A (Seminar-I) Report on

“HYDROGEN AS A FUTURE FUEL”

By:

ABHISHEK CHAURASIA (1702740003)

ABHISHEK SINGH (1702740005)
AVANEESH KUMAR MAURYA (1702740032)
ARUN SHANKAR DWIVEDI (1802740905)
AVICHAL SINGH (1802740908)

Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College

27th Km Stone, Delhi Hapur Bypass Road, Adhyatmik Nagar, Ghaziabad
201009
APJ A.K. Technical University, Lucknow
01,October,2018
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We have immense pleasure in successful completion of the work titled : “HYDROGEN FUEL
CELL”. The special environment at Ajay Kumar Garg Engineering College, Ghaziabad that
always support educational activities, facilitated our work on this presentation.
We greatly appreciate the motivation and understanding extended for the presentation, by
professors who responded promptly and enthusiastically to our request for expertise, despite
their congested schedules. We are indebted to all of them, who did their best to bring
improvement through their suggestions.We thank our dearest parents,who encourage us to
extend our reach. With their help and support,we have been able to complete this work

The opportunity to work and to support their safe operation has provided us many
opportunities to contribute and also to constantly learn the art of engineering. We are thankful
for the support provided to us by plant management in permitting us to share some of this
experience for the benefit of others in the industry.
We are honored to be part of Code committees in the field of HYDROGEN FUEL CELL, and
thank our colleagues, our friends of so many years on Code committees, for the constant give
and-take that takes place in translating everyday knowledge into codes and standards, and
eventually into books like this one.
At times, with the day-to-day emergencies, we thought we may not make our deadlines, but
thanks ...
ABSTRACT
Use of fossil fuels has become a part of daily energy needs and their requirement is
increasing with the passage of time. Consumption of fossil fuels gives rise to the greenhouse
gas emissions in the environment and causes ambient air pollution, which have now become
global concerns. This coupled with the limited reserves of fossil fuels have encouraged and
promoted the development and use of new and renewable energy sources, including
hydrogen energy as an energy carrier. The technologies for production of hydrogen from new
and renewable sources of energy are in the process of development and demonstration. In
order to meet the future energy demands in sustainable and environment friendly manner,
technologies are required to be developed for the production, storage and applications of
hydrogen in transportation sector as well as for portable & stationary power generation.
With a view to accelerate development of hydrogen energy sector in India, a National
Hydrogen Energy Road Map (NHERM) was prepared and adopted by the National Hydrogen
Energy Board in January, 2006 for implementation. The main objective of NHERM was to
identify the pathways, which will lead to gradual introduction of hydrogen energy, accelerate
commercialization efforts and facilitate the creation of hydrogen energy infrastructure in the
country. NHERM covered all aspects of hydrogen energy development in India including its
production, storage, transport, delivery, application, codes & standards, public awareness
and capacity building. NHERM formed the basis for implementation of Hydrogen Energy
Programme in the country from 2006-07 onwards.
NHERM suggested modifying and upgrading it later based on field experience in the country
and new developments worldwide. Accordingly, a Steering Committee on Hydrogen Energy
and Fuel Cells was constituted by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE),
Government of India to advise the Ministry and steer the overall activities of Hydrogen
Energy & Fuel Cells under the Chairmanship of Dr. K. Kasturirangan, the then Member
(Science), Planning Commission (now known as NITI Aayog), Government of India on
31.05.2012 for a period of three years. The duration of this Committee was later extended
upto June, 2016.
As per recommendation of Steering Committee on Hydrogen Energy and Fuel Cells in its
1stmeeting, five Sub-Committees were constituted by the Ministry on the following aspects of
hydrogen energy and fuel cells for in-depth discussions, re-visiting NHERM and to suggest
further course of action.
I am confident that implementation of the recommendations of this report will bring
paradigm shift in the area of hydrogen energy and fuel cell technologies in the country.
Table of content

Introduction...........................................................................................................................01
Hydrogen production in india................................................... ............................................02
Fuel cell development in india................................................... .........................................05
Transportation through fuel................................................... ................................................07

Hydrogen storage and application...................................................

