Handouts: Renewable Energy System - Week 7: Fuel Cell

Handouts: Renewable Energy System_ Week 7
Fuel Cell:
Fuel cell, any of a class of devices that convert the chemical energy of a fuel directly
into electricity by electrochemical reactions. A fuel cell resembles a battery in many respects, but
it can supply electrical energy over a much longer period of time. This is because a fuel cell is
continuously supplied with fuel and air (or oxygen) from an external source, whereas a battery
contains only a limited amount of fuel material and oxidant that are depleted with use. For this
reason, fuel cells have been used for decades in space probes, satellites, and manned spacecraft.
Around the world thousands of stationary fuel cell systems have been installed in utility power
plants, hospitals, schools, hotels, and office buildings for both primary and backup power; many
waste-treatment plants use fuel cell technology to generate power from the methane gas produced
by decomposing garbage.
Principles of Operation
From chemical energy to electrical energy
A fuel cell (actually a group of cells) has essentially the same kinds of components as a battery.
As in the latter, each cell of a fuel cell system has a matching pair of electrodes. These are
the anode, which supplies electrons, and the cathode, which absorbs electrons. Both electrodes
must be immersed in and separated by an electrolyte, which may be a liquid or a solid but which
must in either case conduct ions between the electrodes in order to complete the chemistry of the
system. A fuel, such as hydrogen, is supplied 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. The difference between the respective energy levels at the electrodes (electromotive force)
is the voltage per unit cell. The amount of electric current available to the external circuit depends
on the chemical activity and amount of the substances supplied as fuels. The current-producing
process continues for as long as there is a supply of reactants, for the electrodes and electrolyte of
a fuel cell, unlike those in a regular battery, are designed to remain unchanged by chemical
reaction.
Designing fuel cell systems
Because a fuel cell produces electricity continuously from fuel, it has many output characteristics
similar to those of any other direct-current (DC) generator system. A DC generator system can be
operated in either of two ways from a planning viewpoint: (1) fuel may be burned in a heat engine
to drive an electric generator, which makes power available and current flow, or (2) fuel may be
converted to a form suitable for a fuel cell, which then generates power directly.
A wide range of liquid and solid fuels may be used for a heat-engine system, while hydrogen,
reformed natural gas (i.e., methane that has been converted to hydrogen-rich gas),
and methanol are the primary fuels available for current fuel cells. If fuels such as natural gas must
be altered in composition for a fuel cell, the net efficiency of the fuel cell system is reduced, and
much of its efficiency advantage is lost. Such an “indirect” fuel cell system would still display an
efficiency advantage as high as 20 percent. Nonetheless, to be competitive with modern thermal
generating plants, a fuel cell system must attain a good design balance with low internal electrical
losses, corrosion-resistant electrodes, an electrolyte of constant composition, low catalyst costs,
and ecologically acceptable fuels.
The first technical challenge that must be overcome in developing practical fuel cells is to design
and assemble an electrode that allows the gaseous or liquid fuel to contact a catalyst and an
electrolyte at a group of solid sites that do not change very rapidly. Thus, a three-phase reaction
situation is typical on an electrode that must also serve as an electrical conductor. Such can be
provided by thin sheets that have (1) a waterproof layer usually
with polytetrafluoroethylene (Teflon), (2) an active layer of a catalyst (e.g., platinum, gold, or a
complex organometallic compound on a carbon base), and (3) a conducting layer to carry the
current generated in or out of the electrode. If the electrode floods with electrolyte, the operation
rate will become very slow at best. If the fuel breaks through to the electrolyte side of the electrode,
the electrolyte compartment may become filled with gas or vapour, inviting an explosion should
the oxidizing gas also reach the electrolyte compartment or the fuel gas enter the oxidizing gas
compartment. In short, to maintain stable operation in a working fuel cell, careful design,
construction, and pressure control are essential. Because fuel cells have been used on Apollo lunar
flights as well as on all other U.S. orbital manned space missions (e.g., those of Gemini and
the space shuttle), it is evident that all three requirements can be met reliably.
Providing a fuel cell support system of pumps, blowers, sensors, and controls for maintaining fuel
rates, electric current load, gas and liquid pressures, and fuel cell temperature remains a major
engineering design challenge. Significant improvements in the service life of these components
under adverse conditions would contribute to the wider use of fuel cells.

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Handouts: Renewable Energy System_ Week 7

From chemical energy to electrical energy

Designing fuel cell systems

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