Energy Engineering Fundamentals (ME-539) : Department of Mechanical Engineering IIT - (BHU)
Energy Engineering Fundamentals (ME-539) : Department of Mechanical Engineering IIT - (BHU)
Energy Engineering Fundamentals (ME-539) : Department of Mechanical Engineering IIT - (BHU)
Fundamentals (ME-539)
Convenor:
Prof. S.K. Shukla
Department of Mechanical Engineering
IIT (BHU), Varanasi-221005
Introduction
• Lightest
• Most abundant
• Colorless
• Odorless
• Non-toxic
• Non-carcinogenic gas
• Not found by itself on Earth but it is available in molecular
form combined with another constituent as a compound
(e.g. water, methane)
Hydrogen Sources
Hydrogen is available from a variety of sources. The
percentage of hydrogen produced by different sources are
given below:
Comparison of Hydrogen gas
with other fuels
Demand and Supply
Methods for production of Hydrogen
1. Thermochemical Processes 3. Direct Solar Water Splitting
• Natural gas reforming (also Processes
called steam methane reforming • Photoelectrochemical (PEC)
or SMR) • Photobiological
• Biomass gasification
• Biomass-derived liquid
reforming
• Solar thermochemical hydrogen
(STCH)
4. Biological Processes
2. Electrolytic Processes • Microbial biomass conversion
• Electrolysis • Photobiological
Cont..
Fuel Cell
Fuel Cell
• Fuel cells are electrochemical cells consisting of two electrodes
and an electrolyte which convert the chemical energy of
reaction between fuel and oxidant directly into electrical
energy.
Working Principle
• A fuel cell is composed of an anode, cathode, and an
electrolyte membrane. A typical fuel cell works by passing
hydrogen through the anode of a fuel cell and oxygen
through the cathode. At the anode site, a catalyst splits the
hydrogen molecules into electrons and protons.
• The protons pass through the porous electrolyte
membrane, while the electrons are forced through a circuit,
generating an electric current and excess heat. At the
cathode, the protons, electrons, and oxygen combine to
produce water molecules.
• Addressing critical climate challenges issue as there are no
carbon dioxide emissions.
Type of fuel cells
Combustion
Fuel Oxygen Heat
product
Oxidation Electricity
Fuel Oxygen
Product
Advantages of Fuel Cells
1. High efficiency of energy conversion (approaching 60%) from
chemical energy to electrical energy.
2. Fuel cells have lower or zero emissions compared to
combustion engines.
3. Fuel cell power can reduce expensive transmission lines &
minimize transmission losses for a disturbed system.
4. Fuel cells are less polluting. The chemical process involved in it
is clean. It does not produce polluting exhaust. Mostly the
byproducts are water & waste heat, which are environmentally
acceptable when hydrogen & air are used as reactants.
5. As there are no moving parts, fuel cells operate silently and with
extremely high reliability.
Disadvantages of Fuel Cells