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Presenter: Marten Ternan - Director of Technology, CANMAR Engineering Inc., Ottawa
Supervisor:

Date: Fri, June 7, 2002
Time: 14:00:00 - 15:00:00
Place: ELLIOT BUILDING ROOM 060

ABSTRACT

Abstract:

Climate change, urban smog, acid rain, and loss of species are environmental phenomena whose effects are known to be negative. One of the reasons hydrogen fuel cells have become popular, is the perception that they could have a minimum impact on the environment. In principle hydrogen for fuel cells can be manufactured by water electrolysis using either solar or wind energy. In practice it is less expensive to manufacture either hydrogen or methanol from fossil fuels than by any other route. A comparison of the three feedstocks, hydrogen, methanol, and fossil fuels indicates that there are substantial theoretical advantages for using fossil fuels directly as a fuel cell feedstock. Life cycle calculations show that fuel cell systems operating directly on fossil fuels are more efficient and that they emit less carbon dioxide to the atmosphere than the other systems. The reason that fossil fuel feedstocks are not currently used in low temperature fuel cells is that their performance is generally an order of magnitude worse than that of a fuel cell operating on hydrogen. Experimental fuel cell data using the three different feedstocks will be compared. The emphasis will be placed on fossil fuel fed fuel cells. The phenomena to be discussed include: the diffusion of gaseous reactants (hydrocarbons, air), the structure of the porous electrodes, formation of protons and their diffusion through the electrolyte, the pressure profile through the cell, and the net flow of oxygen atoms. Of particular interest will be the conventional platinum electrocatalyst and the potential of alternative electrocatalysts. Phenomena at the catalytic surfaces of the oxygen cathode and the hydrocarbon anode will be discussed.