September 17, 2009 (FinancialWire) — FuelCell Energy, Inc. (NASDAQ: FCEL), a leading manufacturer of high efficiency ultra-clean power plants using renewable and other fuels for commercial, industrial, government, and utility customers, announced that the U.S. Department of Energy  awarded it approximately $1.9 million for the Development of a Microchannel High Temperature Recuperator for Fuel Cell Systems. The award will be funded from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The program’s goal is to improve the performance and cost of fuel cell power plants that are integrated with unfired gas turbines in combined cycle applications such as FuelCell Energy’s patented Direct FuelCell/Turbine, by using advances in microchannel technology. Microchannels are tiny passages in the heat exchangers (recuperators) that significantly enhance heat recovery effectiveness and potentially reduce recuperator cost. The project includes the testing of prototype recuperators, test analysis, model validation, and design of units sized appropriately for a MW-class fuel cell system.

“This award is the first of several we hope to win under the ARRA,” said Christopher Bentley, executive vice president of FuelCell Energy. “Our partnership with DOE over the last forty years has been a critical factor in the successful development and commercialization of fuel cell technologies.”

The recuperator will be developed using FuelCell Energy’s DFC/Turbine and solid oxide fuel cell systems. Today’s carbonate DFC technology was developed under a $135 million DOE Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell Product Design and Improvement Program. FuelCell Energy’s DFC/Turbine delivers approximately 60 percent electrical efficiency — twice that of the electrical grid — and is ideally suited for utilities that have an increasing need for clean distributed generation where their systems are weakest.

Additionally, FuelCell Energy is developing coal-based solid oxide fuel cell systems under a $30 million DOE Office of Fossil Energy Solid State Energy Conversion Alliance  Coal-Based Systems Cooperative agreement.

FuelCell Energy, in partnership with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, will fabricate and test a 15 kilowatt and a 150 kilowatt thermal recuperator. This project involves the development of design, scalability analysis, fabrication, and commercial applicability of microchannel-based recuperators for fuel cell systems.

The ARRA was passed to create jobs and spur economic recovery. The Act allocates over $30 billion for energy-related projects that include energy efficiency, new clean technologies, and a strong, reliable grid infrastructure.

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