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Fuel Cell Essay

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Currently Cogen units are starting to be used more commercially, and fuel cells are even being used residentially. One example of this is when AG Construction Services recently completed the installation of multiple Cogen units in various locations, including the historic Lafayette hotel in San Diego, and at an independent living facility also in San Diego. Further, the company is in talks about an additional multi-unit installation starting in a phoenix, Arizona, apartment complex. I helped install a unit at the historic Lafayette Hotel in San Diego after uninstalling their previous green energy source. The previous source of green energy was eight hydrogen fuel cells, which also used natural gas as a fuel source. They worked in a similar …show more content…

Installing the Cogen was more difficult than the uninstallation process of the fuel cells, partly because each of the eight fuel cells were smaller than the Co-Gen unit. To get the Cogen into the room, which is in an underground parking structure, the door and part of the wall had to be cut out, and the opening widened. Once the unit was in the room, and secured to the floor through anchor bolts, we ran a new fuel supply line to the unit, and hooked it up to the existing coolant loop. After running various tests, it was discovered that the unit was not receiving enough fuel, so to fix this we ran a larger diameter gas line at a higher pressure directly to the unit from a separate medium-pressure meter that was installed by San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E). The Fuel cells and Cogen create the same amount of electricity at full capacity, but the Cogen creates more heat and was not able to run during its first summer after installation because the pool that absorbs the heat through the coolant loop would get to warm and un-enjoyable to the guests. To fix this problem I helped AG Construction Services research a suitable cooling device, since I was working with them at the time, that would keep the unit at the correct operating temperature independent of the pool cooling loop. On another site at a senior independent living facility that will be using the Cogen unit in conjunction with solar, the Co-Gen will be heating up the domestic

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