Fuel cell

• A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that

produces electricity without combustion by
combining hydrogen and oxygen to produce
water and heat.
• A fuel cell is a device that converts chemical
potential energy (energy stored in molecular
bonds) into electrical energy
 Difference between fuel cell and battery

• The biggest difference between the two is that

a battery stores energy, while a fuel cell
generates energy by converting available fuel.
• A fuel cell can have a battery as a system
component to store the electricity it’s
generating
 Types of Fuel Cell
• Based on the type of Electrolyte
1. Alkaline Fuel cell (AFC)
2. Phosphoric Acid Fuel cell (PAFC)
3. Polymer Electrolytic Membrane Fuel Cell
(PEMFC)
Solid Polymer Fuel Cell (SPFC) and
Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel cell (PEMFC)
4. Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC)
5. Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC)
• Based on Types of Fuel and oxidant
1. Hydrogen (pure)-Oxygen (pure) fuel cell
2. Hydrogen rich gas-air fuel cell
3. Ammonia –air fuel cell
4. Synthesis gas- air fuel cell
5. Hydro carbon (gas)- air fuel cell
 Advantages
• They produce zero or very low emissions, especially
Green House Gases (GHGs) depending on the fuel
used
• Have few moving parts and thus require minimal
maintenance, reducing life cycle costs of energy
production
• Modular in design, offering flexibility in size and
efficiencies in manufacturing
• Can be utilized for combined heat and power
purposes, further increasing the efficiency of energy
production
 How do fuel cells work?
• A fuel cell is a device that uses hydrogen (or
hydrogen-rich fuel) and oxygen to create
electricity by an electrochemical process
• A single fuel cell consists of an electrolyte
sandwiched between two thin electrodes (a
porous anode and cathode)
• Hydrogen, or a hydrogen-rich fuel, is fed to the
anode where a catalyst separates hydrogen's
negatively charged electrons from positively
charged ions (protons)
• At the cathode, oxygen combines with electrons
and, in some cases, with species such as protons or
water, resulting in water or hydroxide ions,
respectively
• The electrons from the anode side of the cell
cannot pass through the membrane to the
positively charged cathode; they must travel around
it via an electrical circuit to reach the other side of
the cell.
• This movement of electrons is an electrical current
• The amount of power produced by a fuel cell
depends upon several factors, such as fuel cell type,
cell size, the temperature at which it operates, and
the pressure at which the gases are supplied to the
cell
• Still, a single fuel cell produces enough electricity for
only the smallest applications.
• Therefore, individual fuel cells are typically
combined in series into a fuel cell stack.
• A typical fuel cell stack may consist of hundreds of
fuel cells.
• In general terms, hydrogen atoms enter into a fuel
cell at the anode where a chemical reaction strips
them of their electrons.
• The hydrogen atoms are now "ionized," and carry a
positive electrical charge.
• The negatively charged electrons provide the
current through wires to do work.
• If alternating current (AC) is needed, the DC output
of the fuel cell must be routed through a conversion
device called an inverter
• Oxygen enters the fuel cell at the cathode and,
it combines with electrons returning from the
electrical circuit and hydrogen ions that have
traveled through the electrolyte from the
anode.
• In other cell types the oxygen picks up
electrons and then travels through the
electrolyte to the anode, where it combines
with hydrogen ions.
 Role of Electrolyte
• The electrolyte plays a key role. It must permit only the
appropriate ions to pass between the anode and
cathode.
• If free electrons or other substances could travel through
the electrolyte, they would disrupt/confuse the chemical
reaction.
• Whether they combine at anode or cathode, together
hydrogen and oxygen form water, which drains from the
cell.
• As long as a fuel cell is supplied with hydrogen and
oxygen, it will generate electricity
 Alkaline Fuel Cells (AFC)
• The alkaline fuel cell uses an alkaline
electrolyte such as 40% aqueous potassium
hydroxide.
• In alkaline fuel cells, negative ions travel
through the electrolyte to the anode where
they combine with hydrogen to generate
water and electrons.
• Alkali fuel cells operate on compressed hydrogen and
oxygen.
• They generally use a solution of potassium hydroxide
(chemically, KOH) in water as their electrolyte.
• Efficiency is about 70 percent, and operating
temperature is 150 to 200 degrees C.
• In these cells, hydroxyl ions (OH-) migrate from the
cathode to the anode.
• At the anode, hydrogen gas reacts with the OH- ions to
produce water and release electrons.
• Electrons generated at the anode supply electrical power
to an external circuit then return to the cathode.
• There the electrons react with oxygen and water to
produce more hydroxyl ions that diffuse into the
electrolyte.
Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell
• Molten Carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) use high-
temperature compounds of carbonate salt as the
electrolyte.
• Efficiency ranges from 60 to 80 percent, and operating
temperature is about 650 degrees C.
• The salts melt and passes carbonate ions (CO3) from the
cathode to the anode.
• At the anode, hydrogen reacts with the ions to produce
water, carbon dioxide, and electrons.
• The electrons travel through an external circuit, providing
electrical power along the way, and return to the cathode
• There, oxygen from air and carbon dioxide
recycled from the anode react with the
electrons to form CO3 ions that refill the
electrolyte and transfer current through the
fuel cell.
 Applications
• Molten carbonate fuel cells operate at higher
temperatures and are also designed to be used
as a baseload, 24/7 power source.
• Because of their high working temperature,
MCFC is used in stationary power production and
CHP(combined heat and power) applications.
• They can produce high powers up to 100 MW.
• They are not so expensive in production and
hence can be used for commercial uses.
 Advantages
• Molten carbonate fuel cells can run on natural gas or
coal gasified gasses. This eliminates the requirement
for on-site hydrogen storage or an external reformer.
