Gas to electricity, clean and simple.

In 2005, Anaheim Public Utilities was awarded a $200,000 grant as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Climate Change Fuel Cell Buydown Program to install and evaluate a new fuel cell generator — a device that converts hydrogen-rich fuels, such as natural gas, directly into electricity through a chemical reaction. Anaheim Public Utilities chose to purchase and install the UTC PC25, the only fuel cell that was determined to be beyond beta testing and commercially available to purchase.

Pioneering technology in Anaheim

The installation was the first of its kind by Anaheim Public Utilities, and is located at the East Anaheim Police Department and Community Center. Anaheim worked with UTC, maker of the UTC PC25 fuel cell, to ensure that the fuel cell would provide maximum benefit to the community while operating safely and reliably.

Zero air pollution

Because fuel cells do not require fuel combustion, air pollutants that are normally associated with electric power generation are virtually eliminated. Anaheim’s fuel cell is designed to deliver approximately 1.5 million kilowatt-hours of electricity per year to the Police/Community Center facility. As an additional benefit, excess heat, a byproduct of fuel cell technology, will be captured and used to heat the facility. The unit is expected to operate continuously with only annual planned outages for maintenance.

A self-contained system

The fuel cell system is designed to be self-contained and uses most of the heat and water it produces in the power generation process. To accomplish this, the fuel cell system is designed with an on-board water treatment subsystem. The water produced in the generation process is treated in the system before it is recycled back into the fuel cell. If there is not enough recycled water available for the reforming process and the on-site potable water does not meet the specifications of the water used in the fuel cell, an external reverse-osmosis water treatment system is required to provide makeup water for the fuel cell. In the case of this particular project, an R/O unit was required as part of the design.

A global solution

There are more than 2,100 fuel cells operating throughout the world today, most of which are pre-commercial units. There are several different types, named by the type of electrolyte they use—phosphoric acid, proton exchange membrane (PEM), solid oxide (SOFC), molten carbonate (MCFC), and alkaline. First costs are still high for fuel cells ($4,000/kW at a minimum), and only a limited number of fuel cell products are commercially available.