UTC Power, a subsidiary of United Technologies Corp, has surpassed the 5,000-hour milestone with their latest-generation fuel cell powerplant meant for transit buses.  The Model 120 fuel cell has passed the 5,000 hour real-world service test with the original cell stack and no cell replacements necessary.

This is a big milestone for the hybrid-electric technology that UTC is working on.  The test bus is a Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District bus operating in the greater Oakland, California area.  The Model 120 supplies 120kW of power in a programmable range between 290 and 580VDC.

The system is liquid-cooled and is more than 46% efficient.  AC Transit has three fuel-cell buses operating with the UTC power plant and the buses have traveled more than 213,000 miles in total with the Model 120 on board.  The hydrogen fuel cell stack operates with fuel economy that is 65% better than the diesel buses running the same routes and duty cycles (the test’s control fleet).

UTC Power has provided fuel cell power plants for fleet transportation since 1998 and their fuel cells have been used in the U.S., Spain, Italy, and Belgium.  This latest-generation proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell system has been used for over 350,000 total miles between all commercial service fleets it is currently used in.

The U.S. Department of Transportation completed a report in 2009 in which worldwide hydrogen bus demonstration programs were surveyed showed that zero-emissions buses performed well across a wide range of operating conditions, terrain, and weather.  Over the millions of miles that these fuel-cell buses have traveled world wide, there were no major safety issues arising from the hydrogen or its fuel-cells reported.  In addition, drivers in the survey preferred the fuel-cell buses to natural gas or diesel for their smooth ride and ease of operation.

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