HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS

MERITS, DEMERITS AND ECONOMY

[SETH K K SARPONG-BRENYA
MPHIL CHEMICAL ENGINEERING]
INTRO
H
ydrogen fuel cells is emerging as a high-potential technology that offers significant energy efficiency and decarbonisation
benefits to a range of industries—including automotive and heavy transport.
In 1838, judge-turned-scientist Sir William Grove came up with a novel idea: to construct a cell consisting of two separate sealed
compartments, each of which was fed by either hydrogen or oxygen gas. At the time, he called his invention a “gas voltaic battery.”
Unfortunately, it did not produce enough electricity to be of much use. It remained a scientific curiosity until the 20th century, when
English engineer Francis Thomas Bacon matured the original idea to develop the world’s very first hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell in
1932.

Bacon’s fuel cell was successful such that it has been used by the space industry to power satellites and rockets for space exploration
programmes, including Apollo 11, since the 1960s.
The then-US President Richard Nixon famously said: "Without you Tom, we wouldn't have gotten to the moon.”

Today, hydrogen fuel cell technology is being used for a variety of applications, including to:

• provide emergency backup power to critical facilities like hospitals

• replace grid electricity for critical-load facilities like data centres
• power a variety of transportation modes such as cars, buses, trains and forklifts.
Tomorrow, it could potentially power everything from low-carbon cities and regions to portable computing devices to future zero-
emission aircraft.
HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS
HOW DO THEY WORK!?
 HOW DO THEY WORK?
• H2 fuel cell is similar to batteries. The device converts energy stored in molecules into electricity
through an electrochemical reaction. Composed of two electrodes (an anode and a cathode)
separated by an electrolyte membrane, a typical hydrogen fuel cell works in the following way:

• Hydrogen enters the fuel cell via the anode. Here, hydrogen atoms react with a catalyst
and split into electrons and protons. Oxygen from the ambient air enters on the other side
through the cathode.
• The positively charged protons pass through the porous electrolyte membrane to the
cathode. The negatively charged electrons flow out of the cell and generate an electric
current, which can be used, for example, to power an electric or hybrid-electric propulsion
system.
• In the cathode, the protons and oxygen then combine to produce water.
• Because fuel cells generate electricity through an electrochemical reaction, they are a clean
source of power. In fact, fuel cells that use pure hydrogen are carbon-free. Some other key
advantages of fuel cells include the following:

• Unlike batteries that need to be recharged, fuel cells can continue to generate electricity as long
as a fuel source (hydrogen) is provided.
• Individual fuel cells can be “stacked” to form larger systems capable of producing more power,
thereby allowing scalability. A single fuel cell can produce enough voltage to power small
applications, while fuel cell stacks can be combined to create large-scale, multi-megawatt
installations.
• Because there are no moving parts, fuel cells are silent and highly reliable.
 LOOKING AT
THE
ECONOMY OF
HYDROGEN
FUEL
AS A FUNCTION OF BULK
TRANSPORTATION FOR TRULY
GLOBAL FUEL ALTERNATIVE
SIMPLIFIED DECISION-MAKING AND VALUE CHAIN FLOW CHART FOR THE
LARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION OF MOST COMMON ‘COLOURS’ OF HYDROGEN
SIMPLIFIED VALUE CHAIN FLOW
CHART FOR

1. METHANOL,
2. MCH &
3. AMMONIA

AS HYDROGEN CARRIER TO AID LONG

DISTANCE BULK TRANSPORT AND
SUPPLY
Key characteristics of main potential hydrogen carriers
Key characteristics Hydrogen Ammonia Methylcyclohex Methanol
ane (MCH)

Chemical formula H2 NH3 C7H14 (CH3C6H11) CH3OH

Molecular weight (g/mol) 2.016 17.031 98.186 32.04
Density under normal conditions (kg/m3) 0.08375 0.73 866.9 791.4
Melting point (oC) -259.16 -77.73 -126.3 -97.6
Boiling point (oC) -252.87 -33.34 101 64.7
Productio Most popular production process Steam methane reforming Coal Habe Hydrogenation Carbon
n gasificat r- of toluene C7H8 hydrogenati
ion Bosc on/
h (C6H5CH3)
Methanation
proce
ss

