Fuel Cell

FUEL CELL
ASHIS KUMAR JENA

REG.NO=1101304073
Mechanical engineering
8th sem
*CONTENT
* INTRODUCTION
* FUEL CELL VS BATTERY
* TYPES OF FUEL CELL
* PARTS OF FUEL CELL
* FUEL CELL THEORY
* FUEL CELL WORKING
* THE CHEMISTRY OF A FUEL CELL
* ADVANTAGES
* DISADVANTAGES
* APPLICATIONS
* MAJOR ORGANIZATION WORKING IN THIS FIELD
* RECENT DEVELOPMENT
* CONCLUSION
* REFERENCE
*INTRODUCTION
 A fuel cell is an electrochemical energy conversion device. A fuel cell converts
the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water and in the process it produces
electricity.
It is much like a battery that can be recharged while you are drawing
Power from it.
 it provides a DC voltage that can be used to

power motors , light and any number of
electrical appliances .
 fuel cell was first demonstrated by welsh

scientist Sir William Robert Grove in February
1839.
* FUEL CELL VS BATTERY
 FUEL CELL  BATTERY
 In a fuel cell, chemicals  A battery has all of its chemicals

constantly flow into the cell so stored inside, and it converts
it never goes dead. those chemicals into electricity
too. This means that a battery
eventually "goes dead.
 As long as there is a flow of  But in case of battery it

chemicals into the cell, the eventually "goes dead" we either
electricity flows out of the cell. throw it away or recharge it
*TYPES OF FUEL CELLS
Alkaline fuel cell (AFC)
Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell(MCFC)
Solid Oxide Fuel cell (SOFC)
Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC)
Polymer Electrode to Membrane

Fuel Cell (PEMFC)
*PARTS OF FUEL CELL
*The Anode
 The anode is the negative post of the fuel cell.
 It conducts the electrons that are freed from the hydrogen molecules so
that they can be used in an external circuit.
 It has channels etched into it that disperse the hydrogen gas equally
over the surface of the catalyst.

*The Cathode
 The cathode is the positive post of the fuel cell.
 It has channels etched into it that distribute the oxygen to the
surface of the catalyst.
 It also conducts the electrons back from the external circuit to the
catalyst, where they can recombine with the hydrogen ions and
oxygen to form water.

*The Catalyst
 The catalyst is a special material that facilitates the reaction of
oxygen and hydrogen.
 It is usually made of platinum powder very thinly coated onto carbon
paper or cloth. The catalyst is rough and porous so that the maximum
surface area of the platinum can be exposed to the hydrogen or
oxygen.
 The platinum-coated side of the catalyst faces the PEM.

* The Proton Exchange Membrane
 The electrolyte is the proton exchange membrane.
 This is a specially treated material that only conducts positively
charged ions.
 The membrane blocks electrons.

*FUEL CELL THEORY
 A fuel cell consists of two electrodes - Anode and Cathode and sandwiched
around an electrolyte.
 An electrolyte is a substance, solid or liquid, capable of conducting

oving ions from one electrode to other.
(+)
 Hydrogen and Oxygen are fed into the cell. (-)
Anode Cathod
Electrolyte
*FUEL CELL WORKING
*Cont……
The Fuel gas (hydrogen rich) is passed towards the anode where the following
oxidation reaction occurs:
H2 (g) = 2H+ + 2e-

The liberated electrons from hydrogen in anode side do not migrate through
electrolyte.
Therefore, they passes through the external circuit where work is performed,
then finally goes into the cathode.
On the other hand, the positive hydrogen ions (H+) migrate across the electrolyte
towards the cathode.
At the cathode side the hydrogen atom reacts with oxygen gas (from air) and
electrons to form water as byproduct according to:
The overall cell reaction is
fuel + oxidant product + Heat