.......................................10 Advantage...................................................
................................................... ........................11
Disadvantage................................................... .......................................................................12
Refrences................................................... ..............................................................................13

1. Introduction:-
"Earth has enough resources to meet people's needs, but will never have enough to satisfy
people's greed" and “The people on earth should act as 'trustees' and use natural resources
wisely, as our moral responsibility to ensure that we bequeath to the future generations a
healthy planet.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
“I believe that water will one day be employed as fuel, that hydrogen and oxygen which
constitute it, used singly or together will furnish an inexhaustible source of heat and light of
an intensity of which coal is not capable…………………water will be coal of the future”
- JULES VERNE Mysterious Island in 1876

. “With a new national commitment, our scientists and engineers will overcome obstacles to
taking these cars from laboratory to showroom, so that the first car driven by a child born
today could be powered by hydrogen and pollution-free“…..
- George Bush On Freedom Fuel

Man’s dependence on fossil fuels has made a deep impact on energy and food security. This
has led to exhaustion of fossil fuels resources, emission of harmful gases like carbon
monoxide, nitrous oxide, sulphur dioxide, etc., which pollute the environment and adversely
affect the health of living beings on the earth. There is excessive emission of carbon dioxide
also. As result of which, level of carbon dioxide is rising in the earth’s atmosphere and
creating greenhouse effect on earth. Due to this effect, the heat generated (heat received from
sun, generated in industries, households and automobiles etc.) on the earth, remains in the
atmosphere.

2. Hydrogen Production in India

Hydrogen is a by-product in Chlor-Alkali industries. Earlier, a part of it was used for non
energy applications and rest was either flared or vented out in the atmosphere. With the
passage of time awareness about its usage for energy applications increased and up to 2013-
14 around 90% of by-product hydrogen was utilized for production of chemicals and captive
(mainly energy) applications. There are around 40 such units in India, which produced
nearly 66000 tons of by-product hydrogen during 2013-14. Around (10% of total production
i.e.) 6600 tons of this hydrogen remained unutilized.

In addition to above, hydrogen is produced for non-energy applications e.g. in fertilizer

industries and petroleum refineries. The ‘quantum of increase’ in hydrogen production will
enable its mass scale utilization as a fuel. To have sustainable hydrogen production, the
energy and raw material needed for this purpose ought to be renewable in nature. There are
various methods for generating hydrogen from renewable and non-renewable resources.
However, the challenge lies in the production of hydrogen in a cost effective manner.
Hydrogen can be produced through the following processes:

A. From carbonaceous sources

(i) Steam Methane Reforming: These reformers are commercially available for
hydrogen production and more than 90% with 99.999% pure hydrogen is produced from
natural gas through this process. These reformers are most efficient, economical and
available in small capacities also. Membrane reactors for steam reforming are another
promising technology for producing very pure hydrogen.

(ii) Partial Oxidation: These reformers are more compact and used to produce
hydrogen from residual oil. Small capacity reformers are commercially available.

(iii) Auto-Thermal Reforming: Best features of steam reforming and partial

oxidation systems have been combined in these reformers. No external heat source and heat
exchanger are required because heat generated by the partial oxidation is utilized to drive
partial oxidation and hence such reformers are more compact with higher efficiency. These
reformers require lower capital cost.
(iv) Methanol Reforming: Automakers took interest in such reformers, because
of the advantages to store methanol on-board as liquid, compactness of reformer, faster
start-up and potentially lower cost. These reformers were demonstrated in PEM fuel cell
vehicles, but no fuel cell vehicle manufacturer is currently using this technology.

(v) Novel Reformer Technologies: There are other technologies for 19

producing hydrogen like (a) ammonia cracking, which is available at low cost in the country,
but a costly unit of Pressure Swing Adsorption unit is required for separating H2 and N2; (b)
Sorbent-enhanced Catalytic Steam-reforming system has been developed and is at the
demonstration stage; (c) ceramic membrane technology for separation of hydrogen from
syngas. Conceptual designs were carried out for a hydrogen-refueling station. This route is
expected to be cheaper (d) Thermal plasma reformer technology can be used for the
production of hydrogen and hydrogen-rich gases from methane (with maximum of 95%
conversion) and a variety of liquid fuels. The power requirement is reduced by about half.
This technology is under evaluation; (e) BioOil reformation: Bio-oil can be obtained by
thermally decomposition / fast pyrolysis of biomass and reformed to produce hydrogen.
Pressure Swing Adsorption (PSA) system is used to separate hydrogen from the reformed
products. National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) U.S.A. has developed and
demonstrated this technology; (f) Pyrolysis, oxidation and reduction of biomass with
injection of secondary air. This process has been optimized to generate a maximum of about
100 g of hydrogen per kilo gram of biomass. Netherlands has developed this process and
installed a pilot plant of 800 kWth capacity. A combined heat and power (CHP) plant (8MW)
is in operation since 2002 in Güssing, Austria.