Chemical reaction CH4 + H2O CO + 3C + O2 + N2 + 3H2 CH3C6H5 + 3H2 CO + 2H2

3H2 H2O → H2 + → CH3C6H11 CH3OH;
2NH3 CO2 + 3H2
3CO
CH3OH + H2O

Catalysts involved Usually Ni K2CO3/ K2S/ Fe- Ni-based Cu/ZnO/

based catalyst (non- Al2O3
(but possible Na2CO3/ catal PGM) catalyst
Na2S yst
Ru/Rh/Pd/Ir/P)

Pressure (bar) 3-25 <100 150 10 51

Temperature (oC) 700-1,000 >750 ~375 ~240 ~250
BOG (%) ~0.52 ~0.025   ~0.0005
Storage Density under conditions suitable for storage/ L 71.1 686 866.9 791.4
and t transportation (kg/m3) i
Pressure for storage/ transportation (atm) q   1    
ransporta u
tion Favourable temperature for storage/ transportation (oC) i <= -252.87 <= -33.34   20-25
d
Gravimetric energy density (MJ/kg) 120 21.18-22.5 7.35 20.1-22.4
Gravimetric H2 content (wt%) 100 17.65 6.1 12-12.5
Volumetric energy density (Wh/L) 8.49 12.92-14.4 5.66 11.40-11.88
Volumetric H2 content (kgH2/m3) 70.8 107.7-120 47.1 95.04-99
Explosive limit in air (vol%) >4 15-28 1.2-6.7 6.7-36
Key characteristics of main potential hydrogen carriers - Continued

Heating/ Hightemperature
Most popular process Dehydrogenation Steam reforming
evaporation cracking

CH3OH CO +
CH3C6H11 C6H5CH3
Chemical reaction 2NH3 N2 + 3H2 2H2;
D +3H2
CO + H2O → CO2 + H2
e
c n/a
o
m
p Catalysts involved Ni catalyst Pt/Al2O3 catalyst Cu-based catalyst
o
s
i Pressure (bar) 20 2 3
t Temperature (oC) > -252.87 ~800 ~350 ~290
i
o
n

Enthalpy ΔH (kJ/mol) 0.899-0.907 30.6 68.3-69.8 16.3-16.6

 Hydrogen
Advantages • High purity
• Carbon free
• No need for dehydrogenation
and purification
• No/minimum energy losses in
regasification
• Commercialized liquefaction
Challenges • Highly flammable
• Need for extremely low
temperature for liquefaction
• High energy requirements for
cooling and liquefaction
• Difficulty for long-term
storage
• Requires boil-off control (0.2-
0.3%/d in wellinsulated tanker
and up to 3%/d in truck)
• Risk of leakage
• Need for further
development and scaleup of
H2 infrastructure
Summary of the main advantages and challenges of
the hydrogen carriers in question: liquid hydrogen,
liquid ammonia, MCH, and methanol
Ammonia
• Possibility for direct use
• High energy density and H2 content
• Not highly flammable
• Carbon free
• Possibility to utilize propane
infrastructure/existing ammonia
infrastructure
• Low transport losses
• Partially existing regulation
• Toxic and corrosive
• Lower reactivity compared to
hydrocarbons
• Treatment and management by
certified engineers
• High energy use for dehydrogenation
• Need for H2 purification
• Potential NOx emissions when used as
shipping fuel and not completely
combusted
 MCH Methanol
Possibility to reuse toluene after • Can be stored as liquid under ambient
dehydrogenation conditions
• No need to largely adjust infrastructure in
Liquid storage without cooling
both storage and transportation (it is
Existing storage infrastructure
mostly in place)
Possibility to utilize existing
gasoline infrastructure
Existing regulations
Toxic and corrosive • Toxic and corrosive
Highly flammable
• Highly flammable
Contains carbon
• Contains carbon
Toluene produced primarily as a • Immature technology for
byproduct of oil refining renewable methanol production
Expensive catalysts (Pt) used for
• Carbon (CO and CO2) release
dehydrogenation
during decomposition (steam
Needs high temperature and large reforming)
volumes of energy for
• Need for further H2 purification
dehydrogenation
• Incomplete combustion/
Need for further H2 purification
incineration creates formaldehyde
Additional costs for ‘returning’
toluene to the hydrogenation site