Fuel cell development

Molten Carbonate Fuel Cell developed by Baur (1921)... 

Although fuel cells were invented over 150 years ago. Figure 1 reveals that there have been only a few key milestones in fuel cell development. For this reason they have only recently attracted significant and... 

The same eiiviroimiental drivers that are stimulating fuel cell development are also causing increased inter-... 

In summary, fuel cell development is being accelerated both by the wide variety of applications and by the search lor cleaner and more efficient utilization of primary energy and, ultimately, renewable energy. Because these forces for change are unlikely to disappear, It is quite likely that fuel cells will emerge as one of the most important and pewasive power sources for the future. 

Energy Conservation and Environmental Friendliness—the Incentive for Fuel Cell Development... 

Systematic studies of cathodic oxygen reduction, unlike those of its anodic evolution, were only started in the 1950s when required for the realization of fuel cells. The large polarization of this reaction is one of the major reasons that the efficiency of the fuel cells developed so far is not very high. 

Lamy C, Rousseau S, Belgsir EM, Coutanceau C, Leger JM. 2004. Recent progress in the direct ethanol fuel cell Development of new platinum-tin electrocatalysts. Electrochim Acta 49 3901-3908. 

Catalysis in Electrochemistry From Fundamentals to Strategies for Fuel Cell Development, Elizabeth Santos and Wolfgang Schmickler... 

A critical factor for biotechnology application is the stability of the enzyme electrode. Hydrogenase immobilized into carbon filament material has high level of both operational and storage stability. Even after the half year of storage with periodical testing, the enzyme electrode preserved more than 50 % of its initial activity [9,10], Thus, it is possible to achieve appropriate stability of the enzyme electrode, suitable for hydrogen fuel cells development. 

Moser, Th., PEM fuel cells — development status and applications, Proceedings, Fuel Cells in the Energy Market, Cologne, 12-14. March 1996. 

FIGURE 6.5 Tubular cathode-supported solid oxide fuel cell developed by Siemens Power Generation [48]. Reprinted from [48] with permission from Elsevier. 

The 50 to 60 million tons of hydrogen produced in the U.S. a year may not be pure enough for fuel cells. Many of the problems in fuel cell development have occurred from impurities in the industrial hydrogen purchased for fuel. 

GM also announced the expansion of fuel cell development activity with Giner, Inc., to include applications beyond the transportation field, including hydrogen generation for refueling systems and regenerative fuel cells for stationary power. GM s fuel cell stack set a new world standard for power density that packed 60% more power. The new stack generated 1.75 kilowatts (kW) per liter. 

In fuel cell development, the high cost of precious metals has led to ways to lower the platinum content. Methods include raising the activity of the catalyst, so less is needed and finding more stable catalyst structures that do not degrade over time while avoiding reactions that can... 

The U.S. Department of Energy s Office of Fossil Energy has a joint program with fuel cell developers to develop the technology for stationary power applications includes central power and distributed generation. 

SECA is made of fuel cell developers, small businesses, universities and national laboratories. It is administered by the Energy Department... 

A typical system that is commercially available in the United States is the 200 kilowatt (kW) PAFC unit produced by UTC Fuel Cells. This is the type of unit used to provide electricity and heat to the U.S. Postal Service s Anchorage Mail Handling Facility. In 2000, the Chugach Electric Association installed a 1 Megawatt (MW) fuel cell system at the U.S. Postal Service s Anchorage Mail Handling Facility. The system consists of five natural gas powered 200-kW PC25 fuel cells developed by UTC Fuel Cells. 

It is clear that a broad mass market is not expected until after 2010 (Gummert and Suttor, 2006). But there are already a number of pilot and demonstration systems installed worldwide. It is very difficult to obtain a complete overview of installations because, on the one hand, the data are published by different players, such as utilities, manufacturers or users for their own fuel cells and, on the other hand, if an installation does not work, no data are published or sometimes the system is shut down. Nevertheless, Fuel Cells 2000 have set up a fuel cell database for stationary applications. Most entries are from the USA, but it should be pointed out that Japan installed 480 stationary plants in 2005 alone (Fuel Cell Development Information Centre, personal communication, 2006). 

Frost Sullivan (2001). Stationary and Portable Fuel Cells - Developments, Markets and Opportunities. Report D226. New York Frost Sullivan. 

Information on Japanese activities can be found at the Japanese Fuel Cell Development Information Center, at http //www.fcdic.com/eng/... 

Li, Z. P. Liu, B. H. Arai, K. Suda, S., A Fuel Cell Development for Using Borohydrides as the Fuel. Journal of The Electrochemical Society 2003,150, (7), A868-A872. 

Section IV emphasizes on nanoparticle catalysts for fuel cell applications. Fuel cell is a clean and desired future energy source. It is interesting to see that nanoparticle electrocatalysts play an important role in fuel cell development. Chapters 14 and 15 explore how nanoparticle catalysts can efficiently catalyze the reactions at anode and cathode of the fuel cells. 

The focus of the utility demonstrations and FCE s fuel cell development program is the commercialization of 300 kilowatt, 1.5 megawatt, and 3 megawatt MCFC plants. Characteristics of the FCE 3 megawatt internal reforming commercial MCFC plant are as follows (17) ... 

There are currently several projects in the distributed generation market underway with various fuel cell developers and utility companies. These projects are helping to drive costs down and bring the fuel cells closer to commercialization. Below is a summary of some of the projects, taken from reference (25). 

Recently, the major activity in transportation fuel cell development has focused on the polymer electrolyte fuel cell (PEFC). In 1993, Ballard Power Systems (Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada) demonstrated a 10 m (32 foot) light-duty transit bus with a 120 kW fuel cell system, followed by a 200 kW, 12 meter (40 foot) heavy-duty transit bus in 1995 (26). These buses use no traction batteries. They operate on compressed hydrogen as the on-board fuel. In 1997, Ballard provided 205 kW (275 HP) PEFC units for a small fleet of hydrogen-fueled, full-size transit buses for demonstrations in Chicago, Illinois, and Vancouver, British Columbia. Working... 

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