B. Electrolysis of water
(i) Alkaline water electrolysis: It is a matured technology, less expensive and is
commercially available (in MW range) technology with hydrogen production 760 Nm³/h.
These electrolysers face major challenges of corrosion and poisoning of electrodes. The
largest existing alkaline electrolysis plants are 160 MW plant in Aswan, Egypt and 22 MW
plant operating in Peru (pressurized operation).
(ii) Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) based water
electrolysers: The drawbacks of alkaline water electrolysers were overcome by the
development of solid PEM water electrolysers, which has lower stack life. These are costlier
and available in lower capacity range from 0.06 to 75 Nm³/hr but are more reliable. Council
of Scientific and Industrial Research - Central Electro-Chemical Research Institute
(CSIRCECRI), SPIC Science Foundation (SSF), Chennai; Centre of Fuel Cell Technology
(CFCT), Chennai and Jawaharlal Nehru Technical University (JNTU), Hyderabad developed
alkaline water electrolysers. CSIR-CECRItransferred these technologies to M/s. Eastern
Electrolysers, New Delhi for further development and commercialisation. SSF obtained
energy consumption is around 2.0 kWh/Nm3 whereas CFCT, Chennai 1.40kWh/Nm3 . 20

(iii) High temperature water electrolysis: It uses solid oxide electrolyte

and offers advantage of lower capital cost. These require around 30% electricity (i.e. about
2.6- 3.5 kWh/Nm3 hydrogen produced). These electrolysers have been developed for
capacities 1.5,10 and 30 Nm3 /h. The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai has
planned to develop these electrolysers for capacities of 1.0 Nm3 /h.
C. Biological Route
The economical way of hydrogen production is biological route, which carried through dark
(continuous production) and photo (only in presence of light) -fermentation of organic
materials. A prototype hydrogen bioreactor using waste as a feedstock is in operation at
Welch's grape juice factory in North East Pennsylvania, USA. Major contributors in the
research of this process are from United States of America, Canada, Malaysia, Indonesia,
Thailand, China and India (Shri AMM Murugappa Chettiar Research Centre, Chennai; Indian
Institute of Technology Kharagpur and Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad).
Integration of bio-hydrogen with fuel cell was first mooted in 2012. The dark fermentation for
hydrogen production can be commercialized, if it is integrated with biomethantion process.
The integration of these two processes might lead to 50-60% gaseous energy recovery.

D. Thermochemical Splitting of Water

Water can be dissociated at very high temperatures into hydrogen and oxygen through. The
required energy can be either provided by nuclear energy or by solar energy, or by hybrid
systems including solar and nuclear energy. Around a dozen of thermo-chemical cycles such
as the iron oxide cycle, cerium(IV) oxide-cerium(III) oxide cycle, zinc-zinc oxide cycle, sulfur
iodine cycle, copper-chlorine cycle and hybrid sulfur cycle are under research/in testing
phase. The iodine-sulphur (I-S) cycle is one of the most promising and efficient
thermo-chemical water splitting technologies for the mass production of hydrogen, on which
BARC, Trombay, Mumbai is working. India is the 5th country to develop this process after
USA (1980), Japan (2004), China (2010) and South Korea (2009). USA aims to demonstrate
commercial scale production of hydrogen using nuclear energy by 2017. Japan initiated to
set-up a pilot plant for production of 30 Nm3 /h hydrogen. The Republic of Korea targets for
25 % (3 Mt/year) of the total hydrogen to be supplied by advanced 50 nuclear reactors by
2040 for generation of hydrogen for fuel cell applications for electricity generation,
passenger vehicles, and domestic power and heating, and lowering hydrogen costs. People’s
Republic of China initiated work to demonstrate I-S thermo-chemical cycle and high 21
temperature steam electrolysis technologies. They have target to commercialize nuclear
hydrogen production by 2020.The Bhabha Atomic Research Centre has successfully
demonstrated I-S process in closed loop operation in glass/quartz material in the laboratory.
It is further planned to demonstrate closed loop operation in metallic construction. The
ONGC Energy Centre (OEC) is working on three thermochemical processes, which are as
Cu-Cl closed loop cycle, I-S closed loop cycle and I-S open loop cycle.

