Fuel Cells:
Current Successes,
Challenges and Prospects
Brant A. Peppley
Queen’s-RMC Fuel Cell Research Centre
Queen’s MiniU
May 2008
…including a
Crash Course on Fuel Cells
Brant A. Peppley
Canada Research Chair in Fuel Cells
Polymeric (Acid) Electrolyte
Membrane Fuel Cell Operation on
Hydrogen and Air
This is the PEM
fuel cell that
everyone thinks of
when we talk about
the fuel cell car
It is the classic
Ballard fuel cell
but it is only one of
many types of fuel
cells
A Sample of the Types of Fuel
Cells
•
•
•
•
Alkaline (AFC)
Phosphoric Acid (PAFC)
Molten Carbonate (MCFC, Direct Fuel Cell, DFC)
Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM, SPE(TM), PEFC)
– Hydrogen - Air
– Direct Methanol - Air
• Solid Oxide (SOFC)
Alkaline Fuel Cell (AFC)
Good Attributes
• Long operational history on NASA space missions.
(Apollo, Shuttle)
• Achieves power generating efficiencies of up to
70%.
• Uses alkaline potassium hydroxide as the
electrolyte and low cost catalyst.
• Low temperature <60ºC(140ºF)
Challenges
• Vulnerable to CO2 poisoning
• Boiling hot “DranoTM” not a very friendly liquid
AFC Application
Three 30 kW fuel cells used
on the orbiter.
Phosphoric Acid Fuel Cell
(PAFC)
Good Attributes
• The first commercially available fuel cell. Approx. 300 units,
200 kW each, sold worldwide.
• Generates electricity at more than 40% efficiency. Overall
efficiency is nearly 85% if heat is used for cogeneration.
Operates at 200ºC(400 ºF) atmospheric pressure.
• Relatively tolerant to CO and other contaminants
• Work well with bio-methane (waste water treatment plants)
Challenges
• Requires a liquid electrolyte management system to
maintain concentration of hot phosphoric acid.
• Platinum electrodes susceptible to corrosion.
PAFC Products
• UTC Fuel Cells PC-25 currently in operation
– Eight PC-25 systems in New York City (first one in
1997)
– One PC-25 in Köln-Rodenkirchen, Germany
- Portland, Oregon
200-kilowatt PC25 that
converts anaerobic digester
gas generated by the
wastewater treatment facility
into usable heat and
electricity for the facility.
RWE Installation
Rodenkirchen
Stahl, Knut - Experiences from the PAFC Operation with Sewage Gas 3rd
BFC Net Workshop Jan. 2005. http://www.bfcnet.info Downloads.
New York City WWTP Fuel
Cell Systems
Performance Verification
Report – PAFC
Results of 30 day test program for a PC25C
Operated by NY Power Authority May - June 2004
Test
Condition
(Power
Setpoint)
(kW)
Electric Power
Generated
Power
Del’d
Effic
(%)
(kW)
Heat Prod’n
Performance
Heat
Produced
Effic
Potential
CHP
Effic
(%)
(%)
(kW)
200
193.1
36.8
298.3
56.9
93.8
150
152.3
38.2
205.2
51.5
89.8
100
101.5
37.4
140.1
51.7
89.0
Greenhouse Gas Technology Center, EPA, Environmental Technology
Verification Report, September 2004,
www.sri-rtp.com/PC25_VR_final.pdf.
Cost Data (Limited)
• Portland OR reports having spent $1.3 million for
their 200 kW PAFC system
• The mayor of New York City reports that eight 200
kW PAFC systems were installed at a cost of $13
million. Based on these numbers the average cost
per unit is $1.6 million or $8000 per kW
• Compared to $1370 per kW for the conventional
engine and $1500 per kW target price for incremental
additional capacity for power companies.
Molten Carbonate / Direct Fuel
Cell (MCFC)
Good Attributes
• Well suited for distributed power market.
• High fuel-to-electricity efficiencies.
• Capable of internal reforming = directly consume
hydrocarbon fuels (e.g., nat. gas)
• 650ºC(1200ºF) and atmospheric pressure = good
quality waste heat.
