1

(http://www.stanford.edu/group/fuelcell/images/fuel%20cell%20components.jpg)
Lecture prepared with the able assistance of Ritchie King, TA
Fuel Cells
 A Comparison of Two Engines
Internal-combustion engine Electric motor

Only 33% efficient at best 80-90% efficient

Air emissions Zero direct emissions
Peaky torque-rpm curve Broad torque-rpm curve
(needs a transmission) (does not need a transmission)
Power loss in idle No idle
Irreversible energy conversion Regenerative braking
Big and heavy Small and light
(250 hp in 600 lbs = 0.7 kW/kg) (75 kW in 13 kg = 5.8 kW/kg)
Noisy Quiet

So, why don’t we have electric motors in our automobiles today?

Because we do not have good enough batteries to store the electricity on

board of the vehicle !

Benefits of an electric motor

No idling

Direct drive –
No driveline losses

More efficient – This number is smaller

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 Hydrogen Fuel Cells

• A fuel cell is a way to generate electricity on board to power an electric motor.

Onboard electricity generation eliminates the need to store the electrical
energy in a battery.

• The technology is based on a catalytic electrochemical process. The catalyst

itself does not change; so, unlike batteries, fuel cells don’t go bad.

• However, hydrogen is only a carrier of energy, not an energy source. This

means that fuel cells are only as clean as the ultimate energy source used to
generate the hydrogen from the original energy source (coal? sun? wind?).

• Hydrogen (H2) is, in some ways, the ideal fuel:

- It has no carbon → the product of combustion is only water (H2O)
- Of all fuels, it contains the most energy on a per-weight basis
(142.5 MJ/kg as opposed to 43 MJ/kg for gasoline and 29.8 MJ/kg for ethanol)

• The major hurdle is that hydrogen is a gas with an extremely low temperature
of liquification.

How do fuel cells work?

• All fuels cells have

– an anode (+)
– a cathode (–)
– an electrolyte separating the two.

• A fuel flows to the anode and an oxidant to the cathode – the

resulting chemical reaction produces electricity.

• Fuel cells are typically classified according to the type of electrolyte

used.

3
 A typical fuel cell

(http://www.visionengineer.com/env/fc_structure.shtml)

Fuel Cell Types

Operation
Fuel Cell Type Electrolyte Temperature (oC)
Phosphoric Acid H3PO4 150-220
Molten Carbonate (Na,K,Li)2CO3 500-700

Solid Oxide YSZ 700-1000

Proton Exchange
Membrane Sulfonated Polymers 70-100
Alkaline Aq. KOH 100-250

(http://www.superprotonic.com/our_technology.htm)

4
 Comparative Advantages of
Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells

• Higher Power density

→ Fewer cells needed in stack

• No electrolyte corrosion or safety concerns

• Lower operating temperature

→ In a car, it allows for instant start-up.

How do PEM fuel cells work?

circuit

e- e-

H2 air

Pressure forces H2 into

catalytic membrane Electronegativity of
O2 attracts electrons

water
N2

5
 Animated cartoon

http://www.bigs.de/en/shop/anim/bz01.swf

Technical characteristics

6
 The complete fuel-cell system is
more than the cell stack…

Examples of PEM fuel-cell vehicles

www.ase.org/content/article/detail/1926

www.fuelcellsworks.com/Perth_Fuel_Cell_Bus.jpg

7
 http://www.sunline.org

GM’s concept

8
 ... and there even exists a fuel-cell motorcycle !

(http://www.envbike.com)
This motorcycle is not just quiet, it is silent!

Remember…

Hydrogen is not a source of energy, but rather a carrier of energy.

In other words, it takes energy to produce hydrogen fuel.

To understand how much energy is needed, we need to look at a little

chemical thermodynamics.

9
 Thermodynamics of hydrolysis and water formation

1
A H 2O + energy → H 2 + O2
2
1
B H 2 + O2 → H 2O + energy
2

The splitting of water (Reaction A) is an endergenic (endothermic)

reaction, meaning that it requires a net input of energy because the
products are inherently more energetic than the original molecule.
Conversely, Reaction B is exergenic (exothermic), meaning that it
creates a net release of energy to the environment.
However, the “energy” terms in Reactions A and B are not equal due
to the Second Law of Thermodynamics.

The Second Law of Thermodynamics

The Second Law of Thermodynamics has been expressed in many different ways
over the years.

Perhaps the most well known form is the following:

“The entropy of the universe is always increasing.”

This means that the universe is becoming more disordered with every chemical
reaction. The splitting and recombination of H2O is no exception.
1
H 2O → H 2 + O2
2

Water, being a single compound, is more ordered than the two components, H2
and O2, taken separately. Thus, it takes some energy to cleave water to create
the more disordered H2 and O2.

The energy associated with creating the disorder, or entropy, ultimately dissipates
and cannot be recovered to do useful work.

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 Enthalpy and Gibbs Energy

The enthalpy change of reaction (ΔH) captures the notion of energy changes
for chemical reactions.
In contrast, the change in Gibbs energy (ΔG) of reaction discounts the change
of entropy, retaining only the usable energy.

The two are related by the following equation:

ΔG = ΔH − TΔS

where T is the temperature in Kelvin and ΔS is the change in entropy.

