As we all know, fossil fuels are going to be extinct in next few years. So to find a better alternative to this problem use of hydrogen can be implemented This project is about production of hydrogen as a fuel using platinum and titanium as cathode and anode respectively. This project was successfully completed with the help of running a small motor car using hydrogen as fuel.
1. GREEN HYDROGEN AS A FUEL
Prepared by :
PANKTI CHOTHANI (190420105008)
HARSH MAURYA (190420105023)
DHRUVIL SAVALIYA (190420105061)
Guided by : Prof. Ashish Parmar
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2. Contents to be covered:
• Abstract
• Hydrogen as a fuel
• Fuel Cell
• Principle
• Construction
• Working
• Fuel cell in an engine
• Advantages
3. • In our domain, we have explained a detailed process of how
hydrogen, produced from water through photoelectrolysis, can be
used in a fuel cell vehicle.
• In previous 3 semesters , we saw about how the PEC cell works to
produce hydrogen and how we can store or utilize it.
• In this semester, we are dealing with the fuel cell which is being used
to produce electric energy through hydrogen from PEC cell.
• It’s working, construction, and applications are described in a
detailed way in the presentation.
4. • In photoelectrochemical (PEC) water splitting , hydrogen is produced
from water using sunlight and specialized semiconductors called
photoelectrochemical materials. They use light energy to directly
dissociate water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen.
• Hydrogen is a clean fuel that, when consumed in a fuel cell, produces
only water. These qualities make it an attractive fuel option for
transportation and electricity generation applications. It can be used
in cars, in houses, for portable power, and in many more
applications.
• Now this hydrogen can be used as a fuel in a fuel cell which will
generate electrical energy to power the vehicle.
5. Abstract
• Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe. In the
search for an alternative fuel, hydrogen is being considered as a
potential emission-free option. Hydrogen powered vehicles that use
water as fuel and produce hydrogen gas to power the engine.
• The problem has been finding ways to generate hydrogen
economically and the greater challenge is the storage handling of
produced hydrogen. At present, hydrogen is produced by methods
like steam reforming of natural gas, coal gasification, methane
pyrolysis and more. These methods using fossil fuels require a huge
amount of energy in the process and also emit greenhouse gases or
have harmful by-products.
6. • The new approach for this problem is green hydrogen, which means it is
produced totally using renewable sources. There is a need for a process that uses
only renewable sources and has no emissions. Green hydrogen is produced by
splitting water in a photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell powered by electricity
generated from solar energy. This method is addressed as ‘photo-electrochemical
process’.
• We have studied the process in detail and did an extensive research on the
storage handling and transportation of hydrogen. Also, we are going to perform a
laboratory-scale experiment of the said process. Further, we wish to study the
application of hydrogen generation photo-electrolysis in the FCEVs. This research
is finding ways into the industries and car companies in India and soon the
‘hydrogen economy’ will take over.
• In conclusion, green hydrogen is the future of the fuel which will bring up many
discoveries in the green technology and much more opportunities.
8. Why hydrogen?
• It is readily available.
• It doesn’t produce harmful
emissions.
• It is environmentally friendly
and is a non-toxic substance.
• It can be used as fuel in rockets.
• Hydrogen is three times as powerful as gasoline and other fossil fuels. This means
that it can accomplish more with less.
• It is fuel efficient. Compared to diesel or gas, it is much more efficient as it can
produce more energy per pound of fuel.
• It is renewable. It can be produced again and again, unlike other non-renewable
sources of energy.
10. Principle
• A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts the chemical
energy of a fuel (often hydrogen) and an oxidizing agent to electrical
energy. It oxidises into electricity through a pair of redox reactions.
• If hydrogen is the fuel, the only products are electricity, water, and
heat.
• Fuel cells work like batteries, but they do not run down or need
recharging. They produce electricity and heat as long as fuel is
supplied.
• The amount of electric current available to the circuit depends on
the chemical activity and composition of fuel.
11. Construction of Fuel Cell
• A fuel cell consists of two electrodes—a negative electrode (or anode) and a
positive electrode (or cathode)—sandwiched around an electrolyte.
• A typical fuel cell produces a voltage from 0.6 to 0.7 V at full rated load.
Anode:
The electrode at which oxidation takes place. For fuel cells and other galvanic
cells, the anode is the negative terminal. The anode catalyst, usually fine platinum
powder, breaks down the fuel into electrons and ions.