Challenges
• Cost reduction below about $1800 per kW is
challenging
• Start up and shutdown is slow and load
following is difficult
MCFC Products
• Numerous installations around world utilising
bio-methane from waste treatment
– King County, Washington (1 MW)
– Kirin Brewery Co., Ltd. (250 kW)
– Seibu Sewage Treatment Center, Sewage
Bureau, Hukuoka City (250 kW)
• Demonstration on gasified coal
• 1 MW system to be installed by Enbridge Gas
in Toronto this June
1 MW MCFC Products
May 4, 2005
News Release
King County
earned national
environmental
award for
generating
electricity from
waste water
treatment plant
methane gas
1 MW Turbine/1.2 MW MCFC
Proton Exchange Membrane
Good
• Operates at relatively low temperature (< 90ºC/200ºF) =
domestic hot water co-generation.
• High power density, fast response.
• Suited for applications, - such as automobiles and buses where quick startup and load following is required.
• Solid polymer electrolyte means no corrosive liquids to
handle.
• Miniaturisation relatively easy.
Challenges
• Require pure hydrogen. Susceptible to poisons.
• Cost still needs to be reduced. Platinum catalyst is too
expensive
PEMFC Products
•
•
•
•
•
•
Material handling equipment (forklift trucks)
Backup Power
Residential combined heat and power
Microelectronics power
Fuel cell buses
Fuel cell cars
Forklift Truck Battery
Replacement
Fuel cell powered material handling equipment for large
warehouse operations have already shown a cost benefit
based on productivity and
WalMart successfully field tested General
Hydrogen forklifts
(Geoffrey Ballard’s most recent company)
Two units field tested at GM and Fedex.
GM have shown there is a real cost benefit of using Hydrogenics fuel
cell forklift trucks instead of battery power forklift trucks.
Backup Power Systems
12 kW
Batteries
20 minutes
Hydrogenics Awarded
Supply Agreement
From American Power
Conversion to Deliver
Up to 500 Fuel Cell
Power Modules for
Backup Power
Applications
1 tank of H2
For e-commerce systems in urban centres this is
the only practical power backup option
Residential CHP PEM Fuel Cell
Power Systems
Units supply electrical
power, hot water and
space heating for a
typical Japanese
home.
Natural Gas Fuelled – 1 kW
To date approx. 2200 unites have been installed in
Japan.
World’s Longest Lasting Cell
Phone
Angstrom Power of
North Vancouver
(ironically located in the
building that Ballad Power
originally occupied)
In January, Angstrom released a prototype for Motorola's
SLVR phone, with double the talk time of the lithium ion
battery currently being sold with the phone. The phone also
recharges in only 10 minutes, vs. several hours for lithium
ion batteries.
PEMFC Buses
For the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver
the B.C. government is assembling the
largest collection of hydrogen fuel-cell
buses on the planet. Twenty buses for
$47 million.
Daimler Buses using
Ballard stacks have
accumulated more
than two million
kilometres of
operation
When can I lease a fuel cell car?
This July according to Honda’s press release of last
Wednesday
http://automobiles.honda.com/fcx-clarity/?gallery=1
Q. Where can I test drive or lease an FCX Clarity? How
much does it cost?
A. A limited number of FCX Clarity vehicles will be
available for lease only in the Torrance, Santa Monica
and Irvine areas in mid-2008. The lease amount will be
around $600 per month for three years and it includes
maintenance. As hydrogen-supply infrastructure
expands, Honda will make more of these remarkable
cars available to the public.
Honda Clarity FCX
Honda engineers estimated
three years ago that its
previous fuel-cell cars cost
more than $1 million to
build.
Duleep, who completed a fuel-cell
vehicle study this year for the U.S.
Department of Energy, believes
Honda has cut its production costs to
between $120,000 and $140,000 per
vehicle.
[Honda to Deliver 200 Fuel-Cell Autos Through 2011 (Update2) – Bloomberg
Japan Article May 21 2008]
Direct methanol fuel cells
(DMFC)
Benefits
• Similar to the PEM hydrogen cells in that they both use a
polymer membrane as the electrolyte.
• The fuel is liquid methanol, eliminating the need for
hydrogen storage.
• Efficiencies of about 40% are expected with this type of
fuel cell.
• 60-190ºC(140-375ºF)
• First fuel cell to be truly commercial (EFOY)
Challenges
• Require even more platinum than hydrogen fuel cells
• Lifetime limited
DMFC Products
Available for camper vans
0.6 – 1.6 kWh per day
Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC)
Good Attributes
• Able to use natural gas as fuel with minimal or no preprocessing.
• Uses a hard ceramic material as the electrolyte (no
corrosive liquid handling). No platinum catalysts
• Operating temperature 980ºC /1800ºF = good quality
waste heat.
