Section 3: Hydrogen theory

From carbon to hydrogen energy

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CAVEAT: The purpose of Thinkquest is not to promote products or recommend companies. This site in not an e-commerce site and does not recommend products for purchase. The products mentioned on this site are not in production yet. The whole hydrogen industry is in a demonstration and research phase as of 8/15/2000. The purpose of this page is purely informational and educational. It is designed to provide the backdrop for an international discussion forum in our guestbook on the issues and merits/demerits of changing from fossil fuel to hydrogen.

Getting more power out of the fuel cell

The fuel cell, as stated earlier, produces 1.2 volts on an open circuit, and 0.7 volts with a closed circuit on a load. To increase the voltage, the cells are connected in series, much as you'd connect batteries. In a flashlight, four 1.5-volt batteries would produce 6 volts of potential. With the fuel cell, to prevent voltage drop, the electrolyte surfaces are placed closely together where large areas allow a larger area for proton transport, rather than constraining the electron flow to a single point.

This is Floyd's representation of a stack. There are three stacks. Each has an electrode on each side, alternating anode and cathode.

© 2000, Samuel Floyd Anderson

US Navy applications

The US Navy is installing carbonate fuel cells in their new destroyers. Future shore patrols should be a lot quieter and cleaner.

These units will produce 2,500,000 watts of power. Rather than have one unit, as with having multiple generators on ships, there will be four units of 625,000 watts each.

The Navy is subjecting the cells to more stressful tests to see how they would hold up in combat-like conditions. The preliminary results suggest that fuel cells are pretty tough.

Other applications for generating power on islands (20,000,000,000 watts) would cost $1,250 per kilowatt (around $1,000,000,000,000 for a 600 to 800 gigawatt system).
REF: Fuel Cell Industry Report by Scientific American; NY; March 2000, pages 8 & 9.
DOE Development plans
The U.S. Department of Energy is planning to develop hydrogen-based renewable-based utility systems.

REF: U.S. Department of Energy Hydrogen Program
http://www.eren.doe.gov/hydrogen/program.html

The U.S. Department of Energy selected 100 sites to install major hydrogen fuel cell electricity generation to build the U.S. capacity to manufacture this technology. To see a 200,000-watt electrical generator installed in New York, click on the following reference.

REF: Power to Park; DOE Fossil Fuel Techlines; April 20, 1999.
http://www.fe.doe.gov/techline/tl_nyfc.html

DOD - Electrical power from PAFC cells
In 1993 the U.S. Department of Defense got $18,000,000 to install hydrogen PAFC units that generated serious amounts of electrical current for military hospitals, dining halls, and other applications. Click on the reference below to see all of the generators at the various sites by geographic area.

REF: DOD Fuel Cell Demonstration Program; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers; Construction Engineering Research Laboratory; November 1997
http://www.dodfuelcell.com/site_performance.php3

Solid Oxide Fuel Cells
Netherlands is testing an SOFC for the U.S. Department of Energy.

It has functioned for 8,760 hours, generating 110,000 watts at a 46% efficiency rate. Conventional power plants operate at 35% efficiency. This hydrogen plant c-generates by providing hot water heating for the district's areawide heating system.

This cuts carbon emissions by ²/₃ . The N₂O are 0.2 parts per million, which is really low.

Siemens Westinghouse plans to make 250,000-watt and 1,000,000-watt production plant units in 2004. Last March (2000) they began work on a 250,000-watt fuel cell in California.

REF: DOE Fossil Energy Techline; Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Reaches One Year of Operations - Netherlands Test Boosts Confidence for Commercial Introduction by 2004; January 31, 2000.
http://www.fe.doe.gov/techline/tl_sofcdemo.html

The 250,000-watt unit is a hybrid, meaning that it uses gas turbine with fuel cell, and gives off 50 times less nitrogen oxide emissions than conventional gas turbines. The nitrogen oxide emissions from this plant are 0.5 parts per million. The electrical efficiencies of hybrid systems will reach 70% or higher! These higher efficiencies mean carbon dioxide emissions reductions of ¾.

REF: Department of Energy Announces World's First "hybrid" Fuel cell-turbine; DOE Fossil Energy Techline.
http://www.fe.doe.gov/techline/tl_fc_solidox_fat.html

Private 250,000-watt fuel cell in Connecticut USA
FuelCell Energy, Inc. has passed a year in operating a grid-scale fuel cell that has the following emissions:

nitrogen oxides = 0.1 parts per million
sulfur oxides = 0.01 parts per million
carbon monoxide = 1 part per million
These are well below the U.S. Clean Air Act of 1990. These units and 1,000,000-watt units are being prepared for Germany in the next few years.

REF: Full Scale Direct Fuel Cell Completes One Year of Operation - Confirms Performance and Durability of New Energy Generating Technology; March 31, 2000.
http://www.fe.doe.gov/techline/tl_fce1year.html

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