Operation and Control of Renewable Energy Systems

Chapter 11Fuel Cells

11.1 Fuel Cell Technologies

A fuel cell is an electrochemical device that converts chemical energy (of a fuel) directly into electrical energy. Since the chemical energy of the fuel is directly converted to electricity, a fuel cell can operate at much higher efficiencies than internal combustion engines, extracting more electricity from the same amount of fuel. Fuel cells are capable of converting 40% of the available fuel to electricity. This can be raised to 80% with heat recovery. The fuel cell itself has no moving parts, offering a quiet and reliable source of power.

The fuel cell was invented by William R Grove in 1839. It was then called gaseous voltaic battery. In 1882, Lord Rayleigh developed a new form of gas battery which was an attempt to improve the efficiency of the cell [1]. A fuel cell is similar to a battery because both batteries and fuel cells convert chemical potential energy into electrical energy. In this process, heat energy is also produced as a by-product. However, the basic difference between fuel cell and batteries is that in batteries, the chemical energy is stored in the substances located inside them. When this energy has been converted to electrical energy, the battery must be discarded or recharged appropriately. In a fuel cell, the chemical energy is provided by a fuel and an oxidant stored outside the cell in which the chemical reactions take place. As long as the cell is supplied with the fuel (hydrogen) to the anode and ...