Fuel Cell System Turns Waste into Electricity at the Tulare Wastewater Treatment Plant

SinceSeptember2007,theTulare,California,Wastewater TreatmentPlant(WWTP)hasbeenfindingamoreproductive useforthebyproductanaerobicdigesterbiogasitusedto flare.Theprojecthasreducedtheplantselectricitybillby over$1millionperyear,bygenerating1.2megawatts(MW), or45percentofitselectricityneeds,withonsitemolten carbonatefuelcells.

PROJECT SUMMARY
Location Primary Objective Incumbent Technology Tulare WWTP, Tulare, CA Cost-effective power Electric power grid Applied Filter Technology gas pretreatment system. Four DFC300MA molten carbonate fuel cells rated at 300 kW for a total capacity of 1.2 MW manufactured by FuelCell Energy. Approximately 500,000 cubic feet of biogas per day

Systems and Manufacturer

Fuel Supply

Fuel Cell Startup Date Availability

September 2007, 2011 99.45% in 2010 Electrical efficiency of 47% Combined heat and power efficiency of 90% Total cost of fuel cell power plant: $9.39 million Funding: approximately $4.95 million from Southern California Edison as part of Californias Self-Generation Incentive Program An estimated one-time cost of $600,000 was avoided in Emission Reduction Credits (ERCs) that would have been required for combustion technologies; an average of $3,500/day is saved in electricity costs 6,200 tons CO2 per year Average daily wastewater flow of about 11.5 MDG (4.4 MDG domestic wastewater, 7.1 MDG industrial wastewater) 95,086 hours from September 2007 through July 2011

Efficiency
Original Installation of Three FuelCell Energy Fuel Cells and Gas Pretreatment Unit at Tulare Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Background
ManyWWTPsuseanaerobicdigestiontostabilizesludge generatedduringthetreatmentprocess.Microorganisms breakdownorganicmaterial,releasingbiogas,amixture composedofmethaneandcarbondioxide,tracegases,and water.Typically,WWTPsflarebiogastodisposeofit,but thisrenewablefuelcanbeusedinfuelcellstogenerateheat andelectricity.Usingbiogasinthiswayreducesemissions thatotherwisewouldbegeneratedbyflaringandeliminates emissionsthatwouldbegeneratedbyusingtraditional powersources.Therearecurrently12WWTPsinCalifornia operatingalmost10MWsoffuelcellsystems.

Systems Installation Cost

Avoided Costs

Avoided Emissions Facility Size

Hours of Operation

Availablefordownloadat:www.fuelcells.org/info/TulareCaseStudy.pdf

 TheTulareWWTPrequiresabout2.7MWofelectricitytotreatanaverageof11.5milliongallonsper day(MGD)ofwastewaterfromdomesticandindustrialsources.Thecountyhasalargeagricultural processingcommunitywithmanydairyfacilitiescontributinghighorganicloadsinthewastewater.The facilitysanaerobicdigesterproducesabout500,000cubicfeetofbiogasperday. ThefuelcellsattheTulareWWTPqualifyasanultracleantechnologybymeetingstrictstandards establishedbytheCaliforniaAirResourcesBoard.Asaresult,Tularequalifiesforpreferentialrate treatmentbytheCaliforniaPublicUtilitiesCommission.Thedecisiontousefuelcellsforonsitepower hasalsoreducedthefacilitysrelianceontheelectricgridsubstantiallydecreasingtheamountof utilitygeneratedemissionsandeasingthestrainonSouthernCaliforniasalreadystressedpowergrid.

Project Planning and Evaluation

TherisingcostofelectricityinCaliforniapromptedtheCityofTularetoconsideralternativestoelectric gridpowerforitsWWTP.CityofficialsanalyzedbidsbyCarolloEngineersforseveralcogeneration technologies,includinggeneratorsandmicroturbines,andconcludedthatafuelcellpowersystem wouldbethemostcosteffectiveoption.Primaryconsiderationsinselectingthetechnologywere lifecycleandcapitalcosts,andstateemissionreductioncreditrequirements.Substantialfinancial incentivesinCaliforniamakefuelcellscostcompetitivewithalternativecombustiontechnologies, especiallyconsideringaddedbenefitssuchassuperiorelectricalefficiencyandnegligibleemissions.

