C H AP T E R 1

INTRODUCTION TO FUEL CE LLS

Objectives:

Define “fuel cell”

Explain the general function of a fuel cell

Explain the difference between fuel cells and batteries

Identify the advantages and disadvantages of fuel cells

Outline the history of fuel cells development

Explain the impact of fuel cells on the environment

Describe the use of fuel cells in stationary power generation, portable

applications and automotive applications
 CP5054 Fuel Cells and Biomass Energy

1.1 What is a Fuel Cell?

You can think of a fuel cell as a ‘factory’ that takes fuel as input and produces
electricity as output. See Figure 1.1. Like a factory, a fuel cell will continue to
churn out product (electricity) as long as raw material (fuel) is supplied. This is
the key difference between a fuel cell and a battery. A fuel cell is not consumed
when it produces electricity. It is really a factory which transforms the chemical
energy stored in a fuel into electrical energy.

Hydrogen H2O (l/g)

Fuel Cell

Oxygen Electricity

Figure 1.1

1.2 How does a fuel cell work?

In a fuel cell, the hydrogen combustion reaction is split into two electrochemical
half reactions:

H2 ⇔ 2H++ 2e-

½ O2 + 2H+ + 2e- ⇔ H2O

By spatially separating these reactions, the electrons transferred from the fuel
are forced to flow through an external circuit (thus constituting an electric
current) and do useful work before they can complete the reaction.

Spatial separation is accomplished by using an electrolyte. An electrolyte is a

material that allows ions (charged atoms) to flow but not electrons. At a

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minimum, a fuel cell must possess two electrodes, where the two
electrochemical half reactions occur, separated by an electrolyte.

Figure 1.2 shows an example of an extremely simple H2-O2 fuel cell. This fuel
cell consists of two platinum electrodes dipped into sulphuric acid (an aqueous
acid electroyte). 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 two platinum electrodes. The resulting current, as it is
traditionally defined, is in the opposite direction. When the electrons reach the
right electrode, they recombine with protons and bubbling oxygen gas to
produce water. If a load (eg a light bulb) is introduced along the path of the
electrons, the flowing electrons will provide power to the load, causing the light
bulb to glow. Electricity is produced!

Figure 1.2 A simple fuel cell

1.3 Advantages and Disadvantages of Fuel Cells

Advantages:
- Fuel cells are more efficient that combustion engines
- Fuel cells can be all solid state and mechanically ideal, meaning no
moving parts, yields the potential for silent, highly reliable and long-
lasting systems.

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- Undesirable products such as NOx, SOx and particulate emissions are

virtually zero.
- Unlike batteries, fuel cells allow easy independent scaling between
power (determined by fuel cell size) and capacity (determined by fuel
reservoir size).
- Fuel cells offer higher energy densities compared to batteries.
- Fuel cells can be quickly recharged by refuelling, while batteries must be
thrown away or plugged in for a time-consuming recharge.

Disadvantages:
- High cost of implementation
- Power density is a significant limitation
- Fuel availability and storage pose problems
- Operational temperature compatibility concerns, susceptibility to
environmental poisons, durability under start-stop cycling

What is Energy density?

What is Power density?

Thinking
Questions

1.4 History of fuel cells development

Sir William Grove developed the first fuel cell in England in 1839. His
experiments during this time on electrolysis — the use of electricity to split water
into hydrogen and oxygen — led to the first mention of a device that would later
be termed the "fuel cell."
Grove believed that if it was possible to split water into hydrogen and oxygen
with electricity, the reverse of the electrolysis process — to generate electricity
from the reaction of oxygen with hydrogen — should also be possible. To test
this theory, he enclosed two platinum strips in separate sealed bottles, one
containing hydrogen and the other containing oxygen. When these containers

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were immersed in dilute sulphuric acid, a current began to flow between the two
electrodes and water was formed in the gas bottles. To increase the voltage
produced, Grove linked several of these devices in series and produced what
he referred to as a "gas battery." The chemists Ludwig Mond and Charles
Langer coined the term "fuel cell" in 1889 as they attempted to build the first
practical device using air and industrial coal gas.
An engineer, Dr. Francis Thomas Bacon, at Cambridge University in England,
wrote the next major chapter in the fuel cell story. In 1932, Bacon resurrected
the machine developed by Mond and Langer and implemented a number of
modifications to the original design. These included replacing the platinum
electrodes with less expensive nickel gauze. He also substituted the sulphuric
acid electrolyte for alkali potassium hydroxide, a substance less corrosive to the
electrodes. This device, which he named the "Bacon Cell," was in essence the
first alkaline fuel cell (AFC). Another 27 years would pass until Bacon could
produce a truly workable fuel cell. In 1959, Bacon demonstrated a machine
capable of producing 5 kW of power, enough to power a welding machine.
Beginning in the late 1950s and early 1960s, there was renewed interest in the
fuel cell. NASA was looking for a way to power a series of upcoming manned
space flights. Using batteries for power had already been ruled out due to
weight considerations. Solar energy was too expensive at the time and nuclear
power was determined to be too risky. In NASA' s search for an alternative, the
fuel cell was thought to be a possible solution. NASA sponsored efforts to
develop practical working fuel cells that could be used during these space
flights. These efforts led to the development of the first Proton Exchange
Membrane Fuel Cell (PEMFC).
In 1955, while NASA was conducting research, a scientist working at General
Electric (GE) modified the original fuel cell design. Willard Thomas Grubb used
a sulphonated polystyrene ion-exchange membrane as the electrolyte. Three
years later another GE chemist, Leonard Niedrach, devised a way of depositing
platinum onto this membrane, which ultimately became known as the "Grubb-
Niedrach fuel cell." GE and NASA developed this technology together resulting
in its use on the Gemini space project. This was the first commercial use of a
fuel cell.
In the early 1960s, aircraft engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney licensed the
Bacon patents for the Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC). With the goal of reducing the
weight and designing a longer-lasting fuel cell than the GE PEM design, Pratt &
Whitney improved the original Bacon design. As a result, Pratt & Whitney won a

