Supplemental Fuel Cell

Erwin Schack

Gentlemen
We have existing installations at a University residence
that consists of a wall hung combi boiler and a hydronic air handler. They have obtained a grant to install a hydrogen fuel cell arrangement to supply 12 of these residences with electricity and they want to recover and store any heat generated.
The problem is that the heat generated by the cell is insufficient to supply enough BTU's to meet the heat load at peak times and will fluctuate.
We need to keep the existing boiler as a primary heating plant and treat the fuel cell as supplemental.
I don't have a lot of info on the fuel cell capacity but was informed that it can supply 160 deg. water at 3.6 GPM with two 250 gallon storage tanks.
I've attached a basic schematic of an injection system.
I don't know if I'm out to lunch with this approach or should I be thinking about a 4-way valve arrangment.
Any constructive comments would be appreciated.

ES

Constantin

Allow me a couple of questions...

... for one, is the fuel cell running on a baseline basis or as a peak-shaver? If it's the former, the fuel cell should become your primary heat source, not the boiler, IMHO.

Injection-mixing vs. 4-way valves is something we recently discussed over at the RPA web site. Either option will work, and I think the biggest question is whether one or the other strategy has better local support for spare parts, etc. So far, I don't quite see how this is a injection system, as at least one pump seems to be missing. Perhaps these tired homeowner eyes are missing something...

Also, what are the take-offs on the fuel cell loop for?

Lastly, I have taken the liberty of including your drawing in this post to make it more accessible for the other Wallies.

Weezbo

Well , theres pleanty i dont know....

and one thing i'd wonder is what are your domestic hot water requirements ,and what is the current stradgey for control and storage...perhaps this extra btu boost could be used through exchangers and storage also ...