Fuel Cells Could Save USAF Money

January 03, 2006

Pentagon Brief Ten new five-kilowatt Fuel Cells in operation at Robins Air Force Base (Georgia) could save the Air Force thousands of dollars in energy costs.

The Fuel Cells, located at the base ground water treatment plant, have been operating since early October. Base officials unveiled the new alternative fuel source on December 1.

The cells, which re-form propane gas and extract hydrogen to produce electricity, are part of Robins' Fuel Cell Micro-grid project, known as the Common Core Power Production, or C2P2, program.

This is part of a year-long Department of Defense and Air Force program to seek alternative, environmentally-sound fuel sources for troops in deployed locations and backup power sources for stateside bases.

The manufacturer Plug Power Inc. of New York is working with LOGANEnergy^® Corp. of Atlanta and the Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center and others on the project.

"Over the next year, they will be supplying 275,000 kilowatt hours of electricity to Robins," said Roy Case, senior project engineer with the 542nd Combat Sustainment Wing's advanced power technology office. "The electricity will go into Robins' power grid and save on the use of fossil fuel. This may be something we could use in BEAR (basic expeditionary airfield resources) base locations," he said.

Mr. Case said the units have performed well in the short time they have been in use.

"In the first six weeks, they had a few software and hardware glitches," he said. "As of last week, though, all 10 were operational and producing power."

In addition to using propane as an alternative energy source, the Fuel Cells can also re-form jet fuel, natural gas and any fuel source that contains hydrogen, even water, into power sources. This is a method that may prove more convenient for servicemembers already carrying jet fuel to power the mission, Advanced Power Technology Office (APTO) chief Mike Mead said.

"It is critical to our mission to explore and compare Fuel Cell systems with our existing power sources to remain efficient, cost effective and environmentally focused," Mr. Mead said. "This is a great opportunity for the U.S. military to partner with Plug Power to evaluate a new product before the commercial product release.

"This demonstration will assist APTO in increasing the war fighters' capabilities, support the Air Force environmental policy and reduce the dependency on foreign oil sources," he said.

Robert David, the office's subject matter expert engineer, said savings go far beyond fuel costs.

"One of the neat things about this project is that this technology is quiet," he said. "When these devices are running, they make about as much noise as a quiet dishwasher. That's one of the environmental benefits of the technology."

The fuel source has the potential to provide troops a reliable, environmentally-friendly way to power deployed locations Phil Manning said. He is the 78th Civil Engineer Group's environmental management division's base environmental engineer and project manager for the groundwater treatment plant.

"The groundwater treatment plant is a state-of-the-art facility," he said. "It serves as an appropriate backdrop for this innovative technology."

The more than $900,000 congressionally funded project may be used at other military bases and in "tent cities" in deployed locations, if proven successful in its test location, Mr. Mead said.

Mr. Case said once the project is complete, the group's environmental management division plans to keep some Fuel Cells. This is so Air Force environmental engineers can use them to determine what they want to propose for the next generation back up power when building new facilities.

At the end of the program, APTO will receive a final report on the unit data retrieved by Plug Power. Then the base will return the Fuel Cell systems to the company for destructive testing and autopsy to determine what configuration of the 10 systems worked best.

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