Feb 18 2011
UTC Power announced, at the Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Energy Conference for 2011 held at Washington, D.C., that its PureCell Model 400 System fleet, a stationary fuel cell, has completed 100,000 hours of field operation, which is a major milestone in the history of United Technologies Corp.
The PureCell® Model 200, UTC Power’s earlier stationary fleet has operating hours estimated at more than 9.4 million.
More than 3,000 homes have been powered by UTC Power’s next-gen fleet, which uses an electrochemical process to combine oxygen and hydrogen and produces water, heat and electricity. Today, PureCell Model 400 System fleet is one of the highly energy-efficient, quiet and clean power-generating solutions available worldwide.
PureCell® Model 400 System
With an assured electrical power supply of 400 kW, the fuel cell produces heat worth 1.7 million Btu/hour, achieving a 90% percent total system efficiency in combined heat and power applications, thereby reducing emission with lower energy costs for customers.
Unlike other commercially available fuel cell technologies, the PureCellSystem is three to four times more durable and comes with an unparalleled stack life of 10 years. UTC Power’s general counsel and vice president of government affairs, Mike Brown, stated that fuel cells are vital to the energy independence roadmap since they provide clean, efficient and continuous base-load energy for buildings.
An architecture and development firm, Becker + Becker had previously purchased two PureCell Model 400 Systems. One generates thermal energy and power at a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Silver-certified, 500-unit residential building, “The Octagon” on Roosevelt Island, New York, while the other is installed at yet another LEED Platinum-certified 500-unit project, “360 State Street” at New Haven, Connecticut.
Since its first Model, 400 in late 2009, UTC Power has installed several stationary fuel cells at locations in South Korea, Wisconsin, New York, Connecticut and California. Recently, UTC Power upgraded its South Windsor production facility, which features the latest testing stations, rail and turntable assembly and fuel cell fabrication robotics.