E. Photo-catalytic and photo-electrochemical routes

These routes for hydrogen production are also being explored globally by several research
groups. In India also some groups, namely, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology,
Hyderabad; Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology, Bhubaneswar; YogiVemana
University, Kadapa; SRM University; Kancheepuram, Shiksha ‘O’ Anusandhan University,
Bhubaneswar and Centre for Materials for Electronics Technology, Pune are active in this
area. Efforts are being made to come out with effective and robust photo-catalysts and photo
electrocatalysts, electrode materials and materials for reactors. Till date no large scale unit
has been successfully designed and demonstrated. Concerted intensive efforts, however, are
required to generate basic information and knowhow to take this area to the production for
decentralized applications.

F. Non-thermal plasma assisted direct decomposition

of hydrogen sulphide
No commercial technology is available globally. Among the several techniques, Idemitsu
Kosan Hybrid electrolysis process consumes 3.6 kWh/Nm3 hydrogen, whereas steam
reforming of methane, demands still higher energy of 4.3 kWh/Nm3 hydrogen. Conversion
efficiency is around 40%. Most of the research in this area in the country is focused under
visible light may be solar light. Japan, Korea, U.S, Europe are engaged in to develop this
process. Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad developed the process with hydrogen
production of 0.5 litre/minute. There is need to develop prototype batch photo-reactor using
solar energy and their field trials using gas emitted at refinery site. BARC is working on
photocatalytic degradation of nuclear waste as well as water purification. IISc, Bangalore is
working on TiO2 based photocatalysts for organic waste degradation. IITs, Mumbai and
Madras, CECRI, Karaikudi, IICT, Hyderabad and some universities in India are working on
photodecomposition of organic pollutants. The Centre for Materials for Electronics
Technologies (C-MET), Pune is working on hydrogen generation by photocatalytic
decomposition of hydrogen sulphide.
3. Hydrogen Storage and Applications other than
Transportation:-
Hydrogen storage needs special attention due to hydrogen being smallest molecule,
density-wise lightest, lowest ignition energy and wide range of explosion limit with air, which
lead to embrittlement of materials of construction of hydrogen storage vessels and safety
hazards. Therefore, safe and efficient storage and delivery of hydrogen is essential for the
success of hydrogen economy. Hydrogen can be stored by the following ways:-
(i) High-pressure gas cylinders (up to 800 bar)
(ii) Liquid hydrogen in cryogenic tanks (at 21oK)
(iii) Physi-sorbed hydrogen on materials with a large specific surface area
(iv) Chemi-sorbed on interstitial sites in host metals and Inter-metallics (v)
Chemically bonded in covalent and ionic compounds

(vi) Oxidation of reactive metals such as. Li, Na, Mg, Al, Zn with water,
Hydrogen is widely used in pressure vessels for on-board mobile applications, stationary
application for dispensing hydrogen at re-fueling stations and at sites for stationary power
generation. The pressure vessels are made of special alloys and also with reinforced
composite carbon fiber so as not to face problem of brittleness. Currently, hydrogen is being
stored in compressed form at 350 bar (5,000 psi) in on-board in demonstration vehicles and
700 bar (10,000 psi) in Type IV carbon composite cylinders. Carbon composite cylinders to
store hydrogen at 700 bar (10,000 psi) are not being manufactured in the country.

