Fuel Cell Engineering

Howard, P. E. (1996). The Ballard Zero-Emission Fuel Cell Engine. Prese. At Commercializing Fuel Cell Vehicles, InterTech Conference (September). 

Source Adapted from Hydrogen Fuel Cell Engines and Related Technologies, College of the Desert, Palm Desert, CA, 2001. 

In 2010, Mercedes-Benz plans to launch the first series-production car of the B-Class F-Cell vehicle. This F-Cell will contain the next generation fuel cell engine with a redesigned stack that is 40 percent smaller and produces 30 percent more power. 

Fuels that are most directly suited to the fuel cell are the most difficult and costly to produce and distribute. Gasoline and methanol are the leading candidates to power fuel cell engines. Both the gasoline and methanol fuel cell vehicles should be more fully developed prior to making a commercial decision on fuel choice. 

M. M. Mench, Fuel cell engines. Floboken, NJ John Wiley Sons (2008). 

Fundamental Models for Fuel Cell Engineering Chao-Yang Wang... 

The purpose of the present review is to summarize the current status of fundamental models for fuel cell engineering and indicate where this burgeoning field is heading. By choice, this review is limited to hydrogen/air polymer electrolyte fuel cells (PEFCs), direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs), and solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs). Also, the review does not include microscopic, first-principle modeling of fuel cell materials, such as proton conducting membranes and catalyst surfaces. For good overviews of the latter fields, the reader can turn to Kreuer, Paddison, and Koper, for example. 

Dynamic characteristics of a fuel cell engine are of paramount importance for automotive application. Three primary processes govern the time response of a PEFC. They are (1) electrochemical double-layer discharging, (2) gas transport through channel and GDL, and (3) membrane hydration or dehydration (i.e., between a dry and a hydrated state). The time constant of double-layer discharging is between micro- and milliseconds, sufficiently short to be safely ignored for automotive fuel cells. The time constant for a reactant gas to transport through GDL can be estimated simply by its diffusion time, i.e.,... 

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. 

There is also the possibility of propelling vehicles. This means not just providing electricity, as with NASA spacecraft, but also providing the means of propulsion. Space-faring rockets require a bit too much power for this to be practical as yet, but cars and small airplanes travel at much more attainable speeds. Fuel cell engines are an extremely active area of research. 

Several important factors motivate this research on fuel cell engines. One of these factors is the efficiency of fuel cells when compared to engines that burn gasoline, as discussed in the following section. 

Transportation (airplane, railroad, automobile) > Fuel cells > Engine... 

Fuel Cells, Engines and Hydrogen - An Exergy Approach Frederick J. Barclay 2006 John Wiley 6c Sons, Ltd... 

Multidisciplinary fuel cells. In the fuel cell engine and hydrogen business, communication between the disciplines of equilibrium and irreversible thermodynamics, physical chemistry, electrochemistry, fluid mechanics, materials science and mechanical arrangement, to name but a few, is visibly open to improvement. 

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