Cathode :
The electrode at which reduction occurs. The cathode catalyst, often nickel,
converts ions into waste chemicals, with water being the most common type of
wastes.
12. Electrolyte :
A substance that conducts charged ions from one electrode to the other in a fuel
cell, battery, or electrolyzer. The electrolyte substance, which usually defines the
type of fuel cell, and can be made from a number of substances like potassium
hydroxide, salt carbonates and phosphoric acid.
Membrane:
A proton exchange membrane is used which allows only the positive ions to pass
through it to the cathode. These gas diffusion layers are designed to resist oxidation.
• The polymer electrolyte membrane, or PEM (also called a proton exchange
membrane)—a specially treated material that looks something like ordinary
kitchen plastic wrap—conducts only positively charged ions and blocks the
electrons. The PEM is the key to the fuel cell technology; it must permit only the
necessary ions to pass between the anode and cathode. Other substances passing
through the electrolyte would disrupt the chemical reaction. The negatively
charged ions need to travel along an external circuit to the cathode, creating an
electric current.
14. • A fuel, such as hydrogen, is fed to the anode, where it is oxidized, producing
hydrogen ions and electrons. An oxidizer, such as oxygen, is supplied to the
cathode, where the hydrogen ions from the anode absorb electrons from the
latter and react with the oxygen to produce water.
• In a hydrogen fuel cell, a catalyst at the anode separates hydrogen molecules
into protons and electrons, which take different paths to the cathode.
• The electrons go through an external circuit, creating a flow of electricity. The
protons migrate through the electrolyte to the cathode, where they unite with
oxygen and the electrons to produce water and heat.
• The reaction between hydrogen and oxygen can be used to generate electricity.
15. Fuel Cell in an Engine
• There are really just two ways to power a modern car. Most cars on the road
today use an internal-combustion engine to burn petroleum-based fuel, generate
heat, and push pistons up and down to drive the transmission and the wheels.
• Electric cars work an entirely different way. Instead of an engine, they rely on
batteries that feed electric power to electric motors that drive the wheels
directly.
• Hybrid cars have both internal-combustion engines and electric motors and
switch between the two to suit the driving conditions.
• Think of fuel cells as batteries that never run flat. Instead of slowly depleting the
chemicals inside them (as normal batteries do), fuel cells run on a steady supply
of hydrogen and keep making electricity for as long as there's fuel in the tank.
• As of 2021, there are only two models of fuel cell cars publicly available in select
markets: the Toyota Mirai (2014–) and the Hyundai Nexo (2018–).
16. DESIGN CALCULATIONS
In a recently developed HFCEV, the fuel cell stack installed have the following characteristics:
Fuel cell stack characteristics:
Maximum Output 114 kW
Power density 3.1 kW/L
Volume/Weight 37 L/ 56 kg
No. of cells in one stack 370 cells in single-line stacking
Weight of cell 102 g
Flow channel 3D fine-mesh flow field
Maximum output voltage 650 V
And a storage tank with the capacity of total 122.4 L (approx. 5 kg of Hydrogen).
So, according to the abovementioned data, we can conclude that with 5 kg of Hydrogen fuel in the storage tank, the
fuel cell could produce about 650 V and 114 kW of energy to power the car. And the car could run about 550 km as
per the NEDC cycle. Also, to produce 5 kg of hydrogen, the PEC cell would require around 45 L of water.
*All the data presented is taken with respect to Toyota Mirai 2014 model
17. Advantages
• As we are using renewable resources, it is harmless and present in abundant.
• Fuel cells can operate at higher efficiencies than combustion engines and can
convert the chemical energy in the fuel directly to electrical energy with
efficiencies capable of exceeding 60%.
• Fuel cells have lower or zero emissions compared to combustion engines.
• Hydrogen fuel cells emit only water, addressing critical climate challenges as
there are no carbon dioxide emissions. There also are no air pollutants that
create smog and cause health problems at the point of operation.
• Fuel cells are quiet during operation as they have few moving parts.
18. REFERENCES
www.energy.gov
www.afdc.energy.gov
www.fchea.org
www.fuelcellstore.com
www.fuelcellbuses.eu
www.explainthatstuff.com
www.sigmaaldrich.com
www.energuide.be
www.sciencedirect.com
www.pubs.acs.org
www.azocleantech.com
www.researchgate.net
www.youtube.com / Toyota Europe, Fw: Thinking
Fuel Cell Fundamentals by Ryan O’ Hayre, Suk-Won Cha, Whitney Colella, Fritz B. Prinz