SEMINAR

Group Discussion

Fuel Cell (Working, Principle, Types & Application)

MEH 801
IN THE SUPERVISION OF Dr. MANOJ KUMAR

Submitted to - Submitted by –
Mr. Kumar Ratnakar Vishnu Chaudhary (164261)
Dr. Aditya Kumar B.Tech. 4th Year (Mechanical)
1. Introduction
2. Design Principle & operation of Fuel Cell.
3. Types of Fuel Cell
4. Fuel Cell Efficiency.
5. Advantages and Disadvantages
6. Application of Fuel Cell.
7. Recent Development.
What is a Fuel
Cell ?
1. A fuel cell is an electrochemical energy
conversion
device.
2. A fuel cell converts the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen
into water.
3. A fuel cell is a device that generates electricity
by a
chemical reaction.
4. Every fuel cell has two electrodes, one positive and one
negative, called cathode and anode respectively. The
reactions that produce electricity take place at the Figure. 1
electrodes.
Why we need Fuel
Cells ?
1. Due to energy crisis all over the world.
2. Due to the issue of global warming.
3. Due to the unavailability of different renewable sources at each
and every place due to geographic condition.
4. Fuel cell provides an alternate efficient non polluting power source that
produces no noise and has no moving parts.
5. It is expected that by 2050 the global energy demand is going to rise by
2 to 3 times.
The basic principle of the fuel cell is illustrated in
the figure.
The core of each fuel cell consists of an electrolyte
and
two electrodes.
At the negative anode, a fuel such as hydrogen is being
oxidized, while at the positive cathode, oxygen is reduced.
Ions are transported through the electrolyte from one side
to the other.
Chemistry of fuel cell:
At Anode:- 2H2 → 4H+ +
At Cathode:- 4e- O2 + 4H+ + 4e- → 2H2O
Net Reaction: 2H2 + O2 Figure. 2
→ 2H2O
Classification of fuel cells is very difficult as several operational variable exists.
1. Based on the temperature range in which they operate: low temperature(25-
100), medium temperature (100-500) , high temperature(500-1000) & very
high temperature(above 1000).
2. According to the physical state of the fuel: Gas(hydrogen, lower hydro-
carbons), Liquid(alcohols, hydrazine, higher hydrocarbons), Solid(Metals).

Another Classification :
3. Primary fuel cell: Reactants are passed through the cell only once & the
products of the reaction being discarded. (H2 – O2 fuel cell )
4. Secondary fuel cell: Reactants are passed through the cell many times
because they are regenerated by different methods.( Nitric oxide – chlorine
fuel cell)
 Continued…
Classification based on types of fuel used:
1. Hydrogen
2. Fossil Fuel
3. Ammonia fuel.
4. Hydrazine fuel.
1. 40% KOH solution as electrolyte (Ion exchange membrane).
2. The membrane is non permeable to the reactant gases, hydrogen and oxygen,
which thus prevents them from coming into contact.
3. The membrane is however, permeable to hydrogen ions which are the current
carriers in the electrolyte.
4. The desired properties of an ideal ion exchange membrane electrolyte are:
a) High ionic conductivity.
b) Zero electronic conductivity
c) Low permeability of fuel and oxidant
d) Low degree of electro-osmosis.
e) High resistance to dehydration.
f) High resistance to its oxidation or hydrolysis and,
g) Mechanical stability
1. 40% efficiency generated, converting methanol to hydrogen in
reformer.
2. 80% of hydrogen energy content converted to electrical energy.
3. 80% efficiency for inverter/motor – Converts electrical to mechanical
energy.
4. Overall efficiency of 24-32%.
1. Fuel cell system are ecofriendly.
2. High conversion efficiency.
3. Extremely low emission.
4. Noise less operations so readily accepted in residential areas.
5. Availability to use at any location. So less transmission & distribution losses.
6. No requirements of cooling tower as conventional plants.
7. Less space require as compared to conventional plants.
1. Higher Initial Cost.
2. Lower Service Life.
3. Fuelling fuel cells is still a major problem since the production, transportation,
distribution and storage of hydrogen is difficult.
4. The technology is not yet fully developed and few products are available.
5. Fuel cells are currently very expensive to produce, since most units are
handmade.
The application of the fuel cell may be discussed in the following areas.

1. Domestic Power
2. Central Power Station.
3. Automotive Vehicles.
4. Special Application (generate heat energy).
1. LLC(The Limiting Liability Companies), Latham, NY has successfully
developed 50 KW power plant.
2. Fuel cell of capacity 1.5KW is powering houses in Australia.
3. GAIL is actively involved in establishing fuel infrastructure for fuel cell vehicles
in India.
4. CECRI(Central Electro chemical Research Institute), Karaikudi has developed
and tested MCFC stack.
 Major Organization working in this
Field
1. Ministry of NCES [National Centre for Education Statistics]
2. IITs
3. CSIR [Council of Scientific and Industrial Research]
4. BHEL [Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited, New Delhi]
5. GAIL [Gas Authorities of India Limited, New Delhi]
6. BARC [Baba Atomic Research Center, Mumbai]
7. MIT [Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MA, USA]
 References
1. Schmidt-Rohr, K. (2015). "Why Combustions Are Always Exothermic,
Yielding About 418 kJ per Mole of O2", J. Chem. Educ. 92: 2094-
2099.https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.5b00333
2. Khurmi, R. S. (2014). Material Science. S. Chand & Company
3. Larminie, James; Dicks, Andrew. Fuel Cell Systems Explained (PDF)
4. “Fuel Cell Project: PEM Fuel Cells photo #2". americanhistory.si.edu.
5. "LEMTA – Our fuel cells". Perso.ensem.inpl-nancy.fr. Archived from the
original on 21 June 2009. Retrieved 21 September 2009.