Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

Visvesvaraya Technological University

Belagavi, Karnataka-590 014

A Seminar Report on
“Fuel Cell & Its Application”

A Project Seminar Report Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirement

For the Award of the Degree of

Bachelor of Engineering
in
Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Submitted By:

ABHINAV PATHAK
USN: 1MJ13EE001
Under the guidance of

Mr. H.SATHISH KUMAR

Assistant Professor
EEE DEPT. MVJCE

M V J College of Engineering, Bengaluru

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.

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Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

M V J College of Engineering, Bengaluru

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
2018-19

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the seminar titled “Fuel Cell & Its Application” is a bona
fide work carried out by ABHINAV PATHAK (1MJ13EE001) in partial
fulfillment for the award of Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical and Electronics
Engineering of the Visvesvaraya Technological University, Belagavi during the
academic year 2018-19. It is certified that all corrections and suggestions indicated
for Internal Assessment have been incorporated in the report. The report has been
approved as it satisfies the academic requirements in respect of seminar prescribed
for the Bachelor of Engineering Degree.

Signature of Guide Signature of HOD

MR. H.SATHISH KUMAR Mrs. PREMALATHA P
Assistant Professor HOD
Dept. of EEE Dept. of EEE
MVJCE MVJCE

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Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

M V J College of Engineering, Bengaluru

Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering
2018-19

DECLARATION
I, ABHINAV PATHAK (1MJ13EE001), hereby declare that the seminar titled
“Fuel Cell & Its Application” has been completed and written by me under the
supervision of Mr. H.Sathish Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of
Electrical and Electronics Engineering, MVJCE - Bangalore, in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of Bachelor of Engineering in
Electrical and Electronics Engineering, of Visvesvaraya Technological University,
Belagavi. The seminar report is original and it has not been submitted for any other
degree in any university.

ABHINAV PATHAK

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Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The satisfaction that accompanies the successful completion of this seminar

report would be incomplete without the mention of the people who made it possible.
Without whose constant guidance and encouragement, would have made efforts go
in vain. I consider myself privileged to express gratitude and respect towards all
those who guided us through the completion of this seminar.

I am grateful to Mrs. P PREMALATHA, HOD, Electrical and

Electronics Engineering, for giving me the support and encouragement that was
necessary for the completion of this seminar. In this context, I would also like to
thank all the other staff members, both teaching and non-teaching, who have
extended their timely help to ease my tasks.

I convey thanks to my seminar guide Mr. H.SATHISH KUMAR,

Assistant Professor, Department of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, for
providing encouragement, constant support and guidance which was of great help
to complete this seminar successfully.

I also acknowledge our beloved Principal Dr. NAGARAJ SITARAM, who

has always been and shall always be a source of motivation to us.

I would like to express my heart-felt gratitude to my parents and friends for

their continued moral and material support throughout the course and in helping me
finalize the seminar report.

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Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

ABSTRACT

Fuel cells directly and efficiently convert chemical energy to

electrical energy. During the last decade, fuel cells have
received enormous attention from research institutions and
companies as novel electrical energy conversion systems. In the
near future, they will see application in automotive propulsion,
distributed power generation, and in low power portable
devices (battery replacement). This review talks about the
different types of fuel cells and their fundamentals. Various
characteristics of the different fuel cell types such as operating
temperatures, efficiencies, are compared. There are several
different types of fuel cell but they are all based around a central
design. A fuel cell unit consists of a stack, which is composed
of a number of individual cells. Each cell within the stack has
two electrodes, one positive and one negative, called the
cathode and the anode. Fuel cells have a broader range of
application than any other currently available power source -
from toys to large power plants, from vehicles to mobile
chargers, and from household power to battlefield power.

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Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

LIST OF CONTENT

1) Fuel Cell 07

2) Schematic Diagram and explanation 09

3) Challenges &Benefits 11

4) Performance 13

5) Conclusion 14

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Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

INTRODUCTION

Fuel cells generate electricity by an electrochemical reaction in

which oxygen and a hydrogen-rich fuel combine to form water.
Unlike internal combustion engines, the fuel is not combusted,
the energy instead being released electrocatalytically. This
allows fuel cells to be highly energy efficient, especially if the
heat produced by the reaction is also harnessed for space
heating, hot water or to drive refrigeration cycles.
A fuel cell is like a battery in that it generates electricity from
an electrochemical reaction. Both batteries and fuel cells
convert chemical potential energy into electrical energy and
also, as a by-product of this process, into heat energy. However,
a battery holds a closed store of energy within it and once this
is depleted the battery must be discarded, or recharged by using
an external supply of electricity to drive the electrochemical
reaction in the reverse direction. A fuel cell, on the other hand,
uses. an external supply of chemical energy and can run
indefinitely, as long as it is supplied with a source of hydrogen
and a source of oxygen (usually air).
There are several different types of fuel cell but they are all
based around a central design. A fuel cell unit consists of a
stack, which is composed of a number of individual cells. Each
cell within the stack has two electrodes, one positive and one
negative, called the cathode and the anode. The reactions that
produce electricity take place at the electrodes. Every fuel cell
also has either a solid or a liquid electrolyte, which carries ions
from one electrode to the other, and a catalyst, which
accelerates the reactions at the electrodes. The electrolyte plays
a key role - it must permit only the appropriate ions to pass
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Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

