fuel cell and h2 economy

8/2/2019 Fuel Cell and h2 Economy

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Hydrogen Fuel cells

DTC for hydrogen and fuel cell technologyIn conjunction with the LEBC

Nick McCarthy 20th July 2011


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Climate change

Sustainability in Fuels

Reversible reactions

Hydrogen / Oxygen electrolysis

Types of power generation

Wind turbines, Solar panels, Geothermal,

Hydroelectric, Nuclear, Others?

Fuel cells

PEMFCs

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Climate change

The vast majority of people accept that the

climate of our planet is changing, and man isresponsible for that change.

Human induced environmental change is

nothing new Easter islands deforestation

American prairie Dust bowl

The scale at which we are now changing theenvironment of the planet (the climate) is

bigger than ever before)

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4

Rivi (2006): Six of the 15 Ahu Tongariki Moais: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island ) Creative

commons: Last accessed 28/07/2011:

Rivi (date not known):Pano Anakena beach: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easter_Island )Creative commons: Last accessed 28/07/2011:

NOAA George E. Marsh Album (1935): theb1365, Historic C&GS Collection: Dust storm approachingStratford, Texas. Dust bowl surveying in Texas: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dust_bowl ): Public domain:

Last accessed 28/07/2011


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Climate change

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Rekacewicz, Philippe (2002) (http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/greenhouse-effect ) (last accessed 20/07/2011): UNEP/GRID-Arendal


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Ahlenius, Hugo (2007) (http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/historical-trends-in-carbon-

dioxide-concentrations-and-temperature-on-a-geological-and-recent-time-scale ) (lastaccessed 20/07/2011): UNEP/GRID-Arendal


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UNEP/GRID-Arendal(2009) (http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/world-greenhouse-gas-emissions-by-sector1 ) (last accessed 20/07/2011): UNEP/GRID-Arendal


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Sustainability in fuels

Fossil fuels like oil, coal and natural gas are

our main energy supplies at the moment.

We are using up the easy to access and

therefore cheep fossil fuels

Oil made from tar sands are now being used

because petrol / oil has become expensive

enough to justify the price of doing so

Fossil fuels produce CO2 and (most people

agree) harm our environment

2C8H18(l) + 25O2(g) = 16CO2(g) + 18H2O(l)

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0.0

500.0

1000.0

1500.0

2000.0

2500.0

3000.0

3500.0

4000.0

4500.0

5000.0

1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030

M

illionTonnesoilequivale

nt

Year

EnergyConsumptionVsproduction:MillionTonnesoilequivalent

AsiaPacificAfrica

MiddleEastEurope&EurasiaS&CAmericaNorthAmericaTotalOilProduction^

Based on data supplied from BP Energy Outlook 2030: January 2011 (

http://www.bp.com/sectiongenericarticle800.do?categoryId=9037134&contentId=7068677): Last accessed 28/07/2011

: BP p.l.c.


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Fossil fuels are not sustainable in the long

term (say over the next 150 years)

Many scientists, governments and companies

are researching alternatives to fossil fuels

What alternatives can you think of?

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Solar

Wind

Tidal & wave

Geothermal

Biofuel & Ethanol

Hydrogen

Nuclear Others?

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To be sustainable, one or more these needs

to meet several key requirements

Clean No additional CO2 or methane added

to the environment, or any other types of

pollutant

Reliable Needs to work night & day, in any

weather

Global it has to be a solution for every one

every where

Safe

Cost effective Cheap!

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Alternate energy suitability

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Clean Reliable Global Safe Cheap

oilSolar

wind

Tidal & waveHydro-electric

geothermal

HydrogenNuclear

Other ? ? ? ? ?


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No single solution For those places and applications that can

use geothermal or hydro-electric power, that

is a great choice Nuclear is not likely to be a sustainable

resource in the long run, but could help

bridge the gap between the fossil fueleconomy and whatever comes next

Other forms of generation need to store the

energy they produce when the sun isn'tshining, or the wind not blowing

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Hydrogen(H2) gas is a great replacement foroil apart from the fact that it has to be

manufactured Hydrogen gas does not exist

naturally in the earth, but it is the mostabundant element in the universe

Hydrogen can also be used to store energy

generated by other means

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Hydrogen balloon experiment

What happens when a balloon full of

hydrogen is ignited?

Why do we need to start the reaction with the

blow torch?

What types of energy can we detect?

Why does the reaction give out energy?

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Is hydrogen sustainable?

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But How do we make hydrogen?

