstack has built extensive operating experience with power plants. Our 70 kW pilot Power Plant for AkzoNobel has been such a success that Solvay requested Nedstack to provide a 1 MW Power Plant , in operation since September 2011.