H2 + 1/2 O2 +2e - H2O + Heat
The liberated electrons from the hydrogen are responsible for the production of
electricity.
The water is produced by the combination of hydrogen, oxygen and liberated
electrons and is sent out from the cell.
The DC current produced by fuel cell is later converted into AC current using an
inverter for practical application.
The voltage developed in a single fuel cell various from 0.7 to 1.4 volt.
More power can be obtained by arranging the individual fuel cell as a stack. In this
case, each single cell is sandwiched with one another by a interconnect.
Therefore, electricity power ranging from 1 kW to 200 kW can be obtained for
domestic as well as industrial application.
*Graphic showing working of Fuel Cell
 Pressurized hydrogen gas (H2),
enters the fuel cell on the
anode side .
 Oxygen gas (O2) is forced
through the catalyst on the
Cathode side
 This reaction in a single fuel
cell produces about 0.7 volts
*THE CHEMISTRY OF A FUEL CELL
At
anode
At
cathode
Overall
reaction
*ADVANTAGES
 Zero Emissions: a fuel cell vehicle only emits water vapour. Therefore, no
air pollution occurs.
 High efficiency: Fuel cells convert chemical energy directly into electricity
without the combustion process. As a result, Fuel cells can achieve high
efficiencies in energy conversion.
 High power density: A high power density allows fuel cells to be relatively
compact source of electric power, beneficial in application with space
constraints.
 Quiet operation: Fuel cells can be used in residential or built-up areas

where the noise pollution can be avoided.
 No recharge: Fuel cell systems do not require recharging

*DISADVANTAGES
 It is difficult to manufacture and stores a high pure hydrogen.
 It is very expense as compared to battery.
 Large weight and volume of gas fuel storage system.

*APPLICATIONS
 The first commercial use of fuel cell was in NASA space program to
generate power for satellites and space capsules.
 They are used to power fuel vehicles including automobiles, Aeroplanes ,

Boats and Submarines.
Portable power for laptop Nokia mobile with fuel cell battery
Wheel chair powered by fuel cell Toshiba mp3 with a fuel cell
Fuel cell vehicle 2003 HONDA Communication equi. Powered by fuel cell
*MAJOR ORGANIZATIONS
WORKING IN THE FIELD
 Ministry of NCES
 IITS
 CSIR labs
 BHEL
 GAIL
 BARC
 MIT
*RECENT DEVELOPMENT
 LLC,NY has successfully developed 50KW power plant.
 fuel cell of capacity 1.5 KW powering houses in Australia.
 GAIL is actively involved in establishing fuel infrastructure for fuel

cell vehicles in INDIA.
*CONCLUSION
 The above discussion prove the existence of huge Market for fuel
cell.
 future cities can be planned on fuel cell system for their power and
energy requirements.
*REFERENCE
 WWW.seminarsonly.com
 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
 www.slideshare.net
 www.seminatopics.com

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ASHIS KUMAR JENA

 it provides a DC voltage that can be used to

 fuel cell was first demonstrated by welsh

 In a fuel cell, chemicals  A battery has all of its chemicals

 As long as there is a flow of  But in case of battery it

Alkaline fuel cell (AFC)

Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell(MCFC)

Solid Oxide Fuel cell (SOFC)

Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell (PAFC)

Polymer Electrode to Membrane

that they can be used in an external circuit.

over the surface of the catalyst.

 The cathode is the positive post of the fuel cell.

 It has channels etched into it that distribute the oxygen to the

surface of the catalyst.

oxygen to form water.

oxygen and hydrogen.

 It is usually made of platinum powder very thinly coated onto carbon

surface area of the platinum can be exposed to the hydrogen or

 The platinum-coated side of the catalyst faces the PEM.

 The electrolyte is the proton exchange membrane.

 This is a specially treated material that only conducts positively

 The membrane blocks electrons.

 An electrolyte is a substance, solid or liquid, capable of conducting

H2 (g) = 2H+ + 2e-

fuel + oxidant product + Heat

 Quiet operation: Fuel cells can be used in residential or built-up areas

 No recharge: Fuel cell systems do not require recharging

 It is very expense as compared to battery.

 Large weight and volume of gas fuel storage system.

 They are used to power fuel vehicles including automobiles, Aeroplanes ,

 LLC,NY has successfully developed 50KW power plant.

 fuel cell of capacity 1.5 KW powering houses in Australia.

 GAIL is actively involved in establishing fuel infrastructure for fuel

 From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

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