Hitachi Zosen has so far been carrying out verification tests of its solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) system for business/industrial use at Izumi Center of TRI-Osaka since June, aiming for entry into the market within 2017.

For a planned continual operation for over 4,000 hours toward the end of March 2018, Hitachi Zosen makes joint research with Izumi Center about the components so as to evaluate safety of actual equipment or to reduce cost.

In the press interview held on July 25, Kazuo Ieyama, Director of Development Center of Environment Business Div. said, “SOFC has an advantageous feature to transform a variety of energies like bio-ethanol or methane gas into fuels. This time reforming of town gas is applied, but in future we would like to contribute to further reduction of CO2 with a fuel from a renewable energy.”

Regarding the aimed entry to the market within this year, Ieyama intends to utilize the results of this verification test for sales activities, saying “We deem the test as a way to sales and supply on lease for verification and business development.”

He is ambitious about the field of deployment, saying “We consider to be responsive to the state of energy demand for various consumers with the FC as distributed power supply system of 20kw to several handled kw. In practical terms we want to expand it to a housing complex, hospitals, schools and convenience stores.”




The actual equipment (W2.2 x D4.3 x H2.8m) used for the verification test has a generation efficiency from city gas of 50% at sending end with an output of 20kw. After generating hydrogen by reforming, electricity of 20kw is generated through the flat base layer stack (24-base loaded) developed in collaboration with NGK Spark Plug.

In addition, a comprehensive efficiency of the equipment has been attained to 90% or more of the top-class as the recovery rate of the heat caused by the generating reaction has reached 40% or more. For reference, the electricity generated by this verification is sent to the electric system of the Center and the warm water is utilized in the experimental facilities.