Alternative Fuel – Hydrogen

Ananthkrishnan H.a*, Chetan K. Rautb

UG Studenta,b,, Mechanical Engineering Department

Karmayogi Engineering College, Shelve, Pandharpur, India.

*
Ananthkrishnan H. Tel- +91 9930962482, E-mail: ananthkrishnan_h@yahoo.co.in

Manuscript received October 1, 2013; revised December25, 2013

Abstract:

With the fossil fuel prices skyrocketing, global warming at its peak, every nation is looking forward towards an
alternative to the conventional fuel sources. With many alternatives available like hydrogen, ethane, algae, solar energy,
electricity etc. which one to use? Which one is the better? That‟s another major problem being faced everywhere. The fuel
should be economical as well as environment friendly.

This paper presents hydrogen fuel as an alternative to conventional fuels. Hydrogen is the most abundant element
present in the universe. This paper mainly concentrates on hydrogen fuel cells. This paper explains how hydrogen is highly
efficient & energetic. Paper also deals with its recent progress in various automobile companies like Toyota, BMW, Honda,
Ford, Maruti Suzuki etc. working on hydrogen as a fuel & as a result the hydrogen powered vehicles which are available in
market with USA leading in technology, production & use. This paper also deals with the recent developments and
researches undergoing in India. Paper also deals with its major drawbacks i.e. its storage problem, production, conversion of
hydrogen gas to liquid, safety issues. We can overcome all these problems in near future, and then hydrogen will be the most
commonly used, economical & environment friendly fuel.

Keywords: Fuel cell, Fuel cell stack, Hydrogen fuel cell.

1. Introduction:

The purpose of hydrogen fuel is to convert the chemical energy of hydrogen into electrical energy that
can power a system. Its greatest purpose is to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions to the atmosphere by only
using clean hydrogen sources, which helps the system meet emission standards. The another major problem
faced everywhere is high consumption of fossil fuels and a large gap between the demand and supply which can
be eliminated by using hydrogen, which comprises more than 70 percent of the environment. Hydrogen as a fuel
can be used in IC engine and fuel cell, in which Fuel cell is more favorable because of zero emission, pure
waters as its byproduct and no issues of backfire.

2. Need of Hydrogen Fuel Cell:

Increasing pollution and fuel prices around the world lead everyone to look forward towards an
alternative to conventional fuels. Hydrogen is considered the best alternative among all of them, as it is nontoxic
nonpoisonous, the lightest and smallest element thus it disperses quickly. It is a versatile fuel with safe use in
various industrial applications, can be produced from diverse sources. The main features of hydrogen as an
alternative fuel are its by-product water and heat which doesn‟t account for any kind of pollution. A hydrogen
fire has less radiant heat than a hydrocarbon fire. Added to that, hydrogen is practically limitless in supply it's a
basic element that is widely available and evenly distributed across the planet thus eliminating fossil fuel
dependency.

Hydrogen fuel cells are highly efficient as they generate energy electrochemically with zero or low
carbon emissions. Fuel cells are reliable as they can generate power independent of electrical grids, light weight
as fuel cells have high energy density, rugged, durable with low level vibration and sound emission during
operation as there are no combustion taking place or moving parts. Fuel cells can be linked together to form a
 Ananthkrishnan H., Chetan K. Raut, ICAT 2014, ICAT 13

stack to achieve multi megawatt outputs. In pure hydrogen cell there is no emission of carbon to the
environment. So the hydrogen fuel cells are the most desirable device, considering hydrogen as its fuel source.

3. Hydrogen Fuel Cell:

Fig.1 Hydrogen Fuel Cell.

A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that combines hydrogen and oxygen to produce electricity,
with water and heat as its by-product. A single fuel cell consists of two catalyst coated electrodes – an anode and
a cathode – with an electrolytic membrane between them.

4. Working of HFC:

Fig.2. Working of hydrogen fuel cell

The process begins when Hydrogen molecules enter the anode. The catalyst coating present in the
electrodes separates hydrogen‟s negatively charged electrons from the positively charged protons. The polymer
electrolytic membrane (PEM) present in between the electrodes only allows the protons to pass through it due to
 Ananthkrishnan H., Chetan K. Raut, ICAT 2014, ICAT 13

which the electrons are forced to go through an external circuit from where the electric power is obtained. The
electrons & protons reach the cathode and the oxygen from the atmosphere combines with it and produces water
and heat as its by-products. It operates similarly to a battery, but it does not run down nor does it require
recharging. As long as fuel is supplied, the fuel cell will produce both energy and heat.