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contract from NASA to supply these fuel cells to the Apollo spacecraft. Alkali
cells have since been used on most subsequent manned U.S. space missions,
including those of the Space Shuttle.
During the 1970s, fuel cell technology was developed for systems on Earth. The
oil embargos of 1973 and 1979 helped to push along the research effort of the
fuel cell as the U.S. Government was looking for a way to become less
dependent on petroleum imports.
A number of companies and government organizations began serious research
into overcoming the obstacles to widespread commercialization of the fuel cell.
Throughout the 1970s and 1980s, a large research effort was dedicated to
developing the materials needed, identifying the optimum fuel source and
drastically reducing the cost of this technology.
During the 1980s, fuel cell technology began to be tested by utilities and
automobile manufacturers. Technical breakthroughs during the decade included
the development of the first marketable fuel cell-powered vehicle in 1993 by the
Canadian company, Ballard. Trials of fuel cell-powered buses have taken
place in Chicago and Vancouver with other cities in North America and Europe
looking to take delivery of these vehicles in the near future.

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1.5 Impact of fuel cells on the environment

Environmental benefits
Fuel cells currently rely primarily on natural gas, a fossil fuel, to create the
hydrogen need to produce electricity and heat. However, because this
technology uses its fuel so efficiently, it is widely considered a clean energy
technology. Current research into the use of solar, wind, and water power to
create hydrogen may eventually make this technology completely renewable.

Even though fossil fuels are consumed in the electrochemical reaction inside of
a fuel cell, fuel cells do not do not produce the same unhealthy air pollution
emissions that are generated by burning gasoline in cars or burning coal and
other fossil fuels in power plants. With fuel cells, there is no combustion, so
fewer gases are released into the environment. For example, almost no sulfur
oxides (SOx) or nitrogen oxides (NOx) are emitted, and emissions do not
include any particulate matter. The greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) is an
additional byproduct, but the high electrical efficiency of fuel cells provides
much more electricity per unit of carbon released than conventional generators
of similar size. Because these emissions are so low, certifications and permits
are rarely needed to install commercial fuel cell systems.

Current research indicates that fuel cells could use hydrogen produced by
electrolysis that is powered by electricity from renewable wind, solar, and water
sources. If these solutions are implemented in the long run, the environmental
benefits would be even greater. In that case, the only outputs of fuel cells would
be electricity, heat, and water vapor (produced when the hydrogen and oxygen
combine in the fuel cell).

Environmental drawbacks
While fuel cells have the potential to be a very clean source of energy if the
hydrogen generation process uses renewable sources, current government-
funded research requires the use of fossil fuels to produce the vast majority of
hydrogen for fuel cells. Without a trend towards increased use of renewables for
hydrogen production, the technology’s environmental benefits will continue to
be somewhat offset by its reliance on fossil fuels.

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There are also concerns that, in a large-scale hydrogen economy where

hydrogen is used to power fuel cells and related technologies in a variety of
applications, manufacturing, storing, and transporting hydrogen would result in
leaks that could accumulate in the upper atmosphere, and potentially deplete
polar ozone layers. Infrastructure designs that carefully eliminate the potential
for leaks can minimize this risk.

1.6 Applications of Fuel Cells

Stationary Power Generation

The reduction of CO2 emissions is an important argument for the use of fuel
cells in small stationary power systems, particularly in combined heat and
power generation (CHP). Large central power generation using fuel cell
technology will only be viable when sufficiently high electric efficiencies can be
obtained. Domestic heat and power generation and grid-independent operation
(in remote locations) are currently the most promising applications for stationary
fuel cell technology.

Portable applications:
Examples are:
- Battery replacements
- Remote Power Generation and Backup Solutions
- Auxiliary Power Units (APUs) for Cars
- Demonstration systems such as educational fuel cell kits and toys

Automotive applications
What makes fuel cells most attractive for automotive applications is the fact that
they emit zero or ultralow emissions. Operational real-size passenger vehicles
and buses have been produced, running on hydrogen, methanol, or clean
gasoline. Key developers include General Motors, Opel, Suzuki, Toyota,
Daihatsu, Honda, Nissan, etc.

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