Elmendorf 'charged' by new technology

  • Published
  • By Jon K. Scudder
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska (AFPN) --  Firefighters here may not look like modern-day energy pioneers, but they are, because of an innovative fuel cell project that is being tested in a fire station here. The project sounds a lot like a chemistry experiment.

"The fuel cell uses electrochemical energy conversion that combines oxygen and hydrogen from the air to produce five kilowatts of electricity and enough hot water to support the firehouse," said Paula Fowler, an environmental engineer with the 3rd Civil Engineer Squadron environmental flight.

"The fuel cell project serves as a demonstration of how alternative fuels can be used in a northern environment, which may be a benefit to Alaska villages as well as other Air Force remote sites," said mechanical engineer Jeff Sever, an Air Force contractor who installed and now maintains the cell.

"(The fuel cell is) an emerging power production technology with many advantages over traditional fuel combustion methods," Ms. Fowler said. "It provides reliable power and hot water without the pollution and the burdensome monitoring and reporting requirements to comply with. It is also extremely quiet with no visible emission plume from its stack."

Traditional combustion sources, such as diesel generators, emit high levels of air pollutants that require state operating permits. With the clean-burning fuel cell technology, minor amounts of carbon dioxide and nitrogen are the only appreciable air emission, officials said.

"We started up the fuel cell at the end of June, and it has been running nearly flawlessly ever since," Ms. Fowler said.

She said periodic reports will fully document the experiences with operation and maintenance; energy produced; and feasibility for further implementation on base and elsewhere.

The fire station’s chief, Staff Sgt. Adam Martin, said the firefighters are very pleased with the fuel cell's performance.

"You would never know you are on a cutting-edge energy system. Everything runs exactly the same," he said.

Ms. Fowler said the Elmendorf project is part of the 3rd Civil Engineer Squadron's pollution prevention program. The initiative develops new approaches for meeting Department of Defense and Environmental Protection Agency mandates for clean air.

As for the future of fuel cell technology, Ms. Fowler said the outlook looks hopeful.

"When the unit costs decrease, this technology will be an economically viable option to be used for power generation," she said.