Because absolute temperature is always positive and entropy increases with

every reaction, the above equation tells us that the change in Gibbs energy
is always less than the change in enthalpy, which is precisely what we would
expect.

Back to Water

1
H 2O → H 2 + O2
2

For the above reaction, we have:

ΔH = 286 kJ/mol H2O
ΔG = 237 kJ/mol H2O @ 298 K = 25oC

Now, if it takes ΔH to cleave water into hydrogen and oxygen, and we can only
get ΔG back through using hydrogen as fuel, then the maximum efficiency we
can possibly attain for the entire process, from hydrogen production to
automobile propulsion, is:

237 kJ/mol
ηthermal = = 0.83 = 83%
286 kJ/mol

Typically, however, actual efficiencies are much smaller, on the order of

40%.

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 Hydrogen
Production

Remember: Hydrogen is only as clean as the fuel source used to produce it.

Basically, hydrogen can be produced in one of two ways:

– through a series of high-temperature chemical reactions, or

– by using electricity to split water (electrolysis).

Possible chemical reactions for hydrogen production from a hydrocarbon:

Steam reforming (750 – 800oC)

CH4 + H2O (steam) → 3H2 + CO

Water gas shift (200 or 350oC)

CO + H2O (steam) → H2 + CO2

Dry reforming (600 – 700oC)

CH4 + CO2 → 2H2 + 2CO

Partial oxidation of methanol (250oC)

CH3OH + H2O (steam) → 3H2 + CO2

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 Now, let us consider wind as the energy source to generate electricity to
be used for electrolysis.

www.hydrogennow.org/Facts/Wind/wind.htm
An interesting question:

What is the minimum number of

windmills it would take to
produce enough hydrogen to
power the US automobile fleet?

What would that number be for

New Hampshire alone?

What we need to know

• Rate of electrolytic hydrogen production per unit power

• Fuel economy of hydrogen fuel cell cars

• Number of miles driven annually in the US

• Typical capacity of a windmill

Note: Often, this kind of information is best found on the

U.S. Energy Information Administration website: http://eia.doe.gov

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 Electrolytic Hydrogen Production

A typical value for the amount of energy needed to produce hydrogen by

electrolysis is 367 kJ/mol.

(Note that this is appreciably higher than the ΔH value, 286 kJ/mol).

This means that 1 kW of electricity can produce 1/367 = 0.00272 mole/s or

0.00545 g/s of H2.

Equivalently, 1 MW can produce 0.00545 kg/s.

(Berry, Gene D. “Hydrogen Production” Encyclopedia of Energy, 6th ed. Elsevier 2004)

Experience with existing prototypes reveals that a hydrogen fuel-cell

car has a fuel economy of 199 km/kg.

This means that a fuel-cell car can go 199 km (= 124 miles) on 1 kg

of hydrogen.

Put another way, to have a typical range of 600 km (= 400 miles), a

hydrogen car needs a tank that can hold 600/199 = 3.02 kg of
hydrogen. That does not seem much.

In 2003, US personal vehicles traveled a total of 2,594 billion miles (4.17 x 1012
km), equivalent to 8,750 miles per person per year in the US (everyone,
including children and others who don’t drive!).

New Hampshire residents drove a total of 14,251 million miles (2.29 x 1010 km)
in the same year, equivalent to 10,880 miles per person in the state (again
including children and others who don’t drive).

(Sources: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/pdf/aeotab_7.pdf
Vital Signs 2006: Economic and Social Indicators for New Hampshire, 2001-2004.
Economic & Labor Market Information Bureau, January 2006)

14
 Capacity of average wind
turbine

Typical wind turbine has nameplate capacity

of about 1 MW

– Nameplate capacity is max capacity –

of course, average production will be
less than this and will depend on local
wind patterns.

Source: http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/rps2/supplement.html

Meeting the US driving demand

1 windmill 1 MW 1 kg H 2 4.17 ×1012 km

× × ×
1 MW 0.00545 kg H 2 /s 199 km 1 year
1 year
× = 121,920 windmills
3.1563 ×107 s

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 Is this possible?

122,000 windmills have a collective capacity of 122 GW. The EPA

estimates that the US has over 2,500 GW of potentially available wind
resource, meaning that 5% of total available capacity would be used to
power the US automobile fleet.1

Remember, however, that the value for miles traveled used here was
for 2003. The EIA projects that by 2025, annual vehicle miles traveled
will be 3,791 billion, which would require about 178,200 windmills and
7.1% of total available wind resource.2

1http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/rps2/supplement.html
2http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/aeo/pdf/aeotab_7.pdf

Is it going to happen?

Not without a huge push.

The EPA estimates that by 2025, the US will have developed a total
wind power capacity of 47 GW.

If the EIA projections prove accurate, this capacity will only account for
26% of the energy needed.

(http://www.eia.doe.gov/oiaf/servicerpt/rps2/supplement.html)

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 Meeting the New Hampshire demand

1 windmill 1 MW 1 kg H 2 2.29 ×1010 km

× × ×
1 MW 0.00545 kg H 2 /s 199 km 1 year
1 year
× = 670 windmills
3.1563 ×107 s

Does this make sense?

According to the US census, in July 2005, the population of the US was about
296.4 million while the population of New Hampshire was about 1.31 million.

If everybody were driving the same amount everywhere in the States, we would
expect New Hampshire to need about 540 windmills.

http://www.census.gov

17