Ballard Power Systems Announces Protoype Stationary PEM Fuel Cell Generator

Ballard Power Systems (Canada) announced that its associate company, Ebara Ballard, unveiled an engineering prototype 1kW PEM fuel cell stationary generator for the Japanese residential market. The natural gas-fuelled cogeneration unit is the product of a collaboration involving Ballard Generations Systems, Ebara Ballard, Ebara Corp., and Tokyo Gas.

The unit is comprised of a Ballard fuel cell, a reformer made by Ebara Ballard containing Tokyo Gas technology, and a water tank warmed with heat from the fuel cell. Four prototype units built at Ebara Ballard's plant in Fujisawa, Japan, have been shipped to Tokyo Gas and other in Japan for testing and demonstration.

The prototype generator reached the dc gross electrical efficiency of 42 percent and has a heat recovery efficiency of 43 percent in in-house testing. Ebara Ballard is continuing to work on improving performance and reliability, and to reduce costs.