Bloomy Controls, Inc - Case Studies

Customer:
Infinity Fuel Cell & Hydrogen, Inc., located in Windsor, CT, develops and manufactures regenerative fuel cell backup power stations. These power stations use solar power to generate hydrogen and store it for fuel cells to use during a power deficit.

Challenge:
Infinity Fuel Cell & Hydrogen, Inc. was in need of a standalone monitoring and control system which would manage all of the power station’s activities. These activities included electrolyzer and fuel cell switching, power consumption management, safety monitoring, and emergency shutdowns.

Features:

NI LabVIEW and LabVIEW Real Time
Integrates with existing hardware
Uses only solar power for electrolysis
Electrolyzes only during daytime
Allows emergency shutdown options
Monitors safety conditions
Operates in headless mode

System Hardware:

NI compact FieldPoint
- cFP-2120: Ethernet Network Controller
- cFP-1808, 1804: Network Interface Modules
- cFP-TC-120: Thermocouple Inputs
- cFP-AI-118: Analog Inputs - Low Voltage
- cFP-AI-102: Analog Inputs - High Voltage
- cFP-AO-210: Analog Outputs - Voltage
- cFP-DI-330: Digital Inputs
- cFP-RLY-421: Form A Relays
NI ENET-RS232 and ENET-RS485 modules
Electrolyzer modules
Fuel Cell modules
DC/DC Converters
Hydrogen tanks and flow control plumbing
Batteries and power flow control

Results:
Bloomy Controls used NI hardware and LabVIEW to efficiently develop a completely integrated control system for a regenerative fuel cell backup power station. The control hardware and algorithms were developed and delivered on time to provide the needed station management. The designed algorithms provided solutions such as ensuring sufficient solar power for electrolysis all the way to proper safety shutdown sequences. Infinity Fuel Cell & Hydrogen, Inc. shipped the regenerative fuel cell system to their end customer on time.