Electrochemistry of fuel cells for transportation applications

Conference · Fri Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1982

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/0360-3199(84)90121-6· OSTI ID:5204949

Gonzalez, E R; Srinivasan, S

Fuel cells are the most promising power sources for electric vehicles and do not suffer from the inherent limitations of efficiency, energy density, and lifetime, as encountered with all types of batteries considered for this application. The projected performance of fuel-cell-powered vehicles is comparable to that of the internal combustion and diesel engine vehicles but with the additional advantages of higher fuel efficiency, particularly with synfuels from coal. The ideal fuel for a fuel cell power plant for electric vehicles is methanol. This fuel is reformed to hydrogen, which combines with oxygen from the air in an acid electrolyte (phosphoric, solid polymer, or superacid) fuel cell to produce electricity. Though the phosphoric acid fuel cell is in the most advanced state of development (mainly for power generation applications), the solid polymer and superacid electrolyte fuel cells are more promising for the transportation application because of the faster oxygen reduction kinetics (and hence potential for higher power densities) and shorter start-up times. Alkaline electrolyte fuel cells can be used only with pure hydrogen (which causes a weight or energy penalty for any of the methods it can be carried on board the vehicle), but have the best potential for minimizing or eliminating noble metal requirements. Needed areas of research (i.e., reduction or elimination of noble metal loading, finding CO tolerant electrocatalysts, finding less expensive solid polymer electrolytes, synthesis of and elucidation of higher molecular weight superacids) to advance fuel cell technology for vehicular applications are summarized.

• Research Organization: Los Alamos National Lab., NM (USA)
• DOE Contract Number: W-7405-ENG-36
• OSTI ID: 5204949
• Report Number(s): LA-UR-82-417; CONF-820605-9; ON: DE82008115
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

30 DIRECT ENERGY CONVERSION
300505* -- Fuel Cells-- Electrochemistry
Mass Transfer & Thermodynamics
33 ADVANCED PROPULSION SYSTEMS
330300 -- Advanced Propulsion Systems-- Electric-Powered Systems
ACID ELECTROLYTE FUEL CELLS
ALCOHOLS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBON MONOXIDE
CARBON OXIDES
CHALCOGENIDES
CHEMISTRY
DIRECT ENERGY CONVERTERS
ELECTRIC-POWERED VEHICLES
ELECTROCHEMICAL CELLS
ELECTROCHEMISTRY
ELECTROLYTES
ELEMENTS
FABRICATION
FUEL CELLS
GAS GENERATORS
HYDROGEN FUEL CELLS
HYDROGEN GENERATORS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
METALS
METHANOL
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PLATINUM
PLATINUM METALS
POISONING
SINTERING
TRANSITION ELEMENTS
VEHICLES