WHAT IS FUEL CELL TECHNOLOGY?

• A fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion

device that continuously converts chemical energy of a
fuel directly into electrical energy.
• Continuous operation requires supply of fuel and oxidant
and removal of water vapour, spent fuel, spent oxidant,
inert residue and heat.
• One of the most remarkable fact about fuel cell is that its
efficiency is not limited by carnot efficiency.
• The conversion of chemical energy of a fuel to electrical
energy occurs directly without intermediate thermal
stage, hence the efficiency of conversion is better.
 CLASSIFICATION OF FUEL CELLS
 BASED ON THE TYPE OF ELECTROLYTE
• Phosphoric acid fuel cell (PAFC)
• Alkaline fuel cell (AFC)
• Polymer electrolytic membrane fuel cell (PEMFC)
• Molten carbonate fuel cell (MCFC)
• Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC)

 BASED ON THE TYPES OF THE FUEL AND OXIDANT

• Hydrogen - oxygen fuel cell
• Hydrazine - oxygen/hydrogen peroxide fuel cell
• Ammonia- air fuel cell
• Synthesis gas – air fuel cell
 CLASSIFICATION OF FUEL CELL
 BASED ON OPERATING TEMPERATURE
• Low temperature fuel cell (below 150o C)
• Medium temperature fuel cell (150o C- 250o C)
• High temperature fuel cell (250o C- 800o C)
• Very high temperature fuel cell (800o C- 1100o C)

 BASED ON CHEMICAL NATURE OF ELECTROLYTE

• Acidic electrolyte type
• Alkaline electrolyte type
• Neutral electrolyte type
A TYPICAL FUEL
CELL AND ITS
OPERATION
 At anode:-
2H2  4H+ + 4e-
 At Cathode:-
O2 + 4H+ + 4e-  2H2O

OVERALL REACTION

2H2 + O2  2H2O
LOSSES
ASSOCIATED
WITH FUEL CELL
Losses in fuel cell can be
categorised into
following categories :
 Due to activation
polarization.
 Due to internal
resistance/ ohmic
polarization.
 Due to concentration
polarization.

Ref : NON-CONVENTIONAL SOURCES OF ENERGY BY

B.H. KHAN
REQUIREMENT OF EMS (ENERGY MANAGEMENT
STRATEGIES) IN FUEL CELL (PEMFC)
 The fuel consumption and degradation of fuel cells are
strongly affected by their energy management strategy
(EMS).
 The dynamic response of a PEMFC is slower than that of a
battery due to its output characteristics; thus, for
regenerative braking and good acceleration
consideration, fuel cell electric vehicle hybrid power
systems are often composed of a fuel cell system and an
auxiliary energy source such as battery, super capacitor.
 Because fuel cell electric vehicles are powered by several
energy sources, an energy management strategy (EMS) is
required to distribute the required load power between
the energy sources, considering their different dynamic
characteristics.
Contd…
 Appropriate design of an EMS is an important and effective
way to improve fuel economy and reduce the fuel cell stack
life decay caused by unfavorable operating conditions.
 Prolonging the lifetime of fuel cells has been a long-term EMS
goal.
 Fuel cell electric vehicle EMSs are usually divided into two
types: rule-based strategies and optimization-based
strategies.
 The rule-based strategies are based on simple rules or maps
extracted from optimized algorithms.
 The optimization-based controls can be divided into global
optimizations, instantaneous optimizations and real-time
optimizations, which are usually based on dynamic
programming (DP) algorithms. REF : A comprehensive evaluation framework to evaluate
energy management strategies of fuel cell electric
vehicles by Ke Song , Huan Chen , Peimin Wen,Tao Zhang,
Boqiang Zhang, Tong Zhang
 ENERGY MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR FCHV (FUEL
CELL HYBRID VEHICLE) BASED ON PREDICTION OF
ENERGY DEMAND
STEPS :
 Modelling of super capacitor, modelling
of fuel cell.
 Modelling of hybrid vehicle (trip energy
estimations).
 Performing power balance on DC bus.
Pem(k)- Pbo(k)-Pess(k) = 0
Where em- Motor+inverter, bo- boost
converter, ess- energy storage system.
 Imposing constraints, i.e max/min power
in buck boost converter, max/min
current in super capacitor, max/min SOE
(state of energy).
Contd :
 Goals of this strategy :
• Provide at any time, the power required to propel the vehicle.
• To recover as much energy, as possible from braking.
• Finally, to operate the fuel cell at maximum efficiency.

 Results provided by using this strategy predicted solutions nearer to optimal

solutions (better result than other strategies).
 Computational effort required is less rigorous as compared to other
strategies.

REF : A novel energy management strategy for FCHV by :

M. Carignano, R. Costa Castello, N. Nigro, S. Junco
Finally concluding that...
 Better EMS are required to fully utilize the benefits of fuel cell, some
contemporary EMSs are MPPT method, optimization using dynamic
programming methods and Pontryagin’s minimal principle.
 Fuel cells are the stepping stones for our energy efficient and energy
sufficient future, since they provide cleaner and greener energy, and
only use greener fuels such as methanol, produce gas etc.
 We have come a long way from idea of fuel cell first given by Sir William
Grove in 1838, then NASA using AFC in Apollo space missions and we
have a long way to go...
PRESENTED BY : ANSHUL ANAND
(2019MET2856) & NARENDRA
PRAKASH (2019MET2862)
M.Tech (Thermal Engineering) 1st year