5. Types of hydrogen fuel cell:

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Common Typical
Fuel Cell Type
Electrolyte Stack Size
Efficiency Applications Advantages

Solid electrolyte reduces

Polymer Backup
corrosion & electrolyte
Electrolyte Perfluoro 1kW– power,
Membrane sulfonic acid 100kW
60% Portable
management problems ,
Low temperature, Quick
(PEM) power
start-up

Aqueous
solution of
Cathode reaction faster in
potassium Military
Alkaline (AFC) 10–100 kW 60% alkaline electrolyte, leads
hydroxide ,Space
to high performance
soaked in a
matrix

Phosphoric 400 kW Higher temperature

Phosphoric Distributed
acid soaked in 100 kW 40% enables CHP , Increased
Acid (PAFC) generation
a matrix module tolerance to fuel impurities

Solution of
lithium,
Electric High efficiency , Fuel
Molten sodium, and/ 300 kW-3
utility flexibility ,Can use a
Carbonate or potassium MW 300 45-50%
Distributed variety of catalysts ,
(MCFC) carbonates, kW module
generation Suitable for CHP
soaked in a
matrix

Auxiliary High efficiency , Fuel

power , flexibility, Can use a
Yttria
Solid Oxide 1 kW–2 Electric variety of catalysts , Solid
stabilized 60%
(SOFC) MW utility, electrolyte, Suitable for
zirconia
Distributed CHP & CHHP
generation ,Hybrid/GT cycle

Table No. 1.Types of fuel cells

6. Fuel Cell Stack:

Fuel cell stack is a combination of two or more fuel cells. Flow plates connect two adjacent cells.
These flow plates are called as bipolar plates when a single plate is used for the anode side of one cell and for
the cathode side of the other cell, should have a high electronic conductance, and should act as gas separator
between the two adjacent cells. The flow plates contain flow patterns on the cell side to generate an even
distribution of reactants across the cell area. On the backside, cooling liquid flow patterns transport the heat to a
 Ananthkrishnan H., Chetan K. Raut, ICAT 2014, ICAT 13

heat exchanger in the system. The stack power and voltage is obtained by the number of cells times the
individual cell power and voltage. A three-cell stack is schematically drawn in the Figure below. Besides the
repeating units displayed in the figure below, a stack contains two endplates and two current collector plates
from which the current is collected. A single fuel cell stack can produce about 0.7 V of energy.

Fig.4 fuel cell stack

7. Hydrogen production:

Almost all of the hydrogen produced today is by steam reforming of natural gas and for the near time
being, this method of production will continue to dominate.

7.1. Electrolysis-

It is a process of splitting water into H2& O2 using electricity. It can be broadly classified into two types-

 Renewable electrolysis-Renewable energy sources such as photovoltaic (PV), wind, biomass, hydro
and geothermal provide clean and sustainable electricity for electrolysis.
 Nuclear High-Temperature Electrolysis- Heat from a nuclear reactor can be used to improve the
efficiency of water electrolysis to produce hydrogen. By increasing the temperature of the water, less
electricity is required to split it into hydrogen and oxygen, which reduces the total energy required.

7.2. Gasification–

Gasification is a process in which coal or biomass is converted into gaseous components by applying
heat under pressure and in the presence of air/ oxygen and steam. A subsequent series of chemical reactions
produces a synthesis gas, which is then reacted with steam to produce a gas stream with an increased hydrogen
concentration that then can be separated and purified. With carbon capture and storage, hydrogen can be
produced directly from coal with near-zero greenhouse gas emissions. Since growing biomass consumes
CO2from the atmosphere, producing hydrogen through biomass gasification releases near-zero net greenhouse
gases.