Project Implementation
In2007,theTulareWWTPinstalledthree300kWmoltencarbonatefuelcellsmanufacturedand installedbyFuelCellEnergy(FCE),basedinDanbury,Connecticut.Thesuccessoftheinitialinstallation ledtotheadditionofafourthfuelcellin2011,bringingtheentiresystemupto1.2MW.Thehigh operatingtemperatureofthemoltencarbonatefuelcellsfacilitatesinternalconversionofmethaneto hydrogen,virtuallyeliminatingcriteriapollutantemissions.Thefuelcellsoperateprimarilyonbiogas fromthefacilitysanaerobicdigesterbutalsoaredesignedtooperateonnaturalgas.Naturalgasis usedonlywhenthegastreatmentsystemisoutof serviceformaintenance,whichenhancesthesystems availability.

SystemConfiguration
Thefuelcellpowerplantismodularindesign, containingfourseparatefuelcellunitsandseparate systemsforelectricalandmechanicalbalance,biogas pretreatment,andheatrecovery.FCEmanagesthe fuelcelloperationandmaintenanceremotely,and thecompanyprovidedonsitetrainingtoTulare WWTPpersonneltofamiliarizethemwiththe

Four FuelCell Energy Fuel Cells at Tulare Wastewater Treatment Plant. Photo courtesy of Tulare Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Availablefordownloadat:www.fuelcells.org/info/TulareCaseStudy.pdf

 technology. Thefuelcellpowerplanthasmaintainedanelectricalefficiencyofabout47percentandacombined heatandpowerefficiencyof90percentduringthe95,086hourscollectivelyloggedfromSeptember 2007throughJuly2011.Thefuelcellpowerplantboastsavailabilityof99.45percentproviding reliabilityandassuringconsistentenergysavings.Thefuelcellsalsoproducewasteheatthatis recoveredanduseintheanaerobicdigester. Toavoiddamagingsensitivecomponents,tracecontaminantsandmoistureareremovedfromthe biogaspriortouseinthefuelcellsusingapretreatmentunitdevelopedandinstalledbyAppliedFilter Technology.Thegaspretreatmentunit(GPU)ishousedonaskidseparatefromthefuelcellsystemand isdesignedtoreduceconcentrationsofwater,hydrogensulfides,particulates,siloxanes,andnon methanevolatileorganiccompoundspresentinthebiogas.AppliedFilterTechnologysamplesthe biogasatregularintervalstoensurethereisnocontaminantbreakthrough.

Installation
Duringtheinitialstages,challengesarosesurroundingthedesignbuildapproach.AllianceChicoEnergy managedthedesignbuild,whichwasanewprocessforthecityandprovidedaddedcomplexityforcity attorneys.Alackoffamiliaritywithdesignbuildcontractlanguagedelayedtheprojectbyseveral months.Aconventionaldesignbidbuildapproachwouldhavebeenlesscomplicated;howeverthe designbuildapproachgavethecitybettercontrolovermanagingtheprojectstimelineandbudget. FCEsDFC300MAfuelcellsmeettheIEEE1547StandardforInterconnectingDistributedResourceswith ElectricPowerSystemsaswellasCaliforniasRule21fordistributedenergyresourcegenerators.In contrasttothedesignbuildchallenges,connectingthefuelcellsystemtothegridwasrelativelysimple. BecausetheWWTP'sfuelcellsmeetthestandardscriteria,electricpowergridinterconnectionwas accomplishedwithoutcomplication.Althoughfuelcellsareexempt frommostairqualitypermits,theyarenotexemptfromall.The planthadtoapplyforsomepermits,buttheprocesswasrelatively The combined heat and power simple. capability of FuelCell Energys power plant has been ideal for Maintenance us. The fuel cells generate clean electricity and heat that we use in TheCityofTularehasafiveyearoperationsandmaintenance our anaerobic digester, making this system the most efficient agreementwithFCEforthefuelcells.ThesystemdesignallowsFCE and cost-effective for our needs. toprovidecontinuousremoteroutinemaintenanceandrestartofthe fuelcells.Themaintenancecontractwasamendedtoincludethe Works fourthfuelcell.Thecityplanstoextendthemaintenancecontractso themaintenanceneedswontfallonthestaffoftheWWTP.Thecitysignedaseparatefiveyear agreementwithAppliedFilterTechnologytooperateandmaintaintheGPU.Thisagreementincludes routinebiogassamplingtoensuretheeffectivenessofcontaminantremovalmedia.Thetwooperation andmaintenanceagreementscollectivelytotaled$514,000forthefirstyear.

