Panasonic begins demonstration using heat from pure hydrogen fuel cell generators as a heat source for an absorption chiller

This depicts a solution for integrated heat utilisation exploring new possibilities for using heat to achieve a carbon-free society. The experiment will be performed in the H2 KIBOU FIELD facility, which uses renewable energy to supply the electric power required for production in the fuel cell factory.

Panasonic Corporation has started a demonstration experiment to utilize heat produced during power generation using pure hydrogen fuel cell generators as a heat source for an absorption chiller (air conditioning equipment).

Up to this point, there has been a gap of 20°C between the heat that can be recovered from pure hydrogen fuel cell generators (maximum of 60°C) and the heat source temperature required for the operation of absorption chillers (minimum of 80°C). This made it difficult to utilize heat produced by pure hydrogen fuel cell generators during power generation as a heat source for absorption chillers. This time, improvements have been made to both of the previous pure hydrogen fuel cell generator and absorption chiller. The new fuel cell generator produces heat at a temperature of 70°C, which can be used as a heat source for the new absorption chiller for operation, improving the temperature gap by 10°C each. This has enabled a new solution for the linked use of heat at 70°C by connecting the new fuel cell generator and air conditioning equipment. In the H2 KIBOU FIELD facility, ten pure hydrogen fuel cell generators with improved hot water output temperature will be installed, along with one newly developed absorption chiller that can utilize low-temperature waste heat. Such equipment will be used for cooling and heating the facility’s administration building as the demonstration experiment of a new scheme to utilize heat. Throughout the demonstration experiment, Panasonic aims to improve energy efficiency through fuel cell cogeneration (combined heat and electric power supply) and reduce power consumption in cooling and heating equipment, thereby verifying the marketability and effectiveness of this integrated heat utilization solution.

The H2 KIBOU FIELD facility at Panasonic’s Kusatsu Site uses 99 units of 5 kW-type pure hydrogen fuel cell generators, photovoltaic generators with an output of approximately 570 kW, and storage batteries with a storage capacity of approximately 1.1 MWh. These three types of systems are highly integrated and controlled to generate electric power for the fuel cell factory through in-house power generation using renewable energy.