The cryogenic hydrogen is to be stored in specially insulated vessels at (-) 252.880C. The
storage vessels may be made of FCC with special insulation, comprising double walled with
vacuum in between, opacifiers and multi-layer insulations. Liquid organic hydrides are also
potential candidates for hydrogen storage and delivery. The concept has been demonstrated
successfully at laboratory level. Further work is being pursued.
Rare earth systems based on La, transition metals based on Ti and of late light metal based
such as Mg have been identified as the candidates. Two crucial parameters determine the
performance metrics of metal hydrides, namely gravimetric percentage and desorption
temperature. La Ni5 with additions of Ce and Al have desorption temperature in the range
from 40 C to 140 C, with maximum storage of 1.2wt% H2 and Mg based materials with as
high a storage as 6wt% with desorption temperature of 250 - 3000C. The lowest desorption
temperature achieved is 2100C with 3.5 wt% storage capacity. 25 Although a number of
intermetallic alloys have been prepared and their hydrogenation potentials assessed, a few
have suitable combination of properties that permit their use for hydrogen storage or other
applications. The most viable candidates include alloys with the following compositions: A2B
(e.g.,Mg2Ni), AB (e.g.,TiFe), AB2 (e.g.,ZrMn2) and AB5 (e.g.,LaNi5).
A variety of solid-state hydrogen storage materials viz. MgH2, Mg2NiH4, NaAlH4, other
alanates, borohydrates (gravimetric capacity of >7wt%), commercial hydrides such as
FeTiH2 and LaNi5H6, adsorbents like carbon, nano-structured carbons (including CNTs)
MoFs and hydrogen clathrate hydrate have been investigated for hydrogenation and
dehydrogenation reaction conditions and their kinetics, retention of cycling capacity,
susceptibility to impurities and reversible capacities. The need for material with practical
operative conditions of pressure (1-10 bar) and temperature (300C-1000C) has simulated the
interest of many researchers. Other major areas of research are improvement of kinetics of
hydrogen uptake/release and enhancement of cycling capacity.
Pure hydrogen physisorption has been demonstrated at cryogenic temperatures (up to ca. 6
wt% H2) for which extremely high surface area carbon is required. Pure atomic H
chemisorption has also been demonstrated to ca. 8 wt% H2, but the covalent-bound H is
liberated only at impractically high temperatures (above ca. 400°C). The activated carbon
materials made from carbon nanotubes, graphite nanofibers, known as next generation of
energy systems are capable of storing hydrogen.
APPLICATIONS OTHER THAN TRANSPORTATION:-
Hydrogen has the potential to replace LPG and CNG for cooking because it has superior
characteristics to LPG and PNG fuel in terms of ignitability, low ignition delay and higher
flame stability. Catalytic burning of the hydrogen in the home cooker is the best way to use
the hydrogen for 27 cooking. Several catalysts such as metals like Cu, Zn, Fe, Ni, Co; alloys
like Co-Mn-Ag; storage alloys like MmNi5, ZrFe2 can dissociate H2. Catalytic techniques for
hydrogen fueled catalytic cookers (i) are porous ceramic plate embedded with platinum in
pores for flameless situation and (ii) new catalysts for hydrogen catalytic combustion

Action Plan and Financial Projection

High Pressure Hydrogen Gaseous Storage: CNG cylinders may be
deployed in demonstration fleets of vehicles up to a pressure of 200 bar. For pressure more
than 200 and up to 400 bar, hydrogen cylinders may be imported for the vehicle like buses
and trucks. Such 50 vehicles may be taken-up for public demonstration. Simultaneously, 500
to 1000 hydrogen fueled vehicles be prepared in about 5 to 8 years for large scale
demonstration. Consortium collaboration approach may be followed among HINDALCO,
Indore; NPL, New Delhi; IOCL Nasik and BHEL (Hyderabad) to produce Al cylinders
reinforced with carbon fibre tapes and other high strength wrappings. This consortium may
prepare 50 such high pressure cylinders up to 400 bar and test them.

Solid State Storage (Metal, Intermetallic and Complex

Hydrides): Production of optimized, well known and already deployed Mischmetal
based hydride e.g. Mm-Ni-Fe may be taken-up on pilot plant level (100 kg to 1 Ton Level)
and simultaneously, its demonstration in the vehicles for on-board applications in around 50
three
wheelers (hydride requirement around 2000 kg); 10 small cars (hydride requirement around
500 Kg).
4. Fuel Cell Development in India
Different kinds of fuel cells have been developed. A few of them have been commercalised
and remaining are under development. Important features of the well know fuel cells are
given below:

