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com sector challenges hydrogen fuel cells

Accelerating Progress on
Hydrogen Fuel Cells
A hydrogen-powered society is possible
with a little help from our engineers

Jesse Dufton
PATENT ENGINEER, INTELLIGENT ENERGY

W
E are constantly reminded of the dangers of climate
change and the need for new, clean and efficient
energy technologies to maintain our standard
of living without irreparably damaging our planet. While a
range of different renewables will ultimately be needed to
decarbonise and decentralise our energy infrastructure, one
technology the hydrogen fuel cell stands out because
it not only offers to decrease our dependence upon carbon-
based energy but also provides significant advances in the
provision of mobile power.
Fuel cells are a form of energy conversion technology
which, depending on the application, can be thought of as akin
to an engine, a battery, a power generator or indeed a combina-
tion of all three. However, unlike traditional heat engines, as in
cars and generators, they convert the stored chemical energy
of a fuel electrochemically (directly) into electrical energy and
heat, giving them superior efficiency. Also, unlike a battery
they do not require a lengthy recharge by connection to an
electrical supply, as this is done simply by supplying more fuel.
These attributes make fuel cells flexible for use in a range
of applications. They can replace, for example, the internal
combustion engine in cars to form a powerful hybrid electric
drive train. If hydrogen is used as the fuel, the only exhaust
emission is water vapour. Alternatively, fuel cells can replace

