Fuel cell to provide 'permanent premium power' for German computer centre
13-FEB-2007
A 'HotModule' fuel cell-based power generation and cooling system from CFC Solutions GmbH will soon be ensuring reliable operation of the servers in a T-Systems computer centre in Munich, Germany. The company received the order from Munich-based PASM Power and Air Condition Solution Management GmbH & Co. KG, a subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG, which is responsible for procurement of all the energy needs of Deutsche.
The 250 kW fuel cell and absorption refrigeration system represent a package solution that will supply electrical energy and cooling capacity for a server suite, which is a self-contained part of the computer centre located in Munich's Euroindustriepark area.
Deutsche Telekom acquired its initial experience with HotModule technology with an installation in a telecommunications facility. Now its objective is to test the fuel cell system in a computer centre application in preparation for utilizing the potential of the technology on a broad scale. The new HotModule will be put into service in the early summer of this year. The project is being supported by funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.
The installation combines two approaches to resource conservation, says MTU. First, utilization of the cogeneration principle yields significantly lower consumption of primary energy than with a conventional solution. Second, biogas produced from energy crops grown in the countryside around Munich is used indirectly as the fuel.
To achieve CO2-neutral operation, Power & Air Solutions purchases suitable quantities of biogas from Schmack Biogas, thus ensuring that the corresponding amount of biofuel is produced in the biogas plant in Pliening. The biogas, which has a methane content of 96%, is fed into the natural gas distribution system after passing through a cleaning process, and the HotModule draws its fuel from the natural gas distribution network – it's a 'virtual' utilization of biogas.
Meanwhile, the absorption chiller system uses 'waste' heat from the molten carbonate fuel cell, provided in the form of exhaust air at a temperature of more than 400°C, to perform its heat-to-cold conversion system. And CFC's 'Permanent Premium Power principle (P3)' system, reverses the more usual uninterruptible power approach, says the company. Instead of drawing electricity from the mains grid and keeping standby generators in reserve, the HotModule system provides a permanent supply of electrical (and thermal) energy, even in the event of failure of the public electrical grid.
MTU CFC Solutions GmbH changed its name to CFC Solutions GmbH with effect from the beginning of 2007. On 1 January, Tognum GmbH acquired from RWE Fuel Cells GmbH its 18.1% minority interest in the joint venture MTU CFC Solutions GmbH, which had previously belonged to the two companies. Under its new name, CFC Solutions GmbH will continue to focus on the development of fuel cell technology for power and heat cogeneration.
-- 2 February 07
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