Port Said University ‫ﺟﺎﻣﻌـــﺔ ﺑـﻮرﺳــﻌﯿـﺪ‬

Faculty of Engineering ‫ﻛﻠــﯿﺔ اﻟﮭــــﻨﺪﺳﺔ‬

Mechanical Power Eng. Dept. ‫ﻗﺴﻢ ھﻨﺪﺳﺔ اﻟﻘﻮى اﻟﻤﯿﻜﺎﻧﯿﻜﯿﺔ‬

3RD Year Mechanical Power

MPE 331

Dr. Mohamed Hammam

2019
 Course Contents
Lecture 1 INTRODUCTION
Lecture 2 FOSSIL FUELS
Lecture 3 Biofuels
Lecture 4 Fuel Cells
Lecture 5 Nuclear energy
Lecture 6
Lecture 7
Lecture 8
Lecture 9
Lecture 9
Lecture 10
Lecture 11
Lecture 12
Lecture 13
Lecture 14
Lecture 4 Fuel Cells
Energy Resources Classifications

Figure 1 : IEA, 2005. Energy statistics manual

 Fundamentals
Fuel cell produces electricity from materials which are normally combusted to give power. It eliminates the middle
steps in the series:

Chemical Energy -> Thermal Energy -> Mechanical Energy -> Electrical Energy

2H2 + O2 → 2H2 O

Chemical Energy -> Electrical Energy

Advantages over combustion for low scale applications:

1- Simplicity,
2- Unlimited theoretical efficiency,
3- environmental .
 Construction
FUEL / ELECTRODE / ELECTROLYTE / ELECTRODE / OXIDANT

Figure 1 Schematic of the basic Fuel Cell.

 Operation
If hydrogen gas is in contact with a solution containing hydrogen ions at a suitable inert electrode, following reactions
occurs at the Anode:

H2 + OH − → H2 O + 2 e−

If gaseous oxygen is in contact with a solution containing hydroxyl ions at a suitable inert electrode, there is a
potential between the electrode and the electrolyte due to the equilibrium

O2 + H2 O + 2 e− → 2 OH −

The overall reaction is the sum of these three processes, and is the same as the combustion reaction. In this case the
energy of the reaction is liberated directly as electrical energy.

H2 + 0.5 O2 → H2 O
 Fuels
In theory all fuels can be made to undergo a suitable anode reaction, but a successful fuel cell requires appreciable
chemical conversion under conditions which are attainable practically, such as:

Hydrogen Hydrocarbon
 Hydrogen
• Advantages:

1- The relative ease and simplicity of electrode reactions,

2- reaction product is water.

Production of Hydrogen through Steam reforming of organic fuels, such as methanol and propane:
CH3 OH + H2 O → 3H2 +CO2
C3 H8 + 6H2 O → 10H2 +3 CO2
• Disadvantages of reforming process:

-The reformation process requires heat which must be supplied by direct combustion of the fuel, or from
the output of the fuel cell.

- Presence of carbon dioxide which may have to be removed by chemical scrubbing.

• Advantages of reforming process:

Methanol, Propane and other hydrocarbon fuels are cheap and easy to store and handle.
 Hydrocarbons
• Uses the carbonate ion (CO32-) in the electrolyte

Figure 2 Charge transfer process in a carbonate fuel cell.

A reforming reaction produces simple fuel molecules from the complex one; to increase the reactivity at electrodes.
n
CHn + aCO2 + (1 − a)H2 O → (1 + a) CO + ( + 1 − a)H2
2

Anode: H2 + CO + 2CO2−
3 → H2 O+ 3CO2 + 4e
−

Cathode: 4e− +2CO2 + O2 → 2CO2−

3
Oxidants
 Oxygen
Oxygen is the only oxidant used in practical systems, because of its convenience, cheapness and availability.

The nature of the electrode reaction depends on the electrolyte.

In acid solutions the cathode reaction is:

O2 +4H + + 4e → 2H2 O

and in alkaline solutions the reaction is:

O2 +2H2 O + 4e → 4OH −
 Air
• Advantages:

- Free and immediately available in unlimited quantities for most purposes.

• Disadvantages:

- Larger cells and pumping units than the Oxygen unit,

- Carbon dioxide is unacceptable in many cells and must be removed from the air by scrubbing

- In any immobile power production unit the oxygen could be made on site by liquefaction of air.

- For transport applications, pure oxygen would be less attractive than air, except for space,
and underwater applications.
 Electrodes
• The electrodes in a fuel cell have three main functions:
1- Act as current carriers, conducting the electrons to or from the source of the electrode reactions.
2- They provide an interface between the fuel or oxidant and the electrolyte.
3- They provide any catalytic action necessary for the electrode reaction.
4- the electrodes should contribute to the overall mechanical strength of the unit

• Characteristics

- Any materials used in the electrode must be able to withstand the corrosive effects of the electrolyte,
and the operating temperature of the cell,

- It must be a good conductor of electricity.

