Generation of Power using Fuel Cell
Document By
SANTOSH BHARADWAJ REDDY
Email: help@matlabcodes.com
Engineeringpapers.blogspot.com
More Papers and Presentations available on above site
Abstract:
Power is the major aspect for a human
being. Without power there is no world. Power can
be generated in many ways [1], like, coal, water,
nuclear etc. Generation of power from non
conventional energy [2] source improves the system
efficiency, reliability and reduces pollution [3]. One
of such non conventional energy source is a FUEL
CELL [4], which is a complete pollution free and we
can generate the fuel from naturally [5] available
source i.e. water. This paper will explain working,
significance [6], advantages, disadvantages,
performance and various types [7] of Fuel Cell.
Key Words: Fuel Cell, PEMFC, SOFC.
1. INTRODUCTION
Fuel Cell is like a power plant that takes fuel as
input and produces electricity as output. A Fuel Cell
will continue to churn out product (electricity) as long
as raw material (fuel) is supplied. This is a key
difference between Fuel Cell [1] and a battery. It is a
shell, which transform the chemical energy stored in a
fuel into electrical energy.
Fig. 1: General representation of Hydrogen – Oxygen
Fuel Cell
Combustion engines are also “chemical factories”.
Combustion engines also take the chemical energy
stored in a fuel and transform it into useful mechanical
or electrical energy. The difference between a
combustion engine [2] and a Fuel Cell is, in a
conventional combustion engine, fuel is burned
releasing heat. Consider the simplest example, the
combustion of hydrogen.
1
H 2 +O 2 ↔ H 2 O (1)
2
On the molecular scale, collisions between hydrogen
molecules and oxygen molecules result in a reaction.
The hydrogen molecules are oxidized [3], producing
water and releasing heat. Specifically, at the atomic
scale, in a matter of picoseconds, hydrogen-hydrogen
bonds and oxygen-oxygen bonds are broken, while
hydrogen-oxygen bonds are formed. These bonds are
broken and formed by the transfer of electrons between
the molecules. The energy of the product water bonding
configuration is lower than the bonding [4]
configuration of the initial hydrogen and oxygen gases.
This energy difference is released as heat. Although the
energy difference between the initial and final states
occur by a reconfiguration of electrons [5] as they move
from one bonding state to another, this energy is
recoverable [6] only as heat because the bonding
reconfiguration occurs in picoseconds at an intimate,
sub atomic scale. To produce electricity [7], this heat
energy must be converted into mechanical energy and
then the mechanical energy must be converted into
electrical energy. Going through all these steps is
potentially complex and in efficient.
An alternative solution is to produce electricity
directly from the chemical reaction by some how
harnessing the electrons as they move from high energy
reactant bonds to low energy product bonds. In fact,
this is exactly what a Fuel Cell does.
2. FUEL CELL
In Fig. 2, the hydrogen combustion reaction is split
into two electrochemical half reactions:
H 2 ↔2H + +2e −
(2)
1 O +2H + +2e − ↔H O
2 2 2
 Fig. 2: A simple Fuel Cell
By spatially separating these reactions, the electrons
transfer from the fuel due forced to flow through an
external circuit (electric circuit) and do useful work
before they can complete the reaction.
Spatial separation is accomplished by employing
electrolyte. An electrolyte is a material that allows ions
(charged atoms) to flow but not electrons. At a
minimum, a fuel cell must posses two electrodes, when
the two electrochemical half reactions occur, separated
by an electrolyte.
Fig. 2 shows an extremely simple H2-O2 fuel cell.
This fuel cell consists of two platinum/titanium
electrodes dipped into sulfuric acid (an aqueous acid
electrolyte). Hydrogen gas, bubbled across the left
electrode, is split into protons (H+) and electrons. The
protons can flow through the electrolyte but the
electrons cannot. Instead, the electrons flow from left to
right through a piece of wire that connects the
platinum/titanium electrode. Note that the resulting
current is in opposite directions, when the electrons
reach the right electrode, they recombine with protons
and bubbling oxygen gas to produce water. If a load is
introduced along the path of the electrons, the flowing
electrons will provide power to the load.
Fig. 3: Complete Block Diagram of Fuel Cell
3. OPERATION OF FUEL CELL
The current produced by a Fuel Cell scales with the
size of the reaction area where the reactants, electrodes
and the electrolyte meet. In other words, doubling a fuel
cell’s area approximately doubles the amount of current
produced.
Fig. 4: Simplified Planar Anode-Electrolyte-Cathode
structure of a Fuel Cell
The explanation comes from a deeper under standing
of the fundamental principles involved in the electro-
chemical generation of electricity. Fuel cell produces
electricity by converting a primary energy source into a
flow of electrons. This conversion necessarily involves
an energy transfer step, where the energy from the fuel