Most of the worlds hydrogen is currently

manufactured by steam reformation of methane(CH4(g)) for the Haber process (ammonia)

The steam is made by using fossil energy to heat

water

(CH4(g) + Steam (H2O(g)) H2(g) + CO(g))

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Reversible reactions

There are a wide variety of reversible

reactions used to produce ammonia for us

in fertilisers and cleaning agents

Haber process (N2(g) + 3H2(g) 2NH3(g))

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But there are other ways to make

hydrogen

Bio generation by bacteria

Solar generation through solar activated materials

Electrolysis (start the electrolysis experiment)

The decomposition of a liquid using electricity

Electrolysis is used to make Aluminium form

Bauxite

Hydrogen can also be produced using electrolysis

Lets see which team can produce the most hydrogen

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Electrolysis

Ions charged particles that are hold either a

positive or negative charge

+ (ive) - (ive)

Electrolyte the liquid medium that the ions can move

through

Anode: the +(ive) electrode

Anions are (ive) ions, and are attracted to the

Anode

Cathode: the (ive) charged electrode

Cations are +(ive) ions and are attracted to the

Cathode

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Set FC to run as electrolyser


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Hydrogen and Oxygen gas

identification experiment

Glowing splint introduced to a test tube of

oxygen does what?

Lit splint introduced to a test tube of

Hydrogen does what?

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Is hydrogen clean?

What happens when we burn hydrogen in air?

2H2 + O2 = 2H2O

This is a actually a reversible reversible

reaction 2H2O 2H2 + O2 endothermic (takes in

energy from the surroundings)

2H2 + O2 2H2O exothermic (transfersenergy to the surroundings)

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So is hydrogen clean?

The answer is Not yet! Hydrogen generated through non-fossil fuel

use is clean

The majority of hydrogen is produced throughsteam reformation of methane as part of the

Haber process

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Hydrogen generation using wind

turbines

Wind turbine basics

How many blades?

What shape of blade?

How much wind do you need?

How can you store the energy of the win whenyou dont need it? (H2 of course!)

How can you use the winds energy when the

wind is not blowing? (H2 of course!)

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Is Hydrogen safe?

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Dr. Michael R. Swain (2005): Fuel Leak Simulation : University of Miami


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Hydrogen's best trick

We dont have to burn it

Using a fuel cell we can combine

hydrogen and oxygen without wasting

energy as kinetic force and light

We can also capture the heat

generated from the cell

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Horizon Fuel cells animations

29Horizon Fuel cells Ltd: Educational animations


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Types of fuel cell

PEM FCs

SO FCs

DM FCs

Others (urea FCs!)

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PEM FCs

Set up PEMFC to use captured H2(g) and O2(g)to run the fan

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Fuel cell disadvantages

Fuel Cells are still more expensive than

traditional Internal combustion engines

the use expensive metals like Platinum and

Rhodium

They require very high manufacturing

standards to work well

They are heavy

Getting the fuel to them is awkward

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Fuel cell advantages

Very reliable no moving parts

Very clean exhaust = water

Quiet

Quick to refuel (Vs re-charging batteries)

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Some fuel cells are being used already

NASA space missions reliable and clean, very good when you are sealed into

a tin can a long way from any help, and generates drinking water for the

astronauts as it operates Remote systems mines and scientific outposts in hard to reach places use

FCs

Military equipment UAVs and submarines

Hospitals and critical systems some hospitals and other important building

have backup power from Fuel cell available just in case Fork lift trucks for clean environments, and FCs can be recharged more

quickly than a battery

Hybrid engines some Hybrid IC engines use FCs and/or batteries

CHP systems coming to home near you?

Cars Mercedes have said they will have a B-class powered by fuel cells for

sale to the public in 2014/15

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CHP 2015?


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mCHP 2015?

B-klass 2015?

Fuel cells in use


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Image references S400 hybrid (2010): Mercedes B-Klasse Facelift:

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_B-Class ) Creative commons: Last

accessed 28/07/2011

NASA (1965): Gemini 7 spacecraft from Gemini 6: (

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Gemini ) Creative Commons: Last accessed28/07/2011

UTC Power (2011) : Pressroom gallery: (

http://www.utcpower.com/pressroom/gallery ) last accessed 28/07/2011

MKV CHP (2011): (

http://www.fuelcellmarkets.com/dantherm_power_fuel_cell_backup_power/products_and_services/3,1,11472,17,15071.html ): Dantherm Power: Last accessed

28/07/2011

Wolfgang Greiner (2007): U 31 im Hafen Kiel (

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_212_submarine ): GNU Free Documentation

License: last accessed 28/07/2011

Still International (2010): Still RX60 fork lift truck:

(http://www.forkliftaction.com/news/forklifts_news_international/Still_GmbH_383

1.aspx ): last accessed 28/07/2011

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