EMPOWER, a new EU research project seeking to develop, manufacture and deploy mini methanol-fuelled combined heat and power plants using fuel cell technology recently held its kick-off meeting in Espoo, Finland.
Coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland in collaboration with four other partners, EMPOWER (European methanol powered fuel cell CHP), is being funded with EUR 1.5 million from the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Undertaking (FCH JU) programme (grant agreement no. 875081).
The FCH JU receives support from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme, Hydrogen Europe and Hydrogen Europe research.
Develop, manufacture, and deploy mini-CHP
The EMPOWER project will develop, manufacture and validate a 5 kW methanol-fueled combined heat and power (CHP) system based on high-temperature Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel cell (HTPEM) technology.
The project will enhance the system efficiency to target the mini-CHP market and provide a cost-competitive and low carbon option.
The developed CHP unit will be capable of fast start-up and fast dynamic response to help the integration of intermittent power production from renewable energy sources. The developed system will be validated and demonstrated for six months at the site of an end-user.
Specifically, the project aims to:
- Improve system efficiency above 50 percent with novel ideas of thermal integration;
- Develop an aqueous phase reformer for methanol pre-reforming for the first time in a commercial HTPEM fuel cell system;
- Increase stack efficiency above 55 percent and fuel utilization above 95 percent;
- Validate the developed system in a relevant environment for a minimum of 2 000 hours over 6 months;
- Plan a scale-up of the system to 50-100 kW;
- Develop a business plan including all relevant elements of the methanol fuel cell value chain
Target customers include end-users from the industrial, construction and defence segment.
Widely available fuel
Methanol is a liquid fuel, which can be stored in a cost-effective way by using existing non-pressurized tank systems and is easily distributed through the existing infrastructure of road tanker trucks and refuelling stations.
Advantages of using methanol in an efficient high-temperature PEM fuel cell CHP system include reduced greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, cost-effective and high-density on-site energy storage, noise reduction, and low levelized cost of energy.
Methanol produced from renewable sources reduces carbon dioxide emissions by up to 95 percent and eliminates nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulphur oxides (SOx), and particulate matter (PM) emissions. Reducing emissions is essential in combating climate change and improving public health through improved air quality.
Renewable methanol can be manufactured from a variety of widely available feedstock such as synthesis gas from biomass, agricultural and wood waste, solid municipal waste (MSW), and recycled carbon dioxide (CO2) combined with renewable hydrogen.
Manufacturing renewable methanol from locally sourced feedstock supports sector coupling and reduces national dependence of imported fossil fuels.
Apart from VTT, project partner consortium includes automotive methanol fuel cell (MFC) systems developer Blue World Technologies ApS (Denmark), catalytic systems and process designer Catator AB (Sweden), Universidade do Porto, Chemical Engineering Department (Portugal), and industrial automation solutions provider THT Control Oy (Finland).