source is passed along to the electron constituting the
electric current. This transfer has a finite rate and must
occur at an interface or reaction surface. Thus, the
amount of electricity produced scales with the amount
of reaction surface area or interfacial area available for
the energy transfer. Larger surface areas translate into
large currents.
Fig. 5: Cross section of Fuel Cell illustrating major
steps in electrochemical generation of electricity. (1)
Reactant Transport (2) Electrochemical reaction (3)
Ionic and electronic conduction (4) Product Removal
To provide large reaction surfaces that maximize
surface to volume ratios, Fuel Cells are usually made
into thin planar structures, as shown in Fig. The
electrodes are highly porous to further increase the
reaction surface area and ensure good gas access. One
side of the planar structure is provisional with fuel
(anode electrode), while the other side is provisional
with oxidant (cathode electrode). A thin electrolyte
layer spatially separates the fuel and oxidant electrodes
and ensures that the two individual half reactions occur
in isolation from one another.
The real voltage output of a Fuel Cell can thus be
written by starting with thermo dynamically predicted
voltage output of the Fuel Cell and then subtracting the
voltage drops due to the various losses.
V = E thermo − ε act − ε ohmic − ε conc (3)
where, V – Real output voltage of fuel cell
Ethermo – Thermodynamically predicted fuel cell output
voltage.
εact – Activation losses due to reaction kinetics.
εohmic – Ohmic losses from ionic and electronic
conduction.
εconc – Concentration loss due to mass transport.
Advantages:
As Fuel Cell is solid state and mechanically ideal,
meaning no moving parts, this yields the potential for
highly reliable and long lasting systems. A lack of
moving parts also means that fuel cell is silent.
Undesirable products such as NOx, SOx and particulate
emissions are virtually zero.
Batteries scale poorly at large sizes while fuel cells
scale well from 1W range to megawatt range. Fuel cells
offer potentially higher energy densities compared to
batteries and can be quickly recharged by refueling.
Disadvantages:
Cost represents a major barrier to fuel cell
implementation. Power density is another significant
limitation. Power density expresses how much power a
fuel cell can produce / unit volume or per unit mass.
Operates at higher temperatures, alternative fuels (eg.
Methanol, formic acid etc.) are difficult to use directly
and usually requires reforming, which increases the
requirements for ancillary equipment.
4. FUEL CELL TYPES
There are five major types of Fuel Cells,
differentiated [7] from one another by their electrolyte.
1. Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC)
2. Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell
(PEMFC)
3. Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC)
4. Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC)
5. Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC)
While all five fuel cell types are based upon the same
underlying electrochemical principle, they all operate at
different temperature regions, incorporate different
material and often differ in their fuel tolerance and
performance characteristics.
Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC): It employs a liquid
H3PO4 (immobilized) as an electrolyte. H+ are the
charge carriers in PAFC. The cell components are
carbon based which uses platinum as catalyst.
Operating temperature is up to 2000C, H2 is used as fuel
for PAFC.
Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC): It
employs a thin polymer membrane as an electrolyte (the
membrane looks and feels a lot like plastic wrap).
Protons are the ionic charge carrier in a PEMFC
membrane. Electrochemical half reactions in a H2-O2
PEMFC are
H2→2H+ + 2e—
1 O 2 + 2H ++ 2e − → H2 O (4)
2
PEMFC are attractive for many applications,
because they operate at low temperature (≤ 800C) and
have high power density. Fuel used is of hydrogen or
methanol (CH4).
Fig. 6: PEMFC
Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC): AFC uses liquid KoH
(immobilized) as electrolyte with OH—as charge carrier,
which operates at 60-2200C temperature with platinum
as catalyst. The cell components are carbon based with
H2 as fuel compatibility.
Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC): MCFC uses
molten carbonate as electrolyte with CO32− as charge
carrier, which operates at 6500C temperature with
nickel as catalyst. The cell components are stainless
based with H2 or CH4 as fuel compatibility.
Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC): SOFC uses ceramic as
electrolyte with O 2 − as charge carriers; it operates at
600-10000C temperature with Perovskites (ceramic) as
catalyst. The cell components are ceramic based with
H2 or CH4 or Co as fuel compatibility.
5. FUEL CELL THERMODYNAMICS
Thermodynamics is the study of energetics, the
study of the transformation of energy from one form to
another. Since fuel cells are energy conversion devices,
fuel cell thermodynamics is key to understanding the
conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy.
First Law: First law of thermodynamics is also known
as the law of conversion of energy – energy can never
be created or destroyed.
d(Energy)univ = d(Energy)sysem + d(Energy)surr = 0 (5)
This equation states that any change in the energy of
a system must be fully accounted for by energy transfer
to the surroundings.
d(Energy)system = -d(Energy)surroundings (6)
There are two ways that energy can be transferred
between a closed system and its surrounding via heat
(Q) or work (W). Therefore,
dU = dQ – dW (7)
This expression states that the change in the interval
energy of a closed system (dU) must be equal to the
heat transferred to the system (dQ) minus the work
done by the system (dW). It is assumed that only
mechanical work is done by a system. Mechanical work
is accomplished by the expansion of a system against a
pressure. It is given by,
(dW)mech = pdV. (6)
where p is pressure and dV is the volume change
Finally we can rewrite the expression for the internal
energy change of a system as
dU = dQ – pdV (7)
Second Law: Second law of thermodynamics introduces
the concept of entropy. Entropy is determined by the
number of possible microstates accessible to a system.
For an isolated system:
S = k *log Ω (8)
where S is the total entropy of the system
k is Boltzmann’s constant
Ω denotes the number of possible microstates
accessible to the system.
Fig. 7: Entropy of 100 atom perfect crystal
Consider the perfect system of 100 identical atoms
shown in Fig.7. There is only one possible microstate,
or configuration for this system. This is because the 100
atoms are exactly identical and indistinguishable from
one another. If we were to switch the first and the
second atoms the system would look exactly the same.
The entropy of this perfect 100 atom crystal is therefore
zero (S=k*log1=0). In Fig.7 three atoms have been
removed from their original locations and placed on the
surface of the crystal. Any three atoms could have been
removed from the crystal and depending on which
atoms were removed; the final configuration of the
system will be different. We can calculate the number
of microstates available to the system by evaluating the
number of possible ways there are to take N atoms from
a total of Z atoms.
Z (Z− 1)(Z − 2)...(Z N− 1) + Z!
Ω = = (9)
N! −(Z N )! N !
Gibbs free energy (G): The energy needed to create a
system and make room for it minus the energy that you
can get from the environment due to heat transfer. In
other words, G represents the net energy cost for a
system created at a constant environmental temperature
T from a negligible initial volume after subtracting
what the environment automatically supplied.
G = U + pV – TS (10)
where TS – Energy from the environment
pV – Expansion work
Relation for Electric Work:
Let us find the maximum amount of electrical work
that we can extract from a fuel cell reaction, we define a
change in Gibbs free energy as
dG = dU – TdS – SdT + pdV + Vdp (11)
we can insert the expression for dU based on
the first law of thermodynamics into this equation.
dU = TdS – dW = TdS – (pdV+dWelec) (12)
Which yields dG as
dG = -SdT + Vdp - dWelec (13)
For a constant – temperature, constant – pressure
process (dT, dp=0) this reduces to
dG = -dWelec (14)
The maximum electrical work that a system can
perform in a constant – temperature, constant – pressure
process is given by the –ve of the Gibbs free energy
difference for the process. For a reaction using molar
quantities, this equation can be written as
Welec = -∆ g rxn (15)
Relation for Voltage:
The potential of a system to perform electrical work
is measured by voltage (also called electrical potential).
The electrical work done by moving a charge Q,
measured in coulombs, through an electrical potential
difference E in volt is
Welec = EQ (16)
If the charge is assumed to be carried by electrons
Q = nF (17)
where n is number of moles of electrons transferred and
F is faradays constant. Combining the above equations,
we have
∆g = −nFE
(18)
 Thus, the Gibbs free energy sets the magnitude of
the reversible voltage for electrochemical reactions.
Therefore,
∆g rxn
Eo = − (19)
nF
where Eo is the standard state reversible voltage.
∆g rxn is the standard state free energy change for
the reaction. Fig. 11: Leakage Current Loss on Fuel Cell
Performance.
6. MODELING OF FUEL CELL
Parameter PEMFC SOFC
Real voltage output of a fuel cell is
V = Ethermo – ηact – ηohmic – ηconc (20) Temperature 350K 1000K
Ethermo 1.22V 1.06V
Activation losses ηact could be described by Butler – jo (HL) 0.1 A/cm2 10 A/cm2
Volmer Equation jo (OL) 10-4 A/cm2 0.1 A/cm2
ηact = (aA + bA ln j) + (aC + bC ln j) (21) ASR ohmic 0.01Ωcm 2
0.04 Ω cm2
Activation losses from both anode (A) and cathode (C) C 0.1V 0.1V
based on natural logarithm from of Butler – Volmer
Table1: Summary of Parameter for PEMFC vs SOFC
equation.
ηohmic = j ASRohmic Ohmic resistance loss based on
current density and ASR (Area Specific Resistance)
ηconc = c ln[jL/(jL-j)] combined Fuel Cell concentration
loss where C is an empirical constant.

