Methanol-Fired Fuel Cell

In 2003, SERC initiated a project with the University of Alaska at Fairbanks to develop a PEM fuel cell system to be used as an off-grid household-scale power system at a site in Alaska.

All previous SERC projects were powered by pure hydrogen, either generated at the point of use using an electrolyzer or purchased from a commercial supplier. For this project, the system's input fuel is methanol, from which hydrogen is derived using an on-site IdaTech FPM-20 reformer. This system design choice was made after considering the availability of different fuels in rural Alaska, their compatibility with hydrogen reformers, and their associated emissions.

The reformer consumes approximately two liters of methanol per hour to produce its rated output of 20 standard liters per minute of hydrogen at greater than 99.9% purity. The fuel cell system produces 1 kW of grid quality AC power. Once the fuel cell system is installed at its test site, its long-term performance will be monitored over a period that will include at least one full winter.

Another way in which this project differs from previous SERC fuel cell systems is the choice of control and monitoring hardware. Instead of using a full-sized desktop computer and monitor, this project incorporates a Compact FieldPoint control and measurement system made by National Instruments, chosen for its compact size and rugged design, ideal for this small-scale field application.

Front view of the methanol-fired fuel cell system

Dennis Witmer, right, Director of UAF's Arctic Energy Technology Development Laboratory , and University of Alaska Fairbanks Chancellor Marshall Lind discuss the newly installed system photo by Eric Engman- Fairbanks Daily News Miner