• Potentially very low manufacturing costs (cheap materials
for fuel cell stack)
Challenges
• Slow start up and load following
• High temperature balance of plant materials required
SOFC Products
Natural gas
1 kW residential
cogen
Ceramic Fuel Cells
Propane
250 W portable
Generator
Nanodynamics
Methanol-water
70 W battery charger
Protonex
SOFC Products
SOFC Systems have been demonstrated for
distributed power applications
100 kW SOFC cogeneration system
installed at the village of Westervoort,
near Arnhem, Netherlands (20,000 hrs
operation)
220 kW SOFC/gas turbine hybrid
system at National Fuel Cell
Research Center (NFCRC), Irvine,
California - the world's first!
Summary
• Like batteries specific types of fuel cells are
best suited for certain applications.
• Fuel cell products have had success in
niches where more energy is required than
available from batteries and less power is
required than provided by a power plant (or
generator)
• Fuel cells are ideal for applications where
very clean and efficient power is needed
(Interior and sensitive environments)
Biomass fuelled fuel
cells!
Prospect for addressing
GHG Emissions and
Climate Change
All living things are powered by
biofuel cells
A fuel cell powered vehicle…
A fuel cell powered
operator…
Insert hay here
Toby the Horse
Sources of Biomass
• Waste streams of carbohydrates
– landfill
– waste water treatment plants
– wood waste
– agricultural waste
– industrial waste streams
• Virgin biomass
– wood
– grasses
– not corn!!
Used with permission
Waste Water Treatment
Plant Systems
• Fuel cell systems
can be deployed in
modular increments
for smaller communities.
• Fuel cell systems can utilize lower
quality gas than required for combustion
engines
Prospects for Biomass Fuelled
Fuel Cells
• Biomass-fuelled fuel cell systems are technically
feasible and have been operated for extended
periods with good reliability and performance
• Economic feasibility is much more difficult to
assess but it appears that costs are too high
– The impact of carbon credits on the
economics of biomass fuelled fuel cell
systems may be a significant factor in the near
future.
• Utilising waste biomass for power generation will
not solve our energy and GHG problems but it
can significantly reduce GHG emissions
Prospects for Direct
Bio-Fuel Cells
• A direct biofuel cell would be the closest
approach to producing energy by the same
method as found in nature.
• The challenges of “wiring” an
electrical connection to an
enzyme to achieve
acceptable power density
are daunting
• Breakthroughs receive
(http://www.che.wsu.edu/~suha)
significant press coverage
but are far from practical
A major breakthrough is
needed!
Prospects for completely
new ideas in fuel cells
New Ideas
• Now that the stock market “hype” is over
researchers are looking deeper for new
ideas and finding them
• New membranes for PEMFCs are
allowing higher temperature operation
while new ceramics for SOFCs are
bringing the temperature down. In both
cases these developments lead to lower
costs.
New Ideas
• Alkaline electrolyte membranes have
been developed that are resistant to
poisoning by CO2 leading to the
development of better DMFCs and
possibly direct ethanol fuel cells
• FCRC researchers are searching for new
catalysts and materials that will make it
possible to use bio-methane and lower
purity hydrogen directly in low
temperature fuel cells
New Ideas
• More researchers from more disciplines
are becoming aware of the challenges in
fuel cells leading to innovative ideas in
manufacturing
• Biomimicry is being used to rethink the
design of fuel cells
• The prospect of a breakthrough is very
good (we are working very hard to
make it happen at Queen’s)
An enthusiastic group looking
for a breakthrough!
www.fcrc.ca
www.fcrc.ca
Brant Peppley
Director
613-547-6700 ext. 115
Brant.Peppley@queensu.ca
BLUE SKIES
(by Irving Berlin)
Blue Skies, shining on me
Nothing but Blue Skies, do I see
Blue bird singing a song
Nothing but Blue Skies, from now on.
Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the days hurrying by
When your in love my how they fly
Blue days, all of them gone
Nothing but Blue Skies, from now on.
FUEL CELLS
(based on Blue Skies by Irving Berlin)
Fuel Cells, clearing the air
Nothing but fuel cells, everywhere
I. C. E., buried and gone
Nothing but fuel cells, from now on.
Never saw the sun shining so bright
Never saw things going so right
Noticing the cars hurrying buy
With a fuel cell they silently glide
Smog days, all of them gone
Nothing but fuel cells, from now on.
Stationary
Fuel Cell System Design
• http://www.nait.ca/fuelcell/fun.htm
Automotive Fuel Cell System
Design
Super Capacitors
Air Compressor and
Cooling
Hydrogen Tanks
Fuel Cell Stacks
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/sciencenow/3210/01-car-nf.html