Fig. 12: Comparison of typical PEMFC & SOFC

Basic fuel cell model requires four parameters. Two

Fig. 8: Reversible Voltage and Activation losses of Fuel parameter (α and jo) describe losses one parameter
Cell (ASRohmic) describes the Ohmic losses and one
parameter (jL) describes the concentration losses.

7. FUEL CELL EFFICIENCY

For any energy conversion device, efficiency is of
great importance. We define the efficiency η of a
conversion process as the amount of useful energy that
can be extracted from the process relative to the total
energy evolved by that process.
Fig. 9: Ohmic and Concentration losses
useful energy
η= (22)
total energy
If we wish to extract work from a chemical reaction, the
work
efficiency is η= (23)
∆h
For a fuel cell, recall that the maximum amount of
energy available to do work is given by Gibbs free
energy. Thus, the reversible η of a fuel cell can be
Fig. 10: Net Fuel Cell Performance written as
∆g
ηthermo,fc= (24)
∆h
The real efficiency of a fuel cell η may be calculated
H
y
d
gr
o
ge
nR
e
a
ct
i
on
1
5
0
0

real

η real = η thermo * η voltage * η fuel 1

0
0
0

(25)
η thermo – Reversible thermodynamic efficiency of the 5
0
0

fuel cell
η voltage – Voltage efficiency of the fuel cell
0
0 5
0
0 1
0
0
0 1
5
0
0 2
0
00 2
5
00 3
0
0
0 3
5
0
0 4
0
00 4
5
0
0 5
0
0
0

η fuel – Fuel utilization efficiency of the fuel cell. Fig. 14(d) Hydrogen reaction inside Fuel Cell
H
e
atL
o
ss