7.3. Thermolysis-

It is a process of splitting water into hydrogen & oxygen using heat. Thermolysis can also be classified into
following types -

 High-Temperature Thermochemical Water-Splitting - High temperatures are used to drive a series of

chemical reactions to split water into hydrogen and oxygen through a series of chemical reactions.
 Solar Thermal- Highly concentrated sunlight can be used to generate the high temperatures needed to
split methane into hydrogen and carbon.
 Ananthkrishnan H., Chetan K. Raut, ICAT 2014, ICAT 13

 Photo electrical- The cleanest way to produce hydrogen is by using sunlight to directly split water into
hydrogen and oxygen. Structures of butterfly wings are also used in this method to split water. In this
method the wings are converted to TiO2 (by dip-calcining), which acts as a catalyst for splitting water
in presence of sunlight.

7.4. Reforming-

It is a fuel processing technology to convert a hydrogen containing material such as gasoline, ammonia
or ethanol into a hydrogen rich stream. Fuel processing of methane is the most common hydrogen production
method in commercial use today. In addition, hydrocarbon reforming, plasma reforming, aqueous reforming,
and pyrolysis are also used.

7.5. Biological-

Certain photosynthetic microbes produce hydrogen from water in their metabolic activities using light
energy. Photo biological technology holds great promise, but because oxygen is produced along with the
hydrogen, the technology must overcome the limitation of oxygen sensitivity of the hydrogen-evolving enzyme
systems.

 Biomass-Hydrogen can be produced via pyrolysis or gasification of biomass resources such as

agricultural residues like peanut shells; consumer wastes including plastics and waste grease; or
biomass specifically grown for this purpose.

8. Hydrogen Storage:

The hydrogen can be stored in two ways, first is to produce the hydrogen on the ground and then store it
onboard the vehicle and next is to produce the hydrogen on the vehicle by means of a tiny onboard hydrogen
reformer.

Further the hydrogen thus obtained from above two processes has to be stored for continuously supply it to the
fuel cell.

Physical storage- Physical storage of compressed hydrogen gas in high pressure tanks (up to 700 bars)

 Compressed gas and liquid hydrogen tanks- Liquefied hydrogen is denser than gaseous hydrogen and
thus it contains more energy in a given volume. Similar sized liquid hydrogen tanks can store more
hydrogen than compressed gas tanks, but it takes energy to liquefy hydrogen. However, the tank
insulation required to prevent hydrogen loss adds to the weight, volume, and costs of liquid hydrogen
tanks.

Fig.5. Liquid Storage Tank

 Ananthkrishnan H., Chetan K. Raut, ICAT 2014, ICAT 13

Material based storage- Here the hydrogen splits into atoms at the surface of the metal and then enters the
metallic lattice in the atomic form, diffuses through the metal, jumping between interstitial sites; and finally
forms a hydride phase with a more or less ordered hydrogen sub lattice. E.g. – LiH2, MgH2, sodium alanate,
borohydrides.

Carbon Nanotubes - Single-walled carbon nanotubes are being studied as hydrogen storage materials because of
established hydrogen gravimetric capacities in the range of 3–10 wt % at room temperature. However, there has
been controversy due to difficulty in reproducing these results. Hence, the current R&D focus for carbon
nanotubes has been on establishing reproducibility.

Hydrocarbons- Hydrogen is stored in the form of hydrocarbons and later it is obtained by the process
dehydrogenation.

9. Comparable Efficiencies:

Engine Type Gasoline Ice Gasoline Hybrid H2 Ice H2 Fuel Cell

Average Engine
30% 30% 40% 55%
Efficiency

Max Engine
32.50% 32.50% 40.00% 65.00%
Efficiency
Transmission
Standard Cvt/Hybrid Cvt/Hybrid Cvt/Hybrid
Type
Transmission
40% 60% 60% 60%
Efficiency

Large,
Fuel Tank Size Moderate Small Large Smaller Than
H Ice
High But
Cost Of Fuel Low Low Lower Than High
Fcv's

