| Lithium primary batteries or electrical conductors on wireline are used as the power source for oil well data acquisition systems. Temperature and electrical resistance limit these two methods of providing energy. An alternative is a turbine and energy storage device combination. Rechargeable batteries that operate at downhole temperatures do not exist. One possibility is a regenerative fuel cell system. There is no published information on such an application of a fuel cell.;An analysis of a proposed regenerative fuel cell system was performed. The efficiency of the downhole power generation system was calculated. Gas storage tanks were sized at various storage pressures. The duty cycle was determined. Performance characteristics of a 25 cm2 PAFC were experimentally obtained. The relationships between voltage and current density, power density and current density, efficiency and temperature, and fuel cell internal resistance and temperature were determined. |
