THE DEVELOPMENT OF FUEL CELLS

This chapter reflects the major points in the development of fuel cells but it does not describe in greater detail the contributions of the many research workers who have worked in this field. 

The Volta pile first described in 1800 was of extraordinary significance for the developments both in the science of electricity and in the science of electrochemistry, as a new phenomenon, a continuous electric current, hitherto not known could now be realized. Soon, various properties and effects of the electric current were discovered, including many electrochemical processes. In May 1801, William Nicholson and Sir Anthony Carlisle in London electrolyzed water producing hydrogen and oxygen. 

Electrochemical Power Sources Batteries, Fuel Cells, and Supercapacitors, First Edition. Vladimir S. Bagotsky, Alexander M. Skundin, and Yurij M. Volfkovich 2015 John Wiley Sons, Inc. Published 2015 by John Wiley Sons, Inc. 

In 1894, the German physical chemist Wilhelm Ostwald came forward in the Zeitschriftfur Elektrochemie with the proposal to build devices for a direct oxidation of natural kinds of fuel with air oxygen by an electrochemical mechanism without heat production (the so-called cold combustion of fuels) (Fig. 17.1). He wrote In the future, the production of electrical energy will be electrochemical, and not subject to the limitations of the second law of thermodynamics. The conversion efficiency thus will be higher than in heat engines. This paper of Ostwald was basic and marked the beginning of huge research into fuel cells. 

Even the first experimental studies performed after the publication of Ostwald s paper showed that it is very difficult to build devices for the direct electrochemical oxidation of natural kinds of fuel. 

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The fuel eell is a nineteenth eentuiy invention in the twentieth eentury it heeame the heart of an eleetroehemical power plant and power souree, whieh is now in a stage of advaneed technology development. Its first and only applieation since the early 1960s, has been as an auxiliary power souree for spaee flights by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). During the past decade, development for terrestrial (eivihan and defense) applieations has led to its commercialization and research on utilization in a variety of applications. Programs in the United States, Japan, Europe, and some other eoimtries are focused on the development of fuel cell power plant/power sources for (1) base-load,... 

FuelCell Energy is a partner with Versa Power Systems, Nexant, and Gas Technology Institute to develop more affordable fuel-cell-based technology that uses synthesis gas from a coal gasifier. The key objectives include the development of fuel cell technologies, fabrication processes, and manufacturing capabilities for solid oxide fuel cell stacks for multi-mega-watt power plants. 

Maruo, K. (1998). Strategic Alliances for the Development of Fuel Cell Vehicles. University of Gothenburg. 

Research the advances made in the development of fuel cells since this book was written. Describe how any new types of fuel cells operate. Evaluate their advantages and disadvantages, as compared to the internal combustion engine and other fuel cells. 

The major factor that has influenced the development of fuel cells over the last few years is the worldwide concern of the enviromnental consequences of the use of fossil fuels in the production of electricity and for the propulsion of vehicles. Fuel cells seem to be the best solution for clean, efficient and non-hazardous energy. 

In PEM fuel cells, catalyst activity and catalyst efficiency are still significant issues. Russell and Rose summarize fundamental work involving X-ray absorption spectroscopy on catalysts in low temperature fuel cell systems. These types of studies are very useful for developing a detailed understanding of the mechanisms of reactions at catalyst surfaces and could lead to the development of new improved efficient catalysts. Important in the development of fuel cell technology are mathematical models of engineering aspects of a fuel cell system. Wang writes about studies related to this topic. 

Specific targets for the development of fuel cell power system technologies for transportation,... 

Japan s current strategy for commercialising fuel cells is comprised of a number of new programs and the continuation of some ongoing efforts, which integrate the development of fuel cell technologies with efforts to prepare the market for hydrogen. 

The publicly-funded fuel cell research program started in 1985, with the main activities performed at the Energy research Centre ofthe Netherlands (ECN). Between 1985 and 2001, about 100 million was invested by mixed public-private funds in the development of fuel cell and hydrogen energy. The objectives ofthe Dutch fuel cell programs were initially oriented to the application of coal gas in MCFC based systems. The MCFC activities were terminated in 2001, after an evaluation failed to indicate its commercial viability with natural gas. Afterwards, the activities shifted to SOFC and PEM technology for high efficient conversion of natural gas in small-scale decentralised units. 

May 2003 Fuel Cells UK - a new body to drive forward the development of fuel cell technology was launched - Fuel Cells UK is to help the emerging UK sector by helping promote and raise the profile of the fuel cell industry in the UK. It will also act as a central contact point of contact for national and international companies and the research community. 

Since Fenton s work in the late nineteenth century, the role of transition metals in oxygen chemistry is known, but the formation of oxygen adducts with coordination metal complexes and their importance for O2 activation have been studied much later [1, 97]. The lively interest in ORR catalysis comes from its utmost importance to the development of fuel cells and this justifies that only a few studies have been done with metal complexes in solution most have been devoted to carbon electrodes modified by immobilization of a catalyst. The research for good catalysts that could be efficient substitutes for the expensive platinum naturally moved toward porphyrins. 

Amazingly, a car powered by a hydrogen-oxygen fuel cell requires only about 3 kilograms of hydrogen to travel 500 kilometers. However, this much hydrogen gas at room temperature and atmospheric pressure would occupy a volume of about 36,000 liters, the volume of about four midsize cars Thus the major hurdle to the development of fuel-cell technology lies not with the cell, but with the fuel. This volume of gas could be compressed to a much smaller volume, as it is on the experimental buses in Vancouver. 

The development of fuel cell technology received a boost when California passed a law requiring that by 1998 2% of new motor vehicles sold in the state must be zero-emission vehicles, and by 2003, 10% of new vehicles must be zero-emission. Zero-emission means that they produce no pollution. Vehicles powered by rechargeable batteries or hydrogen fuel cells V ... 

The initiatives taken by these companies would have been delayed except for the technical advances made by a single company, the importance of which became apparent only in the 1990s the Ballard Company of Vancouver, British Columbia, and research led by D. P. Wilkinson. German, Japanese, and finally U.S. automakers turned to this company (which had demonstrated a full-sized electrochemically powered bus in 1995) for the development of fuel cells for their cars. 

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