Fuel cells

PROF. T N RAVAL

How Fuel Cell Vehicles Work – CES 2015 - YouTube

Content
❖Working principle

❖Thermodynamic analysis

❖Types

❖Applications- In automobiles

❖Electric- fuel cell hybrid configurations

 Working Principle
A fuel cell is a device that generates electricity through an electrochemical reaction, not
combustion.
A fuel cell consists of two electrodes—a negative electrode (or anode) and a positive electrode
(or cathode)—sandwiched around an electrolyte.
In fuel cell, hydrogen and oxygen are combined to generate electricity, heat, and water.
Do not need to be periodically recharged like batteries, but instead continue to produce
electricity as long as a fuel source is provided.
Fuel cells can be used in a wide range of applications, providing power for applications across
multiple sectors, including transportation, industrial/commercial/residential buildings, and long-
term energy storage for the grid.
 Difference between Fuel cell and Batteries
➢Batteries are used to store energy. Filling electrical energy and then consumable(stores electrical energy). If
they are rechargeable, you can fill them up again and repeat the process.
➢More efficient than fuel cells, but in heavy duty they can't be used due to higher weight.
➢ Takes hours to recharge while fuel cell respond time is around 15 minutes only.

➢Fuel cells produce energy and don’t run down or need recharging. It generates energy by converting
available fuel.
➢Produces electricity as long as fuel is available. In other words, the reagents are not stored in a closed
system (like batteries), but need to be continuously supplied.
➢Fuel cell technology allows for longer driving ranges and heavier payloads as energy density of hydrogen is
higher.
➢Less sensitive to cold temperatures than batteries.
➢New fuel cell technologies needs to be developed for lesser cost of fuel cells.
 Fuel Cell Parts
➢Anode: Where the fuel reacts or "oxidizes", and releases
electrons.
➢Cathode: Where oxygen (usually from the air) "reduction"
occurs.
➢Electrolyte: A chemical compound that conducts (allows to
transfer)positively charged ions from one electrode to the other
inside a fuel cell.
➢Catalyst: A substance (nanometer-sized particles of platinum)
that causes or speeds a chemical reaction without itself being
affected.
➢Reformer: A device that extracts pure hydrogen from
hydrocarbons.
➢Direct Fuel Cell: A type of fuel cell in which a hydrocarbon fuel
is fed directly to the fuel cell stack, without requiring an external
"reformer" to generate hydrogen.
➢A single fuel cell produces less than 1 V, which is insufficient for
most applications. Therefore, individual fuel cells are typically
combined in series into a fuel cell stack.
 Types
➢Generally can be classified by
➢electro-chemical reactions that take place in the cell,
➢the required catalysts,
➢the operating temperature,
➢the required fuel, applications where they used
➢But Mainly by the type of electrolyte which separates the fuel from the oxygen
•Proton Exchange Membrane /Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells
•Alkaline Fuel Cells (AFC)
•Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC)
•Phosphoric acid Fuel Cells (PFC)
 Proton Exchange Membrane / Polymer Electrolyte
Membrane (PEM) fuel cells
PEM fuel cells –widely used in automotive industry

1.Hydrogen molecules enter the anode

2.The anode catalyst separates the hydrogen molecules into
protons and electrons
3.The protons and electrons travel to the cathode via
different paths
4.The protons pass through the membrane, where they
unite with oxygen and the electrons to produce water and
heat
5.The electrons go through an external circuit, generating
electricity
6.Catalysts - Platinum nanoparticles supported on
They need only hydrogen, oxygen
carbon black, Platinum alloy, Iridium-oxide based
from the air, and water to operate
Schematic diagram of fuel cell stack circuit
➢ Each cell produces around 0.7 V, can be up to 50 – 250 kW by series of fuel cells
➢ 40 – 50% efficiency
➢ Life -at least 5 years, or over 40,000 hours of continuous operation
➢ They deliver high power density, operate at relatively low temperatures, and are
lighter and more compact
➢ Can be started quickly as working temp. is low (80 °C)
➢ Less wear on system components, resulting in better durability
➢ However catalyst (generally platinum) makes it costlier system
➢ Extremely sensitive to carbon monoxide poisoning so need an additional reactor to
reduce carbon monoxide in the fuel gas if the hydrogen is derived from a
hydrocarbon fuel
➢ Direct Fuel Cell: A type of fuel cell in which a hydrocarbon fuel is fed directly to the
fuel cell stack, without requiring an external "reformer" to generate hydrogen.
➢ Applications - Mostly used in transportation systems like cars, buses, and heavy-
duty trucks
 Alkaline Fuel Cells (AFC)
➢ The pioneering work of Francis Thomas Bacon in the 1930s at the University of Cambridge
➢ Old one, used in US space program for generation of electrical energy and water for space
craft in space
➢ Electrolyte used - alkaline solution potassium hydroxide (KOH), less costly compared to
others, unlike to others uses liquid electrolyte, so need separate chamber (1 for reactants
+ 1 for electrolyte)
➢ Similar to PEM but they use an alkaline membrane instead of an acid membrane
➢ Compressed hydrogen and oxygen fuel
➢ ~70% efficiency
➢ 150˚C - 200˚C operating temp.
➢ Higher power output as compared to PEM - 300W to 5kW output
➢ The fuel cell produces power through a redox
reaction between hydrogen and oxygen.