(i) Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cel

l Low Temperature Polymer Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells have high power
density and can be easily started-up and stopped at low temperatures ranging from -35 to
400C, which have been found suitable for application in light and heavy duty vehicles. These
fuel cells have been commercialized in many applications like vehicular and stationary power
generation. The low temperature PEM fuel cells require high purity hydrogen, whereas the
high temperature PEM fuel cells operate at higher temperature i.e. around 1200C and does
not require very pure hydrogen (up to 3% CO content). Many companies have
commercialized low temperature PEM fuel cells but high temperature PEM fuel cells are still
under development. Large capacities (MW range) of stationary power generating systems
based on low temperature PEM fuel cell technology have been installed and buses / cars are
under demonstration / field trials in many countries like Canada, USA, Japan, Germany,
United Kingdom. Soon these vehicle would be available to public. USA is the world leader in
deployment of fuel cell based forklifts and more than 1500 units have been deployed at
various locations. China will get support for 300 fuel cell buses, development of fuel cell tram
engines. European Union will import fuel cell modules for 21 buses during 2016 and 2017.
United Kingdom will extend the operation of 8 fuel cell powered buses for 5 more years and
import 10 fuel cell modules to power buses. India is also putting efforts in developing and
commercialising this technology. India has recently imported 150 fuel cell systems for
deployment in telecom networks. Globally, it is expected that Power supply system of 25 lakh
telecom towers will be converted to fuel cell based power system by 2020 and potential of
global market for stationary fuel cells will reach 50 GW by 2020.
In the country, many organizations like Centre for Fuel Cell Technology-International
Advanced Research Centre for Powder Metallurgy, Hyderabad, CSIR-Network Labs, Naval
Materials Research Laboratory, Ambernath, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre,
Thiruvananthapuram, Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited, Hyderabad; Thermax Limited, Pune
are engaged in complete development of PEMFC system including stack and system
developments. In addition, a number of academic institutions like Indian Institutes of
Technology, Universities, National Institute of Technology are 34 also involved in the
research, design, development and demonstration of components / Sub-systems / systems of
different types of fuel cells. Despite the support from the Ministry for around two decades,
the development of fuel cell system is not reached to the stage, at which these may be taken
up for manufacturing due to various reasons like (i) lack of engineering input (ii)
infrastructure for producing the systems in large numbers for trials / demonstration (iii)
reliance on pressurized bottled hydrogen procured at high cost, since on-site hydrogen
generation units (reformers) operating on commercial fuels such as LPG, methanol or
natural gas are not available in the country and (iv) other issues like power density at a given
cost, weight, and life time, which are of commercial importance, are also to be taken-up for
further R&D.

(ii)Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell

The phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC) have developed and commercialized with modules in
the range of 100 - 400 kW for stationary power generation applications. It operates on
propane/LPG/CNG / landfill gases with a life time of more than 45000 hours. It can tolerate
fuel with less than 2% CO. Bharat Heavy Electrical Limited (BHEL) imported, installed and
operated a 200kW PAFC unit with LPG as fuel. Later BHEL developed and demonstrated 50
kW PAFC system using hydrogen from the Chlor-Alkali industries. The Naval Materials
Research Laboratory (NMRL), Ambernath also developed such systems of 1-15 kW capacity
and demonstrated successfully for field applications. The technology has been transferred to
the industry.

(iii)Alkaline Fuel Cell

Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC) is a low cost technology, because of its components are made from
inexpensive materials. Initially, it was used in space rockets. Now these fuel cells are not in
use because of their inherent problems, which have not been overcome. However, if further
development take place, these can be deployed in various other applications such as
telecommunication towers, scooters, auto-rickshaws, cars, boats, household inverters, etc.

(iv) Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

The Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) are multi-fuel compliant like gasoline, alcohol, natural gas,
biogas etc. can be used. The fuels are reformed internally to producing hydrogen. SOFCs
have been developed in two different designs i.e. tubular and planar types. Both have their
merits and de-merits in their fabrication and operation. SOFC systems have been 35
developed in the power range 250- 300 watts operating on propane, butane and LPG in the
countries like USA, Canada, Germany, UK, Denmark, Australia, Japan etc. Tubular type
SOFC of 100kW capacity and Planar configuration up to 25kW capacity have been
developed. In India, CSIRCGCRI, Kolkata has recently demonstrated a 1000W anode
supported stack with planar configuration. Another major effort in development of the 3rd
generation technology (metal supported SOFC) has been underway by NFTDC, Hyderabad
in collaboration with University of Cambridge, United Kingdom.

(v) Direct Methanol/ Ethanol Fuel Cell

Direct Methanol/ Ethanol Fuel Cell (DMFC / DEFC), uses methanol / ethanol to generate
power less than 100 W. These fuel cells may be deployed in the devices with low power
consumption like computerized notebooks, mobile phones, military equipment and such
other electronic devices. DEFC faces problem of incomplete oxidation of ethanol to produce
hydrogen gas. The researchers are trying to find suitable solution. The electronics OEMs,
such as Samsung and Toshiba, and other companies developed such fuel cells with power
density of 110 mW/cm2 . Similarly, ternary PtRhSnO2/C electro catalyst have been
synthesized in USA, which produces currents 100 times higher than those produced with
other catalysts. However, Japanese scientists has also succeeded in getting short circuit
current increased from 2.8 to 9.0 mA/cm2 . In the country, some academic institutions /
universities / engineering colleges are trying to get solution of the problems like
i) electrocatalysts which can effectively enhance the electrode-kinetics of methanol
oxidation,
ii) electrolyte membranes which have high ionic conductivity and low methanol crossover
and
iii) methanol tolerant electro-catalysts with high activity for oxygen reduction.
(vi) Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell
Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell (MCFC) operates at a temperature of about 6500C, which offers
greater flexibility to the choice of fuels with higher efficiencies and simultaneously, imposes
limitations in the selection of suitable materials of construction for long time operations. All
the carbon monoxide is oxidized to carbon dioxide at anode, which requires proper
management. The power plants based on MCFC technology have been installed from
hundreds of kW to MW level in the world. In India R&D activities were taken-up but later
discontinued.

