MCFC at Michelin

For the first time anywhere in the world, process heat for industrial manufacture is being generated using a molten carbonate fuel cell at the Michelin tyre plant in Karlsruhe. After a test phase spanning almost a year, the fuel cell has proved very reliable. In the long-term, this technology will make a significant contribution to an environmentally-friendly, decentralised energy supply.

All participating partners gained considerably from their experiences with the MCFC fuel cell in the real-life production environment of the first year; strengths and weaknesses started to crystallize.

The fact that the plant was in operation for 98 % of the time was received especially well. Contrary to expectations, the activated carbon filters, however, had to be changed frequently. The definitive reason for this has not yet been established. It may have had something to do with the intermittent marking of the natural gas with odorous substances i.e. so-called odorisation. Furthermore, malfunctions and software errors of the external gas supply were identified and rectified by the manufacturer of the MCFC, MTU. Following optimisation of gas quantity measuring in October 2003, electrical efficiency of 46.7 % was achieved.

More information: www.mtu-online.com/cfc/de/cfcs/cfcs.htm