• Can reach up to 50% efficiency and provide high-
quality heat, making them suitable for cogeneration.
The total heat and power efficiency of MCFC
applications is 60–70%.
• No noble metal catalyst is required. This reduces the
cost of cell-building by using conventional materials
like stainless steel and nickel-based alloys.
 Disadvantages
• Corrosion can dissolve nickel oxide from the cathode into the
electrolyte. This can lead to electrolyte loss, deterioration of
separator plates, probable cell short-circuits, dehydration or
flooding of electrodes, decreased performance, reduced cell life,
and cell failure. Using a platinum catalyst solves some of these
issues but eliminates the cost-saving benefit.
• Susceptible to dimensional instability, which can distort
electrodes, reduce active surface area, and induce contact loss
and excessive component resistance.
• Intolerance to sulfur. The anode can only withstand 1 -5 ppm(parts
per million) sulfur compounds (mostly H2S) in the fuel gas without
performance degradation.
• Use a liquid electrolyte, which introduces liquid handling issues.
• Take considerable time to warm up.
Phosphoric acid fuel cell
• Use phosphoric acid as the electrolyte
• Efficiency ranges from 40 to 80 percent, and
operating temperature is between 150 to 200
degrees C
• PAFCs tolerate a carbon monoxide concentration of
about 1.5 percent
• Hydrogen for the fuel cell is extracted from a
hydrocarbon fuel in an external reformer.
• If the hydrocarbon fuel is gasoline, sulfur must be
removed or it will damage the electrode catalyst
• Platinum electrode-catalysts are needed, and
internal parts must be able to withstand the
corrosive acid.
• In phosphoric acid fuel cells, protons move
through the electrolyte to the cathode to
combine with oxygen and electrons, producing
water and heat.
 Application
• This type of fuel cell is typically used for
stationary power generation, but some PAFCs
have been used to power large vehicles such
as city buses
• Can be used in small, distributed power
generation
 Advantages
• Simple construction, low electrolyte volatility,
and long-term working stability
• Are tolerant of carbon dioxide (up to 30%). So
phosphoric acid fuel cells can use clean air as
an oxidant and reformate as fuel
 Disadvantages
• Can tolerate only about 50 ppm of total sulfur
compounds
• Use a corrosive liquid electrolyte causing material
corrosion problems
• Heated steam generated by PAFCs is too low in
temperature to be used inside big, combined heat
and power (CHP) systems
• Have a liquid electrolyte, introducing liquid
handling problems. The electrolyte slowly
evaporates over time
• Allow product water to enter and dilute the
electrolyte
• Are big and heavy
• Cannot auto-reform hydrocarbon fuels
• Must be warmed up before they are operated
or be continuously maintained at their
operating temperature
 Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) fuel
cell
• In polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel
cells, protons move through the electrolyte to
the cathode to combine with oxygen and
electrons, producing water and heat.
• Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell
uses a polymeric membrane as the
electrolyte, with platinum electrodes
• These cells operate at relatively low
temperatures
 Hydrogen fuel cell
Hydrogen + Oxygen = Electricity + Water Vapor
• A PEM (Proton Exchange Membrane) cell uses
hydrogen gas (H2) and oxygen gas (O2) as fuel.
• The products of the reaction in the cell are
water, electricity, and heat.
• Pressurized Hydrogen fuel is passes through the channel
of flow field plate to the anode side and oxygen from the
air is passes through the channel of the flow field to the
cathode side of the fuel cell
• At the anode the platinum catalyst causes the hydrogen
to split into positive hydrogen ions(protons) and
negatively charged electrons
• When an H2 molecule comes in contact with the
platinum catalyst, it splits into two (H+) ions and two
electrons (e-)
• The polymer electrolyte membrane allows only the
positively charged ions to pass through it to the cathode
• The negatively charged electron must travel through the
external circuit to the cathode creating an electric
current
• Meanwhile, on the cathode side of the fuel cell, oxygen
gas (O2) is being forced through the catalyst, where it
forms two oxygen atoms.
• Each of these atoms has a strong negative charge. This
negative charge attracts the two (H+) ions through the
membrane, where they combine with an oxygen atom
and two of the electrons from the external circuit to
form a water molecule (H2O).
• At the cathode, the electrons and positively charged
hydrogen ions combines with oxygen to for water, which
flows out from the cell
 Applications
• Due to the high energetic content of hydrogen
and high efficiency of fuel cells (55%), this
great technology can be used in many
applications like transport (cars, buses,
forklifts, etc) and backup power to produce
electricity during a failure of the electricity
grid.
 Detailed functions of different
components
• Anode and cathode in electrochemical cells are
not about positive and negative, but about
oxidation and reduction.
• The anode is the electrode where oxidation
(loss of electron) takes place
• The cathode is the electrode where reduction
(gain of electron) takes place
• Electron flows from anode to cathode and
current flows from cathode to anode.
 Reformer
• It is used to purify fuel
There are three primary types of reformers:
a. Steam reformers
b. Auto-thermal reformers
c. Partial oxidation reformers

• The fundamental differences are the source of oxygen used to

combine with the hydrocarbon in the fuel to release the
hydrogen gases and the thermal balance of the chemical
process.
• Steam reformers use steam, while partial oxidation units use
oxygen gas, and auto-thermal reformers use both steam and
oxygen.
• Steam reforming is highly endothermic and takes a lot of
heat input.
• Auto-thermal reformers typically operate at or near the
thermal neutral point, and these do not generate or
consume thermal energy.
• Partial oxidation units partially oxidize the fuel (i.e., combust
a portion of the fuel), releasing heat in the process.

Since the reformer is an endothermic catalytic converter and

the fuel cell is an exothermic catalytic oxidizer, the two
combines into one with mutual thermal benefits.