(vii) Bio-fuel Cell Biological fuel cells

they are of two types viz.:

1) Microbial fuel cells employ living cells such as microorganisms as the catalyst
and 2) 36 Enzymetic bio-fuel cells,

which use different enzymes to catalyze the redox reaction of the fuels. The production /
consumption cycle of bio-fuels is considered to be carbon neutral and, in principle, more
sustainable than that of conventional fuel cells. The potential areas for its power application
are portable electronics, biomedical instruments, environmental studies, military and space
research etc. In India, many institutions are active to develop suitable electrodes materials or
tweak the microorganism. Mediator-less and membrane-less MFCs have been demonstrated
on laboratory scale.

(viii) Direct Carbon Fuel Cell

Direct Carbon Fuel Cell (DCFC) converts fuel (granulated carbon powder ranging from 10 to
1000 nm sizes) to electricity directly with a maximum electrical efficiency up to 70% (with
100% theoretical efficiency). The systems, which may operate on low grade abundant fuels
derived from coal, municipal and refinery waste products or bio-mass are under
development. The byproduct is nearly pure CO2, which can be stored and used for
commercial purpose leading to zero emission. Several laboratories in USA and Australia are
active in the development of such a device that can easily be scaled up. No work in this area
is reported so far from India.

(ix) Micro fuel cells

Micro fuel cells (MFCs) are the miniature form of either PEMFC or DMFC or SOFC and have
the potential to replace batteries as they offer high power densities, considerably longer
operational & stand-by times, shorter recharging time, simple balance of plant, and a passive
operation. Micro fuel cells are ideal for use in portable electronic devices (fuel cell on a
chip).Polymer electrolyte micro fuel cells can be used in 3D printing, which is effectively
carried out on a large area. Low cost lithographic techniques have been developed for fluid
flow micro channels. The other type based on monolithically integrated SOFC on a Si ship is
also very important as planar configurations can be effected using modern manufacturing
processes to make Li-batteries obsolete for certain type of applications. Currently, there is no
activity on micro fuel cells in India.

5. Transportation through Hydrogen Fuelled Vehicles

As India moves ahead in the implementation of Euro 5 and Euro 6 emission norms for
automobiles in the coming years, the impact on diesel car and SUV will give a jolt to these
industry and users. Hydrogen may get a place automatically in the automobile sector to
replace petrol and diesel vehicles and even coal for large scale power generation. Hydrogen
fuel cell cars hit the streets of Great Britain during 2016 and have initial sales to early
adopters up until 2020. United Kingdom has its plan to put 1.5 million hydrogen drivers on
the British roads by 2030.

