Fuel cells and hydrogen

1. The Fuel ForTomorrow

2. What is a Fuel Cell?
 A device that
generates electricity
by a chemical
reaction
 Uses Oxygen or
another oxidizing
agent
 Another fuel,
generally Hydrogen.
 Electrochemical
process Methanol Based Fuel Cell

3. Mechanism
 Requires:
 An anode
 A Cathode
 An Electrolyte
 A Catalyst
 Fuel
 Oxidant

4.  Emphasis from the US Government
 The main reasons has everything to do with
oil
 Political Factors
 The GlobalWarming Scenario

5.  Fuel cell technologies are an attractive alternative
to oil dependency
 Give off no pollution, and produce pure water as a
byproduct
 Renewable, environmentally-friendly ways of
producing hydrogen in the future
 Rely on domestic sources for energy production

6. Welsh Physicist,William Grove was the
pioneer of Fuel CellTechnology.
 In 1955,W.Thomas Grubb further modified
it.
 3 years later, Leonard Niedrach, devised a
way of depositing platinum onto the
membrane, served as catalyst for the
necessary hydrogen oxidation and oxygen
reduction reactions.
 Project Gemini , 1965, prelude to the Apollo
moon missions.

7.  The first commercial use of fuel
cells was in NASA space
programs to generate power.
 The Apollo moon missions was
powered single handedly by
fuel cells.

8.  Fuel cells were a vital
component of the power
system.
 Armstrong describes as
“one small step for man,
one giant leap for
mankind.”

9. The International
Space Station
 Fuel cells provide
drinking water to the
astronauts on board.
 Green Flag for fuel
cells, yellow for
batteries.

10.  Before launch, electrical power is
provided by ground power supplies.
 Three fuel cell power plants generate all
of the electrical power for the vehicle
from launch through landing rollout.
 The three fuel cell power plants are
individually coupled to the reactant
(hydrogen and oxygen) distribution
subsystem, the heat rejection
subsystem, the potable water storage
subsystem, and the electrical power
distribution and control subsystem.
 The fuel cell power plants generate heat
and water as by-products of electrical
power generation.

11. Alkaline Fuel Cells
 Operates on compressed hydrogen
and oxygen.
 Efficiency is about 70 percent, and
operating temperature is 50 to 100
degrees C.
 Used in Apollo spacecraft to provide
both electricity and drinking water.
 They require pure hydrogen fuel,
however, and have platinum
electrode catalysts.

12. Solid Oxide fuel cells
 Uses a hard, ceramic compound of
metal oxides as electrolyte
 Efficiency is about 60 percent
 Operating temperatures are about
1,000 degrees C, so no reformer is
required for extracting hydrogen
from fuel
 Utility applications

13. PhosphoricAcid Fuel Cell
 Uses phosphoric acid as the
electrolyte
 Efficiency ranges from 40 to 80
percent
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells
 Work with a polymer electrolyte in
the form of a thin, permeable sheet
 Efficiency is about 40 to 50 percent
 Suitable for homes and cars

14. Molten Carbonate fuel cells
 Uses high-temperature compounds
of salt carbonates as electrolyte
 Efficiency ranges from 60 to 80
percent, and operating temperature
is about 650 degrees C
 Developed for natural gas and coal-
based power plants to generate
power for industry and military use

15.  In 2003, President Bush announced a
program called the Hydrogen Fuel Initiative
(HFI).
 Aims to develop hydrogen, fuel cell and
infrastructure technologies to make fuel-cell
vehicles practical and cost-effective by 2020.
The United States has dedicated more than
one billion dollars to fuel cell research and
development.
Engineers replaced the engine of
the GM HydroGen3 with a
microwave-oven-sized fuel-cell
stack

16.  Pollution reduction is the primary
goal.
 If the fuel cell is powered with pure
hydrogen, it has the potential to be
up to 80-percent efficient.
 A reasonable number for the
efficiency of the motor/inverter is
about 80 percent.
 That gives an overall efficiency of
about 64 percent.
Honda's FCX concept vehicle has 60-percent
energy efficiency

17. If electricity for the car was generated at a power plant that used a combustion process
then only about 40 percent of the fuel required by the power plant was converted into
electricity.
The process of charging the car requires the conversion of alternating current (AC)
power to direct current (DC) power.This process has an efficiency of about 90 percent.
That gives an overall efficiency of 26 percent.
Generation by a hydroelectric plant for instance, the efficiency of the electric car is
about 65 percent.
GASOLINE POWEREDVEHICLE BATTERY POWERED ELECRRIC
VEHICLE
 Overall efficiency of an automotive gas
engine is about 20 percent
 Has an overall efficiency of about 72
percent

18.  Boosting fuel cell efficiency is now top
priority.
 Combining fuel cell and battery-powered
vehicles.
 Ford Motors and Airstream are developing
a concept vehicle powered by a hybrid fuel
cell drive train named the HySeries Drive.
The vehicle uses a lithium battery to power
the car, while the fuel cell recharges the
battery.

19.  Clean Energy Source
 By-product involves water and heat
 High Efficiency
 Average: 60% Cogeneration: 80%
 More efficient than combustion engines
 Noise Reduction
 No combustion required- pumps and compressors produce small
vibrations which are relatively silent

20.  Cost
 Expensive
 Catalyst cost (usually platinum)
 Durability
 A 100 degrees Celsius temperature target is required in order for a fuel
cell to have a higher tolerance to impurities in fuel
 Infrastructure
 Hydrogen generation and delivery infrastructure
 Storage and Other Considerations
 Safety Hazards associated with Hydrogen

22.  The hydrogen-powered Honda
FCX Clarity
 Available to the people of
Southern California
 The DaimlerChrysler NECAR
fuel cell vehicle drives along a
17-mile stretch of coastline

23.  Establishment of
hydrogen filling
stations
 An initiative by SHELL

24.  Safety Hazards
 Hydrogen is highly flammable and combustible
 Hydrogen leakage may cause explosions
 Pure hydrogen is poisonous
 Efforts are under way to develop fuel-cell batteries that would use
hydrogen or other fuels that can be converted to hydrogen.
 These mini power plants would produce electricity directly from
hydrogen and oxygen, with the only discharge being water vapor

25.  A FUELCELLTHAT RUNS ON
WASTE
 Developed by environmental
engineers at Pennsylvania State
University
 Runs on wastewater
 Uses microbes to break down
organic matter
 The matter in turn releases
hydrogen and electrons
 Output is heat and pure water

26.  Hydrogen is a cleaner alternative to fossil
fuels
 Chemical engineers are heavily involved in
the development of a variety of safe and
technically feasible systems to produce
hydrogen cost efficiently on a small scale

27.  Fuel cells for commercial
use
 For vehicles such as this
hybrid-powered (battery
and fuel cell) forklift, that
contains its own hydrogen
generation system
Nuvera Fuel Cells

28.  Highlights:
 Low-pressure and low-temperature
fuel processors able to produce
hydrogen from hydrocarbon fuels.
 Use of coal-derived synthetic gas as
a source of hydrogen
 Extraction of hydrogen from fossil
fuels
 An imaginative array of new
processes based on:
 Water splitting,
 Biomass and wastewater
reforming, and
 Renewable electrolysis

29.  Stationary
 Supplemental generators
 Distributed power sources
 Transportation
 Fuel CellVehicle
 HybridVehicles
 Future: trains, airplanes, boats
 Consumer Electronics
 Laptops, cell phones, video recorders

30. Made by Debajyoti Bose (CH/10/24)