Bloom Energy lifted the curtain on its products today by opening its website. As a backgrounder, the company was founded by former university professor who had been contracted by NASA to produce hydrogen and oxygen from sunlight and water that the space agency hope to discover in abundance on Mars. KR Sridhar discovered the product was reversible - not only could it produce oxygen and hydrogen, but the fuel cell could be reversed to produce energy.
Deciding this epiphany could be a commercial success, Sridhar has spent the last nine years perfecting the technology with venture capital funding.
A short video explains that the electrolyte of their fuel cell is a ceramic composed of 'beach' sand. The cathode and anode are essentially inked upon the opposite surfaces of the ceramic. High temperature - almost 1500 degrees F hydrocarbon fuel such as natural gas is mixed with steam at the anode. Air, or oxygen, enters through the cathode, and electrons are pulled away from the oxygen in the ceramic or electrolyte, which are collected on the anode. This electrochemical reaction is what generates electricity.
Some of the oxygen crosses the electrolyte to combine with carbon from the natural gas or other hydrocarbon, producing carbon dioxide. Some of the oxygen combines with the hydrogen, producing water. The heat released from the chemical bonding is sufficient to heat the natural gas, and also change the water into steam, producing a continuing reaction as long as there is fuel and oxygen.
Bloom Energy explains this process is much more efficient than a combustion engine. Their data sheet tells that it only produces 773 lbs/MW-hr of CO2 on natural gas. It produces 0.661 MMBtu/hr of natural gas.
Their initial product, the energy server is about the size of parking space and is sufficient to power a 30,000 square foot office building or about 100 residences. Because the process is reversible, it can operate as a storage battery, taking power from the grid, and producing fuel for future consumption. Although it produces carbon dioxide, the gas is very easily collected for carbon sequestration because CO2 is the only byproduct.
Mmm. While not nirvana because of its CO2, it does play into one of the strengths of the U.S. energy resources - natural gas. Convenient carbon sequestration is another feature. Perhaps the hype about Bloom Energy is deserved.
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