between the electrodes. If free electrons or other substances

travel through the electrolyte, they disrupt the chemical reaction
and lower the efficiency of the cell.
Fuel cells are generally classified according to the nature of
the electrolyte (except for direct methanol fuel cells which are
named for their ability to use methanol as a fuel), each type
requiring particular materials and fuel. Each fuel cell type also
has its own operational characteristics, offering advantages to
particular applications. This makes fuel cells a very versatile
technology.

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Schematic Diagram & Explanation

• The working of this fuel cell involved the passing of

hydrogen and oxygen into a concentrated solution of
sodium hydroxide via carbon electrodes. The cell reaction
can be written as follows:
• Cathode Reaction: O2 + 2H2O + 4e– → 4OH–
• Anode Reaction: 2H2 + 4OH– → 4H2O + 4e–
• Net Cell Reaction: 2H2 + O2 → 2H2O

However, the reaction rate of this electrochemical reaction is

quite low. This issue is overcome with the help of a catalyst

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Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

such as platinum or palladium. In order to increase the effective

surface area, the catalyst is finely divided before being
incorporated into the electrodes.

The efficiency of the fuel cell described above in the generation

of electricity generally approximates to 70% whereas thermal
power plants have an efficiency of 40%.

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Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

Challenges & Benefits

Cost Reduction

The high capital cost for fuel cells is by far the largest factor
contributing to the limited market penetration of fuel cell
technology.
Fuel Flexibility

Fuel cells must be developed to use widely available fossil

fuels, handle variations in fuel composition, and operate
without detrimental impact to the environment or the fuel cell.
The capability of running on renewable and waste fuels is
essential to capturing market opportunities for fuel cells.
System Integration

Two key systems integration issues for the success of fuel

cells are:
(1) The development and demonstration of integrated
systems in grid connected and transportation applications.
(2) Development and demonstration of hybrid systems
for achieving very high efficiencies.
Endurance and Reliability

Fuel cells could be great sources of premium power if

demonstrated to have superior reliability, power quality, and if
they could be shown to provide power for long continuous
periods of time.

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Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

Innovative Technical Development

Fuel cells need to experience a few breakthroughs in

technology development to become competitive with other
advanced power generation technologies.
Benefits

• Fuel cells have a higher efficiency than diesel or gas

engines.
• Most fuel cells operate silently, compared to internal
combustion engines. They are therefore ideally suited
for use within buildings such as hospitals.
• Fuel cells can eliminate pollution caused by burning
fossil fuels; for hydrogen fuelled fuel cells, the only
by-product at point of use is water.
• If the hydrogen comes from the electrolysis of water
driven by renewable energy, then using fuel cells
eliminates greenhouse gases over the whole cycle.
• Fuel cells do not need conventional fuels such as oil or
gas and can therefore reduce economic dependence on
oil producing countries, creating greater energy
security for the user nation.
• Unlike batteries, fuel cells have no "memory effect"
when they are getting refuelled.
• The maintenance of fuel cells is simple since there are
few moving parts in the system.
• Low temperature fuel cells (PEMFC, DMFC) have low
heat transmission which makes them ideal for military
applications.

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Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

Performance

The performance of a fuel cell is governed by its Polarization

Curve.

This type of performance curve shows the DC voltage delivered

at the cell terminals as a function of the current density (current
per unit area of membrane) being drawn by the external load.

One measure of the energy conversion efficiency of a fuel cell

is the ratio of the actual voltage at a given current density to the
maximum voltage obtained under no load (open circuit)
conditions.

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Fuel Cell & Its Application Seminar Report

Conclusion

Hydrogen fuel cells are a promising alternative to current

automobile fuels. They essentially combine the energy density
and the convenience of liquid fuels with the clean and efficient
operation of electric vehicles. Although certain aspects of the
technology such as efficient on-board storage still require some
improvement, there are no reasons why hydrogen couldn’t
become an equally convenient and attractive transportation fuel
as diesel or gasoline are today.

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REFERENCES

1. Thomas, S. & Zalbowitz,M. “Fuel Cells-Green Power”,

Los Alamos National Laboratory,
http://education.lanl.gov/resources/fuelcells/fuelcells.pd
f
2. Fuel Cell Technology.pdf.
3. Larmanie, J. & Dicks, A. 2000 Fuel Cell Systems
Explained, John Wiley & Sons.
4. R. B. Gupta, Hydrogen Fuel: Production, Transport and
Storage (CRC Press, 2008).
5. A. V. da Rosa, Fundamentals of Renewable Energy
Processes, (Academic Press, 2005).
6. Blomen, Leo, and Michael Mugerwa. Fuel Cell Systems.
New York: Plenum Press, 1993.
7.

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