Fuel cell-fuel cell hybrid system for energy storage
AssigneeFuelCell Energy, Inc.
InventorsPinakin Patel, Ludwig Lipp, Nicholas Pasquale
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An energy storage system for an electrical grid running on a renewable energy source includes a baseload power module, a waste converter module, and a load-following power module. The baseload power module includes a first fuel cell system configured to provide a baseload power to the electrical grid. The waste converter module is configured to extract and store hydrogen from an exhaust stream produced by the first fuel cell system. The load-following power module includes a second fuel cell system configured to receive hydrogen from the waste converter module and convert the hydrogen to electrical energy to support the electrical grid.
Claims15
An energy storage system for an electrical grid running on a renewable energy source comprising:
- a baseload power module having a first fuel cell system configured to provide a baseload power to the electrical grid;
- a waste converter module configured to extract and store hydrogen from an exhaust stream produced by the first fuel cell system, the waste converter module including a waste converter device comprising at least one of an electrochemical hydrogen separator system or an electrochemical hydrogen compression system;
- and
- a load-following power module having a second fuel cell system configured to receive hydrogen from the waste converter module and convert the hydrogen to electrical energy to support the electrical grid;
- wherein the waste converter module is configured to receive excess electricity from the electrical grid;
- and
- wherein the first fuel cell system is configured to receive a waste-derived fuel.
An energy storage system comprising:
- a high-temperature fuel cell system configured to receive a hydrocarbon-based fuel and output an exhaust stream containing hydrogen;
- a waste converter module configured to extract and store the hydrogen contained in the exhaust stream, the waste converter module including a waste converter device comprising at least one of an electrochemical hydrogen separator system or an electrochemical hydrogen compression system;
- and
- a low-temperature fuel cell system configured to receive hydrogen from the waste converter module and convert the received hydrogen to electrical energy;
- wherein the electrical energy produced by the low-temperature fuel cell system is configured to supply power support to ancillary services of an electrical grid.
A method for supporting an electrical grid running on a renewable energy source comprising:
- providing a hydrocarbon-based fuel to a first fuel cell system;
- outputting an exhaust stream produced by the first fuel cell system to a waste converter device;
- electrochemically separating or compressing hydrogen from the exhaust stream by the waste converter device;
- storing the extracted hydrogen in a hydrogen storage device;
- providing the stored hydrogen to a second fuel cell system to produce electrical energy for supporting the electrical grid;
- and
- supplying excess energy produced by the electrical grid running on the renewable energy source to the waste converter device.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.