η voltage = V / E
4
0
0

3
5
0

V – Operating voltage of fuel cell 3

0
0

E – Thermodynamically reversible voltage of the fuel

2
5
0

2
0
0

cell 1
5
0

1
0
0

5
0

0
0 5
0
0 1
0
00 1
5
00 2
0
00 2
5
00 3
0
00 3
5
00 4
0
00 4
5
00 5
0
00

Fig. 14(e) Heat loss in the Fuel Cell

C
u
rr
ent
2
5

2
0

1
5

1
0

Fig. 13: Efficiency of H2 – O2 Fuel Cell 0

0 5
00 1
00
0 1
50
0 2
00
0 2
50
0 3
00
0 3
50
0 4
00
0 4
50
0 5
00
0

i / nF Fig. 14(f) Output Current of Fuel Cell

η fuel = or η fuel = 1/λ
Vfuel 4
0

3
8
V
olta
ge

(26) 3
6

Vfuel – Rate at which fuel is supplied to the fuel cell

3
4

3
2

(mol/sec) 3
0

2
8

8. SIMULATION RESULTS
2
6

2
4

H
y
dr
o
gen
Pr
es
su
r
e 2
2
0
.
72 0 5
00 1
00
0 1
50
0 2
00
0 2
50
0 3
00
0 3
50
0 4
00
0 4
50
0 5
00
0

0
.
71

0
.
7

0
.
69
Fig. 14(g) Output Voltage of Fuel Cell
T
e
mp
ar
at
ure
in
Ke
lv
in
0
.
68 3
22

0
.
67
3
20

0
.
66

3
18

0
.
65

3
16
0
.
64

0
.
63 3
14

0
.
62
0 5
0
0 1
0
00 1
5
00 2
0
00 2
5
00 3
0
00 3
5
00 4
0
00 4
5
00 5
0
00 3
12

3
10

Fig. 14(a) Pressure of Hydrogen Gas 3

08

O
x
y
ge
nP
r
es
su
r
e
1
3
06
0 5
0
0 1
00
0 1
50
0 2
0
00 2
5
00 3
00
0 3
50
0 4
00
0 4
50
0 5
00
0

0
.
95

0
.
9
Fig. 14(h) Operating Temperature of Fuel Cell in K
0
.
85

0
.
8
9. CONCLUSION
The non-conventional energy source i.e. Fuel cell is
0
.
75

0
.
7

0
.
65
0 5
0
0 1
0
00 1
5
00 2
0
00 2
5
00 3
0
00 3
5
00 4
0
00 4
5
00 5
0
00
more efficient and less polluting device. The
construction and working of the Fuel Cell is as much as
Fig. 14(b) Pressure of Oxygen
6
0
0
simple like a battery. The efficiency of Fuel Cell is
5
0
0
compared with Carnot cycle and proved that the Fuel
4
0
0
Cell efficiency is more with less operating temperature.
3
0
0 Since the temperature and unit cost of Fuel Cells is less,
2
0
0
these cells can be implemented in all regions.
1
0
0

0
0 5
0
0 1
0
00 1
5
00 2
0
00 2
5
00 3
0
00 3
5
00 4
0
00 4
5
00 5
0
00 10. REFERENCES
Fig. 14(c) Output Power from Fuel Cell [1] C. Berger, “Handbook of Fuel Cell Technolog,y”
Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1968.
[2] T.V. Nguyen and R.E. White. “Water and heat
management model for PEMFC,” Journal of
Electrochemical Society, 140: 2178, 1993.
[3] R.L. Borup and N.E. Vanderborgh. “Design and
Testing criteria for bipolar plate materials for
PEM fuel cell application,”. Material Research
society symposium Proceedings, 393, pp 151-155,
1995.
[4] W. Vielstich, A. Lamm and H.A. Gasteiger. “Hand
Book of Fuel Cells,” Vol.2 Wiely, New York,
2003.
[5] Ballard Transportation Products “A 600V 300 MS
High Power Electric Drive System”. Ballard
Power Corporation, Vancouver, BC, 2004.
[6] C. Wang, M.H. Nehrir and S.R. Shaw, “Dynamic
Models and Model Validation for PEM Fuel Cells
using Electrical Circuits,” IEEE Transactions on
Energy Conversion, Vol. 20, No. 2, June 2005, pp
442-451.
[7] Ryan P.O’Hayre, Suk-won Cha, Whitney Coleela
and Fritz B. Prinz. “Fuel Cell Fundamentals,”
Wiley, New York, 2006.

Document By
SANTOSH BHARADWAJ REDDY
Email: help@matlabcodes.com
Engineeringpapers.blogspot.com
More Papers and Presentations
available on above site