Ballard fuel cells

Fuel cell technology probably offers a new emerging area for polyheterocyclic polymers as membranes. Fuel cells are interesting in transport applications and are now being evaluated in Chicago in transit buses with a 275-hp engine working with three 13 kW Ballard fuel cell stacks. 

Because of the modular nature of fuel cells, they are attractive for use in small portable units, ranging in size from 5 W or smaller to 100 W power levels. Examples of uses include the Ballard fuel cell, demonstrating 20 hour operation of a portable power unit (32), and an IFC military backpack. There has also been technology transfer from fuel cell system components. The best example is a joint IFC and Praxair, Inc., venture to develop a unit that converts natural gas to 99.999% pure hydrogen based on using fuel cell reformer technology and pressure swing adsorption process. 

World s 1st Fuel Cell Bus 1993 20-passenger 120 kW Ballard fuel cell engine, 160 km range. 

Chicago/Vancouver Demo 1 st fleet demonstration program 205 kW Ballard fuel cell engine with regenerative braking. 

The core of the Ballard fuel cell consists of a membrane electrode assembly (MEA) that is placed between two flow-field plates. The flow-field plates direct H2 to the anode and Oz (from air) to the cathode. To obtain the desired amount of electric power, individual fuel cells are combined to form fuel cell stacks. Increasing the number of cells in a stack increases the voltage, and... 

Currently, the stationary power market penetration of the fuel cell is based on reduced local pollution rather than superior performance. Indeed the internationally demonstrated Ballard fuel cell bus generates more pollution from the power plant stack which generates its hydrogen supply from an inefficient incomplete electrolyser, than it saves by emitting steam from its exhaust. The industry has to rescue itself from this untenable position. 

Gibb P, 2001, Advances in Ballard Fuel Cell Technology - The Mk 900. Seventh Grove Fuel Cell Symposium, London. 

Ralph T R etal., 1997, Membrane Electrode Assemblies, MEA s, for Ballard Fuel Cells. Platinum Metals Review, 41(3). 

Within the realm of BAM2G membranes, a series of partially fluorinated bisphenol A-type poly(arylether) sulfones were synthesized. As mentioned above, these materials initially exhibited acceptable, useful service-life performance, but were unable to provide more than 500 h of continuous running time. This led to the decision that a perfluorinated backbone would be most beneficial in achieving fuel cell longevity in performance and efficiency. Therefore, the a, 3,p-trifluorostyrene monomer was chosen as the most suitable platform on which to build BAM3G polymers [98]. The BAM3G has demonstrated over 100,000 h of cumulative performance in a wide variety of Ballard fuel cell hardware. The BAM3G membranes have... 

The high torque electric motor develops more than 100-kW of motive power which is 35-kW more than the previous design for the A-class. The fuel cell is also more efficient. An enhanced hydrogen storage system gives the vehicle a range of 250 miles (400-kM). The Ballard fuel cells are expected to last at least 5,000 hours in a car and 10,000 hours in a bus. 

Daimler-Benz unveiled a third-generation PEM-fuel-cell vehicle the experimental NECAR HI, powered by a 50-kilowatt Ballard fuel cell running on methanol. 

In addition to the kerosene-fueled prototype, Nippon Oil has developed a 1 kW LPG-fueled system, the Eneos Eco-LP-1, which uses Ebara Ballard fuel cell stacks. According to Nippon Oil, more than 300 orders have been placed for the units, which are installed for free, although residential users are charged 60 000 Yen (approximately 522) per year to rent the unit. Nippon Oil also is working in collaboration with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries to enter the large stationary commercial applications market with the development of a 10 kW kerosene-fueled system (Adamson 2005). 

Ballard Power Systems (2003). Ballard Fuel Cell Power Module Nexa. Ballard Power Systems Inc. 

Koppel, Tom. Powering the Future The Ballard Fuel Cell and the Race to Change the World. Etobicoke, Ont. John Wiley Sons Canada,... 

In addition, Yu et al. [59] proposed a water and thermal management model of a Ballard fuel cell stack which takes a set of gas input conditions and stack parameters such as channel geometry, heat transfer coefficients, and operating current. The model can be used to optimize the stack thermal and water management. Chen et al. [60] investigated numerically the flow distribution in a stack, and concluded... 

Koppel T (1999) Powering the future The ballard fuel cell and the race to change the world. Wiley, New York... 

Schematic of Ballard fuel cell with flowfield plates on either side of membrane electrode assembly. Flows of reactants through flowfields on bipolar plates shown. (From http //www.ballard.com)...

Figure 4.5 Three generations of ballard fuel cell stacks 46...

Fig. 2.3 Polarization data for Nafion and Dow membranes in Ballard Fuel cells. (With the permission of Prof. Savadogo, editor and publisher of the Proceedings of the First International Symposium on New Materials for Electrochemictil Systems, Montreal, Canada, 2005.)...

Figure 6.61 Photograph of pinhole found in PEFC electrolyte from Ballard fuel cell. (Reproduced from Ref. [71].)...

Testing the Dow membrane, during the period 1987-88, in Ballard fuel cells resulted in a dramatic increase in the SPEFC performance levels (Watkins, 1988). Since this success by Dow, DuPont has been actively developing their membranes with respect to durabihty and continuous improvement. They have increased power densities by further decreasing the equivalent weight, from 1100 EW (Nafion 117) to 1000 EW (Nafion 105), and the membrane thickness from 178 to 127 tm. Nafion 115 (127 pm) and Nafion 105 (127 pm) are some of the latest materials developed specially for fuel cell applications. 

---