- Lew Nelson, Tulares Director of Public

Availablefordownloadat:www.fuelcells.org/info/TulareCaseStudy.pdf

Cost
ThetotalinitialconstructioncostoftheTulareWWTPfuelcellsystemwasabout$7million.Theplant wasabletoapply$4.05millionreceivedfromSouthernCaliforniaEdisonaspartofCaliforniasSelf GenerationIncentiveProgramtowardthatcost.Consideringoperationsandmaintenancecosts, electricitycostsavings,andotherfactors,theCityofTulareestimatesthattheinitialthreefuelcellswill paybackthecity's$2.95millionshareinlessthan5years.Purchasingthefourthfuelcellbroughtthe totalcostupto$9.39millionandqualifiedforanadditional$900,000inincentives.Thereturnon investmentforthefourthfuelcellwillbelonger,astherewerefewerincentives,andthemaintenance contractishigher.ThecostsavingsassociatedwiththefuelcellsattheTulareWWTParesubstantial. Basedontheaverageelectricityratepaidtotheutilityoveraperiodofseveralmonths,theCityof Tulareestimatesthatthefuelcellpowerplantgeneratesanaverageof$3,500inelectricityperday.

ProjectResults
Therearealwayschallengesassociatedwithnewprojects,andtheTulareWWTPfuelcellpowerplantis noexception.Inadditiontodifficultieswithusingthedesignbuildapproach,theprojectteam encounteredissueswiththeGPU(includingasmallpumpfailure),butthesehavebeenrelativelyminor andwereresolvedbyAppliedFilterTechnology.Anotherchallengeisthatoccasionalpower interruptionstotheWWTPcausethefuelcellpoweroutputtotripoffline.Thefirstthreefuelcellsdo nothaveloadbanksandgointohotstandbywhenthegridpowerfails,andittakes10hourstoreturn tofullelectricityproduction.Theresponsetothiswasthatthenewlyaddedfourthfuelcellhasa resistiveloadbank,whichensurehomogeneouspowerflowfromthefuelcellsandreducetheriskof shutdown.Havingthisloadbankensuresconstantpowerfromthefuelcell,evenwhengridpowerfails. TheTulareWWTPsfuelcellinstallationisacrowningexampleofhowfuelcellscanbeusedtosolvea varietyofproblems.Tularesfuelcellscuttheplantsemissionsbyefficientlyusinggasthatusedtobe flared,andbyavoidingemissionsthatwouldbecreatedthroughtheuseofgridelectricity.Thefuelcells takewastebyproduct,andturnsitintousefulenergy.WWTPsacrossCaliforniaarebeginningtoturnto fuelcellstoprovideclean,reliableheatandpowertoruntheirfacilities. FormoreinformationonhowfuelcellsworkandadditionalresourcespleasevisittheFuelCells2000 websitewww.fuelcells.org. Thecasestudycanbedownloadedat:www.fuelcells.org/info/TulareCaseStudy.pdf

Availablefordownloadat:www.fuelcells.org/info/TulareCaseStudy.pdf