➢ At Anode

➢ At cathode, reducing oxygen in the reaction:

➢ Space and submarine applications.

 Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFC)
➢ SOFC has a solid oxide or ceramic electrolyte.
➢ made up of four layers, three of which are ceramics
➢ The ceramics used in SOFCs do not become electrically and ionically active
until they reach very high temperature, so they have to run at temperatures
ranging from 500 to 1,000 °C.
➢ At Cathode - Reduction of oxygen into oxygen ions occurs
➢ These ions can then diffuse through the solid oxide electrolyte at Anode
➢ byproduct - a water as well as two electrons
➢ Chemical Reaction:
➢ H2 +O2- ——> H2O+2e
➢ electrons then flow through an external circuit and repeats the cycle
➢ high combined heat and power efficiency,
➢ long-term stability, fuel flexibility, easy to handle
➢ low emissions,
➢ relatively low cost.
➢ high operating temperature - results in longer start-up times and mechanical and
chemical compatibility issues
➢ More recently, proton-conducting SOFCs (PC-SOFC) are being developed - which
transport protons instead of oxygen ions through the electrolyte
➢ so able to be run at lower temperatures than traditional SOFCs.
 Phosphoric acid Fuel Cells (PFC)
➢ uses liquid phosphoric acid as an electrolyte.
➢ he first fuel cells to be commercialized, developed in the mid-1960s and field-tested since
the 1970s.
➢ Electrolyte is highly concentrated or pure liquid phosphoric acid (H3PO4)
➢ Operating range is about 150 to 210 °C
➢ The electrodes
➢ Anode reaction: 2H2(g) → 4H+ + 4e‾
➢ Cathode reaction: O2(g) + 4H+ + 4e‾ → 2H2O
➢ Overall cell reaction: 2 H2 + O2 → 2H2O
➢ made of carbon paper coated with a finely dispersed platinum catalyst.
➢ output water can be converted to steam for air and water heating (combined heat
and power)
➢ efficiency increases of up to 70%
➢ PAFCs are CO2-tolerant and can tolerate a CO concentration of about 1.5%
➢ They are much less sensitive to CO than proton-exchange membrane fuel
cells (PEMFC) and alkaline fuel cells (AFC)
➢ At lower temperatures phosphoric acid is a poor ionic conductor, and CO poisoning
of the platinum electro-catalyst in the anode becomes severe
➢ low power density and chemically aggressive electrolyte.
➢ used for stationary power generators with output in the 100 kW to 400 kW range.
Also cane be suitable for large vehicles such as buses, trucks etc.
➢ India's DRDO has developed PAFC based air-independent propulsion for integration
into their Kalvari-class submarines
 Benefits
➢ currently used in many power plants and vehicles in option to conventional fuels
➢ higher efficiencies than combustion engines
➢ can convert the chemical energy in the fuel directly to electrical energy with
efficiencies capable of exceeding 60%
➢ zero emissions compared to combustion engines. Exa - Hydrogen fuel cells emit only
water, addressing critical climate challenges as there are no carbon dioxide
emissions.
➢ no air pollutants that create smog and cause health problems at the point of
operation
➢ No noise pollution during operation as they have only few moving parts.
References
https://www.energy.gov/eere/fuelcells/fuel-cells
https://www.umicore.com/en
Comparison of fuel cells - https://www.gencellenergy.com/news/comparing-fuel-cell-
technologies/
Thank you