GEI Administration Control Panel

October 2008

GEI's patented high temperature fuel cell stack design has flow field channel designs optimized for reformed fuels and incorporates a robust manifold design scalable from 2kw-10kw.

This allows a single design for a wide of range of power requirements without re-occurring engineering design cost and provides the scalability necessary for large volume commercialization to reduce manufacturing cost.

High-Temperature PEM (HT-PEM) Fuel Cells (160C) provide a balance between the operating characteristics and cost of LT-PEM fuel cells (80C), and the fuel diversity and fuel impurity tolerance of high temperature solid oxide fuel cells. The primary advantage of HT-PEM fuel cells is their tolerance of CO fuel impurities e.g. < 5% by volume, as compared to 0.02% by volume for LT-PEM fuel cells. As such, low temperature steam reforming (550C-600C) of logistic fuels does not require separate and expensive preferential oxidation reactors and membrane purifiers that increase cost and complexity. For cost sensitive applications requiring logistic fuels, HT-PEM fuel cells significantly reduce fuel processing equipment cost, weight, and size, while providing high-grade heat for combined heat and power (CHP) applications, and increased system efficiencies.

GEI's stationary auxiliary HT-PEM fuel cell power system employing logistic fuels such as natural gas and bio-renewable fuels such as bio-ethane and bio-diesel. HT-PEM fuel cells provide a cost effective pathway for meeting large volume stationary fuel cell commercialization targets. This pathway includes fuel diversity and cost reductions through a focus on innovative systems integration of the fuel processor, HT-PEM fuel cell stack, balance-of-plant, and controls. The solution is also scalable to 10kW stationary HT-PEM fuel cell power systems.