Monday, October 31, 2011

Hydrogen to Energy

Success for Korean Plasma Gasification Fuel Cell Demo


27 October 2011

The fuel cell system supplied by Canadian fuel cell company, Ballard Power Systems to Korean plasma gasification firm GS Platech for a waste to energy demonstration facility is now operating successfully to provide power to the local South Korean electricity grid.

GS Platech's pilot plant in Cheongsong is South Korea's first commercial plasma gasification and vitrification system which utilises the GSplatech's proprietary non-transferred plasma torch (200 kW X 2) and plasma cyclonic gasifier technology.

The facility is capable of producing sufficient high purity hydrogen to generate 50 kW power through the Ballard fuel cell stacks - supplied by Dantherm Power, Ballard's backup power systems company.

"This is the first ever demonstration of a waste to energy system incorporating both of these technologies," claims Jesper Themsen, managing director and CEO of Dantherm Power.

GS Platech says that it intends to further promote this solution to new customers worldwide and, to this end, recently hosted tours of the demonstration site in conjunction with the International Solid Waste Association World Congress 2011.

Attendees were shown the potential for this waste to energy system to address two key environmental issues in tandem: environmentally responsible waste treatment; and clean power production.

The project was undertaken as a national research project of the Korean Ministry of Knowledge and Economy with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through the Department of the Environment, under the framework of the Asia-Pacific Partnership on Clean Development and Climate.

1 comment:

John Hall said...

Waste2Tricity welcomes the news of the first successful combination of these technologies. This is great progress for the waste and energy industries, not to mention paving the way for truly commercial applications of new generation alkaline fuel cells. These fuel cells offer significant advantages in terms of electrical efficiency, robustness and cost of manufacture, due to the elimination of platinum and simplicity of maintenance when compared to technologies such as the PEM cell used in this trial.

We’re facing a looming energy gap with or without a second recession and the waste and fuel cell industries have a definite role to play in filling part of that gap for efficient heat, electricity and hydrogen or fuel gases, not to forget environmentally responsible waste treatment.

John Hall, managing director at Waste2Tricity