Fuel cell technology Future directions

State-of-the-Art and Future Directions Table 2 summarizes the major SOFC developers, the relative country, technology, as well as the results achieved. As for the other fuel cell technologies, most of the developers are located in US, Europe and Japan. Table 2. Main manufacturers and technology status (US DOE 2004) ... 

Moore, R. M. Gottesfeld, S. and Zelenay, P. (1999). A Comparison Between Direct-Methanol and Direct Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicles. SAE Future Transportation Technologies Conference. Paper 99FTT-48 (August). 

The electrocatalytic oxidation of methanol has been widely investigated for exploitation in the so-called direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC). The most likely type of DMFC to be commercialized in the near future seems to be the polymer electrolyte membrane DMFC using proton exchange membrane, a special form of low-temperature fuel cell based on PEM technology. In this cell, methanol (a liquid fuel available at low cost, easily handled, stored, and transported) is dissolved in an acid electrolyte and burned directly by air to carbon dioxide. The prominence of the DMFCs with respect to safety, simple device fabrication, and low cost has rendered them promising candidates for applications ranging from portable power sources to secondary cells for prospective electric vehicles. Notwithstanding, DMFCs were... 

The scope of this chapter is to present a concise and fundamental overview of the relationship between modem catalysis and chemical reaction engineering through one of the topics that will certainly be present among the future directions in both fields production of hydrogen fuel from fossil and renewable energy sources and its use in the fuel cells-based energy conversion technology. 

Finally, fuel cells—the highly efficient electrochemical devices that convert chemical energy to electrical energy directly—may be used for distributed power generation or in some vehicles in the future. The most efficient and durable fuel cells use hydrogen as their fuel source. All of the technologies that will be discussed in... 

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