Fuel Cells

What is Fuel Cell?

 A fuel cell is an electrochemical cell that converts

the chemical energy from a fuel into electricity through
an electrochemical reaction of hydrogen fuel with oxygen
or another oxidizing agent.
 Fuel cells require a continuous source of fuel and oxygen
to sustain the chemical reaction
Different types of fuel cells
 PAFC - uses phosphoric acid as the electrolyte.
 MCFC- uses high-temperature compounds of salt (like
sodium or magnesium) carbonates (chemically, CO3) as the
electrolyte.
 AFC- operates on compressed hydrogen and oxygen.
They generally use a solution of potassium hydroxide
(chemically, KOH)
 SOFC- uses a hard, ceramic compound of metal (like
calcium or zirconium) oxides (chemically, O2) as electrolyte.
 PEM- works with a polymer electrolyte in the form of a thin,
permeable sheet.
Photon exchange membrane fuel cells
(PEMFCs)
 A proton-conducting polymer membrane (typically nafion)
contains the electrolyte solution that separates
the anode and cathode sides.
 On the anode side, hydrogen diffuses to the anode catalyst where
it later dissociates into protons and electrons.
 The protons are conducted through the membrane to the cathode,
but the electrons are forced to travel in an external circuit
because the membrane is electrically insulating.
 On the cathode catalyst, oxygen molecules react with the
electrons and protons to form water.
Components of PEMFC

 Bipolar plates: The bipolar plates may be made of different types of

materials, such as, metal, coated metal, graphite, flexible graphite,
C–C composite, carbon–polymer composites etc.
 Electrodes: The electrodes is usually made of a proton exchange
membrane sandwiched between two catalyst-coated carbon papers.
 Catalyst: Platinum and/or similar type of noble metals are usually
used as the catalyst for PEMFC.
 Membrane
 The necessary hardware such as current collectors and gaskets
PEM fuel cells basics

 Fuel cells are operationally equivalent to a battery.

 The reactants or fuel in a fuel cell can be replaced
unlike a standard disposable or rechargeable battery.
 Theoretically the maximum voltage that this reaction
can generate is 1.2 V. However, in practice the cell
usually generates about 0.7 V to 0.9 V and about 1 W
cm-2 of power.
 Electrochemical energy comes from the reaction:
H2 +½ O2 → H2O.
Advantages
 High Efficiency- when utilizing co-generation, fuel cells can attain
over 80% energy efficiency
 Good reliability- quality of power provided does not degrade over
time.
 Noise- offers a much more silent and smooth alternative to
conventional energy production.
 Environmentally beneficial- greatly reduces CO2 and harmful
pollutant emissions.
 Size reduction- fuel cells are significantly lighter and more
compact
Disadvantages

 Expensive to manufacture due the high cost of catalysts

(platinum)
 Lack of infrastructure to support the distribution of
hydrogen
 A lot of the currently available fuel cell technology is in
the prototype stage and not yet validated.
 Hydrogen is expensive to produce and not widely
available