MARCH 2016 | The Chemical Engineer | page 38

 sector challenges hydrogen fuel cells
backup diesel generators and supply power to critical infra-
structure and do so in urban environments without harming air
quality. It is however the use of fuel cells in consumer electronics
devices that is likely to capture the publics imagination.
It is possible to miniaturise fuel cells to the point where they
can be embedded into electronic devices such as laptops and
tablets. Indeed, Intelligent Energy recently announced that it
has developed a prototype smartphone that integrates a fuel cell
into the rear of a phone without increasing its size. Imagine a
future where your smartphone will last a week without running
out of power, and to charge it you simply insert a small fuel
pellet or cartridge.
picture this
Looking ahead to a time in the near future when the uptake
of fuel cell technology has dramatically increased, its worth
imagining what a hydrogen society might look like and how our
daily lives will be affected.
Firstly, in terms of transportation, your car will have
undergone a radical transformation. It will have an all-
electric drive train powered by a hybrid battery-fuel cell system.
Depending upon the model of car, the proportion of the cars
power supplied by the fuel cell/battery will vary, with smaller
city-orientated cars relying more heavily on their batteries with
the fuel cell acting as a range extender and in more powerful
models the base load being provided by the fuel cell, with the
battery perhaps giving additional power for acceleration. Many
of these changes below the bonnet will go unnoticed by the
consumer. They will simply observe that the car is quieter than
its old petrol/diesel model and that having the fuel cell removes
any concerns about range, which is undoubtedly one of the
major drawbacks of battery electric vehicles. The fact that once
the battery is depleted it takes hours to recharge in contrast
to a hydrogen fuelled vehicle which can be refilled in minutes
is likewise a big barrier for battery-powered plug-ins. By far the
biggest and most noticeable difference will be the air in your
immediate environment. Cities will no longer stink of exhaust
fumes, and particulate matter and smog caused by traffic will
be a thing of the past.
Imagine a future where your smartphone
will last a week without running out of
power and to charge it you simply insert
a small fuel pellet or cartridge
As is the case in the automotive sector, the consumer electronics
arena will now see gadgets using a hybrid power source. There
will continue to be a battery, but there will also be a miniaturised
and embedded fuel cell. The phone or laptop will still use its
battery; however when it is almost empty it will be able to
generate its own power using the fuel cell. This will be espe-
cially useful when you need your phone to last longer and do not
MARCH 2016 | The Chemical Engineer | page 39
have immediate access to mains electricity.
Aside from cars, phones, tablets and laptops, fuel cells will
also have a big impact on unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs).
The miniaturisation and weight reduction of fuel cells which
has occurred so far means they can already be used to signif-
icantly extend a UAVs range. It wont just be big business
that reaps the benefits from this innovation, as the ease of
replacing fuel cartridges will mean that small businesses,
tech start-ups and the media can all get their UAVs back up
in the air for longer too you can imagine how interested
broadcasters are in the prospect!
with the changes in automobile technology,
the absence of harmful exhaust emissions will
mean cleaner air and fewer health problems,
particularly in the worlds emerging nations
The impact of fuel cells in the distributed power sector will be
much less noticeable than its significance should warrant. In
countries where the electricity grid is unreliable, antiquated
diesel generators, which previously provided critical backup
power to the mobile phone towers and hospitals, will be largely
replaced by fuel cell power units. These will reliably produce
the desired energy but, crucially, the reduced maintenance cost
of the fuel cell systems, as well as their higher thermodynamic
efficiency, will mean the through-life cost of this technology
is lower than that of the polluting diesel alternative. As with
the changes in automobile technology, the absence of harmful
exhaust emissions will mean cleaner air and fewer health
problems, particularly in the worlds emerging nations.
But first
While the excitement and enthusiasm for the technology is
certainly not misplaced, we should resist viewing hydrogen
fuel cells as a panacea because we need to recognise that there
are several remaining challenges which for the moment are
slowing their adoption. Fortunately these challenges are also
great opportunities for chemical/process engineers to tackle,
by devising solutions to overcome issues around infrastructure,
hydrogen production, resource use, recycling and education.
Infrastructure
There are a range of fuel cell technologies, each of which is
designed to use a specific type of fuel. From a mobility and
environmental standpoint, the most desirable of these is
hydrogen. However, for widespread adoption of hydrogen
fuel cells there will need to be an established hydrogen
infrastructure. For example, filling stations will need to be
modified to add hydrogen to the range of fuels they supply. It
is vital that governments and industry collectively enable the
development of this infrastructure through the provision of
 sector challenges hydrogen fuel cells
pumped: hydrogen refills take
only minutes to complete
clear standards and by providing support for the sector in its
early stages.
Greener hydrogen
One of the principal technical challenges for chemical
engineers to address is that of greener hydrogen production.
Currently, large volumes of hydrogen are produced by either
the reformation of natural gas, as a by-product of chlor-
alkali manufacture or from oil refining. For fuel cells to drive
the decarbonisation of the automotive and back-up power
sectors, more work on hydrogen production by splitting water
is required, be this in the form of conventional electrolysis or
indeed the promising area of photolysis (in which the energy
from light is used to break water into hydrogen and oxygen).
Regardless, these processes will need to be dramatically
scaled-up in order to sustainably produce sufficient clean
hydrogen to meet our future needs. Using these processes to
create hydrogen can also help to mitigate the intermittency of
renewables as it can be stored and used to generate electricity
later when the wind isnt blowing and the sun isnt shining.
Continued fuel cell development
The improved durability and power density of fuel cells, as
well as significant cost reductions, have made them applicable
to a wide range of sectors. However, there is still room for
improvement. Some of the most important areas of focus relate
to improving and reducing the cost of catalysts, fine-tuning
the design of fuel cell stacks and maximising power output.
Most fuel cells currently use platinum catalyst and while
scientists and engineers have succeeded in recent years in
greatly reducing the amount used in fuel cell electrodes,
this work continues, as does the search for alternative non-
MARCH 2016 | The Chemical Engineer | page 40
precious metal catalysts.
Improved catalyst durability and improved processes for
recycling of degraded catalyst materials could also significantly
reduce the through-life cost of fuel cell systems.
Optimised fluid manifolding in fuel cells is a critical design
consideration, as the supply and removal of fuel, oxidant and
water has a large impact upon performance. For each fuel cell
architecture, engineers must strive towards the optimum
design of the various components to ensure optimal reaction
conditions, but must also craft a design which can be mass
produced at an acceptable cost.
Hydrogen fuel cells hold out the prospect
of being a major part of a cleaner
energy landscape, They are no longer
just a space age technology
Efficient heat rejection is an important part of fuel cell system
design, as the power which a fuel cell can supply is often
limited by the rate at which the waste heat can be expelled
from the fuel cell system. Improvements in heat rejection can
enable prolonged periods of high power output.
Work by chemical engineers and others to address the
challenges described above in a range of fuel cell architectures
is helping to deliver improvements to fuel cell performance and
the associated reduction in through-life cost which is critical
for any technologys widespread adoption.
Education
As with any new or emerging technologies there can be a
shortage of skilled and experienced engineers and scientists,
working, or seeking to work, in the field, and fuel cells are no
exception. To avoid a skills shortage in this nascent industry it
is key that schools and universities discuss fuel cells and other
similar technologies in their curricula. It is also important that
we see an increasing proportion of our young chemical/process
engineers finding employment in the energy technologies of
the 21st century.
Realising the vision
Hydrogen fuel cells hold out the prospect of being a major part
of a cleaner energy landscape. They are no longer just a space
age technology but have been developed for a wide range of
applications across multiple sectors and markets. There is
still plenty of work to do, particularly with respect to fuelling
infrastructure rollout. However, with major car manufacturers
such as Toyota and Hyundai already making their fuel cell
electric cars available to the public, and companies such as
Intelligent Energy developing fuel cells to power applications
as diverse as smartphones, drones and telecom towers, the
vision of a hydrogen society can fast become a reality.