Pollutant Meets Emission

Lower Than Gasoline Ice Likely Low None
Emissions Standards

State Of Developed & In Diffusion In Research

Developed Developing
Technology Stage Process

Table no 2 Comparable Efficiencies

10. Global Acceptance:

As hydrogen seems to be most promissive technology, leading countries & companies all over the
world are investing in hydrogen based systems. Companies like Audi, BMW, Ford, GM, Diamler, Mazda,
Hyundai, Honda, and Mercedes are some of the companies involved in R&D. Honda FCX Clarity, BMW
Hydrogen 7, Audi A2H2, Hyundai IX 35, and Mercedes Fcell B Class, are some of the models available in the
market. Even Material handling vehicles (MHV) made by Plug Power are used by BMW, Wal-Mart and Coca
Cola. Suzuki„s Burgman, Peugeout‟s Citroen Quart scooters are presently available in market. A 11.2 MW
power plant operational in Daegu, Korea & a 60 MW power plant is under construction. Idea Cellular India has
installed two Dantherm fuel cell systems & ordered further 30 units. Near about 250+ pumps are operational
 Ananthkrishnan H., Chetan K. Raut, ICAT 2014, ICAT 13

worldwide with the first pump in Iceland and near about 18 pumps in California (USA). Horizon FC
Technology, Heliocentric and H - Tech are providing educational kits and toys.

11. Towards Hydrogen economy in India:

 Developed & Demonstrated a 50KW PAFC & 5KW PEMFC power plants, 3KW UPS system,
Prototype Fuel Cell Vehicle.
 Established National Hydrogen Energy Board: October, 2003 with Honorable Minister, Non-
Conventional Guiding research & development programs in Hydrogen and Fuel cells.
 On 4thSeptember, 2012 NEERI Nagpur had found a safe solution for the storage of hydrogen.
 The Indian companies like Tata, Maruti Suzuki all are working on hydrogen vehicles and have their
own prototypes.
 The physics department of Banaras Hindu University has developed an auto rickshaw running on
hydrogen.
 India is one of the 16 founder member countries of IPHE. China, India and Brazil are the three
developing countries along with 13 advanced countries, including USA, Japan, European Union, U.K.,
Iceland etc.

12. Applications:

 Transportation
Trains, buses, planes, cars, boats, scooters, forklifts and even bicycles are utilizing fuel cell
technology.50 fuel cell buses are currently in use in North and South America, Europe, Asia
and Australia.

 Stationary Power Stations

Over 2,500 fuel cell systems have been installed all over the world in hospitals, nursing
homes, hotels, office buildings, schools and utility power plants.
Most of these systems are either connected to the electric grid to provide supplemental power
and backup assurance or as a grid-independent generator for locations that are inaccessible by
power lines.

 Telecommunications
Computers, Internet and sophisticated communication networks there is a need for an
incredibly reliable power source as they all require constant power output without any voltage
surges and sags.

 Micro Power
Consumer electronics could gain drastically longer battery life and sizes can be drastically
reduced by using Fuel Cell technology Cell phones can be powered for 30 days without
recharging; Laptops can be powered for 20 hours without recharging.

13. Drawbacks:

 Hydrogen is an energy carrier rather than an energy source.

 Fuel cells require specific humidity, pressure, etc.
 Catalysts are pricey and sensitive to poisoning.
 Hydrogen is expensive to make, store and transport.
 Costly to convert to liquid.
 Conventional fuels may be needed to Produce Hydrogen.
 Safety issues. Liquid hydrogen has the ability to freeze air.
 Ananthkrishnan H., Chetan K. Raut, ICAT 2014, ICAT 13

14. Conclusion:

 Hydrogen is only type of fuel that can provide a wholesale substitute for foreign oil within a decade.
 Clean, twice as efficient as conventional fuels and is abundantly available.
 Most viable for use in the near future, if mass production is economical.
 Widespread marketplace acceptance and use is still many years away.
 To produce on board hydrogen in vehicle is more favorable than producing it in plants.

Acknowledgment:

The authors are grateful for the contributions of their advisors Prof. Rahul Panchal, Head of Department
(Mechanical) at Karmayogi Engineering College. Also we are indebted to Prof. Ganesh Yadav and Prof S.S
Jagtap for their support and valuable advices. It would not have been possible to complete this paper without the
support and encouragement of Dr.S.P.Patil, Principal of Karmayogi Engineering College, Shelve, Pandharpur.
Before closing the paper it will be ungrateful if we will not extent our thanks to all the personalities who have
directly or indirectly helped us.

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