Heavy duty trucks
Long haul heavy duty trucks often require electricity when the engine is not running. Today, diesel engines are kept idling to produce electricity for cooling of goods and the truck’s hotel load such as air conditioning, coffee maker or television.
The higher efficiency of solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) will lead to an annual saving of 4,600 liters of diesel and 15 tons of CO2 emission for a typical class 8 truck travelling interstate in the USA.
Leisure applications
An SOFC based power generator is a quiet and efficient alternative to traditional diesel gensets when people are camping in a mobile home or sailing a yacht.
The SOFC based power generator might also be used in combination with batteries.
Marine applications
Power systems based on SOFC technology offer significant advantages in marine outfitting.
A ship in port will be emission compliant when using SOFC technology for power generation:
- the exhaust is virtually NOx and SOx free
- CO2 emission is reduced significantly
- the unit uses only 50% of the fuel of a diesel genset in the same power range
The unit will also consume substantially less fuel than a diesel genset of the same size and weight and will require lower maintenance.
Other applications
The defense relies on fuel supply in the field and in deployed bases. When efficient SOFC based power generators replace traditional diesel power generators, the remote generators and deployed forces can save significant amounts of fuel. This reduces the logistic tail, thus saving lives and reducing costs.