Hydrogen fueled automobiles use hydrogen on-board to generate motive power either
directly through internal combustion engine or indirectly, I,e, first to electrical energy
through fuel cell then to motive power. Hydrogen can be used in different configurations of
Internal Combustion (IC) engine such as spark ignition (SI) engine, compression ignition
(CI) engine / dual fuel engine, CNG dual fuel engine and HCCI engine. High power outputs
and low NOx emissions can be achieved by direct injection of hydrogen in SI engine.
Hydrogen may also be used with biogas or other low grade gaseous fuels in this mode for the
applications in locomotives and in stationary power generation. Hydrogen can be a good
additive in the case of biogas diesel HCCI operation, as it raises the efficiency and extends the
load range. Engine control units for dual fuel, HCCI and direct hydrogen injection engines
 with effective control strategies, in some cases to switch between modes have to be developed.
There is need to develop after treatment device for NOx reduction (Lean NOX trap, SCR etc.),
which will be helpful in improving power output while engine operates at a higher
equivalence ratio. This is very relevant for heavy duty engines operating on hydrogen. The
application of hydrogen blends with various fuels like CNG, LPG, Diesel etc. also need to be
studied.
Globally, several R&D project have been undergoing in various parts of the world for
developing hydrogen based Internal Combustion Engines. Some of the significant project
were (i) HyICE programme in Europe by European Commission and BMW in collaboration
with various industry and academia for both single and multi-cylinder engines for various
fuel injection strategies like Direct Injection and Cryogenic Fuel Injection (ii) Next
Generation Environment Friendly Vehicle Development and Commercialization project in
Japan for heavy duty engines Direct Injection Hydrogen IC engines (iii) Development of two
hydrogen engines at Tokyo City University turbocharged with Port Fuel 43 Injection for light
duty trucks with hybrid power train (iv) Homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI)
with high compression ratio to overcome the issue of low emission versus better combustion
rate and thermal efficiency (iv) Direct Injection to keep combustion confined and away from
combustion chamber walls to lower NOx and have longer durability and sustained
performance of Direct Injection Injectors. Thus, presently hydrogen powered IC engines are
more suitable for heavy vehicle rather than fuel cells vehicles due to the higher specific power
output.
6.ADVANTAGES:-
Fuel cells have various advantages compared to conventional power sources, such as
internal combustion engines or batteries. Although some of the fuel cells' attributes are only
valid for some applications, most advantages are more general.

Benefits include:
• 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.

• Since hydrogen can be produced anywhere where there is water and a source of
power, generation of fuel can be distributed and does not have to be grid-dependent.
• The use of stationary fuel cells to generate power at the point of use allows for a
decentralised power grid that is potentially more stable.

• Low temperature fuel cells (PEMFC, DMFC) have low heat transmission which makes
them ideal for military applications.

• Higher temperature fuel cells produce high-grade process heat along with electricity
and are well suited to cogeneration applications (such as combined heat and power
for residential use).

• Operating times are much longer than with batteries, since doubling the operating time
needs only doubling the amount of fuel and not the doubling of the capacity of the
unit itself.

• 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.

7 The Future Applications of

Hydrogen (i) As energy carrier:
Hydrogen will join electricity as an important energy carrier in the future. This is because it
can be made safely from renewable energy sources and is virtually non-polluting.

(ii) Electricity production:

Hydrogen will be used to produce electricity in fuel cells.

(iii) As a fuel:
Hydrogen will be used as a fuel for ‘zero-emissions’ vehicles, and for aircraft.

(iv) In heating:
Hydrogen will also be used to heat offices and homes.

Infrastructure:
Many new facilities and systems must be built before hydrogen can play a bigger role and
become a widely used alternative to gasoline.

1. Use a wind electrolysis system to produce hydrogen.

2. Use compressor, to compress hydrogen up to pipe line pressure.

3. Fed compressed hydrogen to a transmission pipeline.

4. The pipeline transports the hydrogen to a compressed gas terminal for its compression
and loading in compressed gas tube trailors.

5. Delivery of compressed gas tube trailors using trucks to a forecourt

station. 6. Further compression of hydrogen in forecourt station.

7. Storage and dispension of hydrogen to fuel cell vehicles.

8.REFRENCES
1. Altork, L.N. & Busby, J. R. (2010 Oct). Hydrogen fuel cells: part of the solution.
Technology & Engineering Teacher, 70(2), 22-27.
2. Florida Solar Energy Center. (n.d.). Hydrogen Basics. Retrieved from:
http://www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/consumer/hydrogen/basics/index.htm 3. Zehner, Ozzie
(2012). Green Illusions. Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press. pp.
1–169, 331–42.
4. Wang, Feng (March 2015). "Thermodynamic analysis of high-temperature
helium heated fuel reforming for hydrogen production". International Journal of
Energy Research. 39 (3): 418–432. doi:10.1002/er.3263.
5. Jones, J.C. (March 2015). "Energy-return-on-energy-invested for hydrogen fuel
from the steam reforming of natural gas". Fuel. 143: 631.
doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2014.12.027.
6. U.S. Department of Energy. (2007 Feb). Potential for hydrogen production from
key renewable resources in the United States. (Technical Report NREL/TP
640-41134). National Renewable Energy Laboratory Golden, CO: Milbrandt, A. &
Mann, M. Retrieved from: http://www.afdc.energy.gov/afdc/pdfs/41134.pdf
7. "Alternative Fuels Data Center: Hydrogen Basics". www.afdc.energy.gov.
Retrieved 2018-10-01.