The EOS Project- A SOFC Pilot Plant in Italy Safety Aspects

This paper deals with the main safety aspects of the EOS project. The partners of the project – Politecnico di Torino, Gas Turbine Technologies (GTT, Siemens group), Hysylab (Hydrogen System Laboratory) of Environment Park, and Regione Piemonte – aim to create the main node of a regional fuel cell generator network. As a first step, the Pennsylvania-based Stationary Fuel Cells division of Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation (SWPC) supplied GTT with a CHP 100 kWe SOFC (Solide Oxide Fuel Cell) field unit, fuelled by natural gas with internal reforming. The fuel cell is connected to the electricity national grid and provides part of the industrial district energy requirement. The thermal energy from the fuel cells is used for heating and air-conditioning of GTT offices, bringing the total first Law efficiency of the plant to 70-80%. In the second phase of the EOS project (2007/2008), the maximum power produced by the SOFC systems installed in the GTT EOS test room will be increased to a total of about 225 kWe, by means of an additional SOFC generator rated 125 kWe and up to 115 kWth. The paper provides information about the safety analysis which was performed during the main steps of the design of the system, i.e. the HAZOP during the SOFC design by SWPC, and the safety evaluations during the test hall design by GTT and Politecnico di Torino.