- To provide an interface between the fuel or oxidant and the electrolyte, the electrode must be porous.

The most effective catalyst is platinum

 Fuel Cell Types
Fuel Cells Electrolyte

Alkaline Phosphoric Acid Proton Exchange membrane

AFC PAFC PEMFC

Table 1 Fuel cell types

Fuel Cell Type Charge Electrolyte Type Typical Operating Fuel and Oxidant
Carrier Temperature (°C)
AFC OH+ Potassium hydroxide ≈ 60–120 H2, O2
or sodium solution
PAFC H+ Phosphoric acid ≈ 220 Pure H2
PEMFC H+ Solid polymer (Nafion) ≈ 80 Pure H2
• Alkaline Fuel Cell
- An AFC uses either potassium hydroxide solution (KOH) or sodium hydroxide (NaOH) as the electrolyte.

- The transporting ions through the electrolyte is a hydroxyl (OH–) ion, moving from cathode to anode.

- The operating efficiency of AFC is quite high, in the range of 60%–70%.

- A strongly alkaline electrolyte like NaOH and KOH absorb CO2, which reduces electrolyte conductivity considerably.
Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell
• A PAFC uses phosphoric acid (H3PO4) as the liquid electrolyte solution and a hydrogen ion (H+) as the migrating
ion through it,

• PAFCs are referred to as intermediate-temperature fuel cells with an operating temperature of around 200°C to
give adequate electrode reaction,

• Typical efficiency is 55%, which is relatively low compared to other types of fuel cell,

• Phosphoric acid must be used at high temperatures, if an acid electrolyte is needed because of carbon dioxide
formation.
 Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell
• Use of polymer electrolyte membrane,
• Using the membrane makes it very compact this makes the power output per unit size is high . Membrane
thickness less than 1 mm,
• Reduce resistance losses and the overall size of the unit,
• Does not have corrosive problems as the acidic and alkaline electrolytes,
• High efficiency, compactness, and quick and cold start make them good for vehicle transportation.

Major disadvantages:

- Need to operate at low temperature,

- Restricted use with only pure hydrogen with very little trace of carbon monoxide (CO), which is poisonous to the
catalyst used in a PEM fuel cell,

- Very high cost owing to their use of expensive catalyst material such as platinum.
Performance of Fuel Cells
 Standard Cell Potential
• Part of the energy released in fuel cell reaction is electrical and the reminder is removed in the form of heat.
• The electrical energy of the fuel cell is :

We ≤ ∆G

G = H − TS

∆H = � ∆Hr − � ∆Hp
reactans products

∆𝐻𝐻𝑝𝑝 , ∆𝐻𝐻𝑟𝑟 Is the enthalpy of reaction of the products and reactants respectively

∆𝑆𝑆 = � ∆𝑆𝑆𝑟𝑟 − � ∆𝑆𝑆𝑝𝑝

𝑟𝑟𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒𝑒 𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝𝑝

∆𝑆𝑆𝑝𝑝 , ∆𝑆𝑆𝑟𝑟 Is the entropy change due to the chemical reaction at constant temperature T of the products and reactants
respectively .

• Equal sign applies if the reaction process is reversible.

 Electrical energy of electrons

If n moles of electros are associate with the reaction, the electrical energy released per kg mole is

We ≤ n F eg

Where:

F is Faraday constant:

The charge associated with 1 kg mole of electrons at (Standard conditions of 1 atm and 25 °C) = 96.5 × 106 C

∆G
eg ≤
nF
 Temperature and pressure dependence of the fuel cell
The characteristics of a fuel cell are dependent on the operating temperature and partial pressure of the reactants
and products.
aA + bB → cC + dD

In case the reaction of the fuel cell is isothermal and the pressure of the different components are different,
assuming ideal gas, the electric potential can be calculated as:

c d
0
RT PC PD
eg = eg − ln a b
nF PA PB
Where:

e0g is the potential at the standard conditions,

R: general gas constant,

𝑃𝑃𝐴𝐴 , 𝑃𝑃𝐵𝐵 , 𝑃𝑃𝐶𝐶 , 𝑃𝑃𝐷𝐷 are the partial pressures of the different components.
 Operation of the Fuel cell under load
The fuel cell output voltage decreases as load is applied,
voltage loss is due to:

- Chemical polarization,
- Internal resistance,
- Concentration polarization

Voltage drop due to chemical polarization can be given as:

υC = α+ β log10 J

Where:
α and β depends on the electrode material,
and J is the electrode current density amperes/ m2

Figure 3 Fuel cell polarization curve.

 Fuel cell efficiency
• Fuel cell operation is usually in the linear range of the polarization curve:
e′g = vL + J ri
Where: ri : is the internal resistance of the cell

Figure 4 A schematic of a fuel cell circuit.

The efficiency of a fuel cell is the ratio of the electrical energy output to the total chemical energy
nFvL
η=
∆H