The application of renewable energy sources poses the problems connected with output volatility. In order to decrease this effect the energy storage technologies can be applied, particularly fuel cells connected with hydrogen storage. In this paper the application of SOFC system for a household in Poland is proposed. Economic and technical analysis is performed. It was found that the proposed installation is profitable after 25 years of operation when compared with conventional solution - heat pumps and gas-fired boilers.
The paper describes factors influencing the development of electricity storage technologies.
The results of the energy analysis of the electric energy storage system in the form of hydrogen are
presented. The analyzed system consists of an electrolyzer, a hydrogen container, a compressor, and
a PEMFC fuel cell with an ion-exchange polymer membrane. The power curves of an electrolyzer
and a fuel cell were determined. The analysis took the own needs of the system into account, i.e. the
power needed to compress the produced hydrogen and the power of the air compressor supplying
air to the cathode channels of the fuel cell stack. The characteristics describing the dependence
of the efficiency of the energy storage system in the form of hydrogen as a function of load were
determined. The costs of electricity storage as a function of storage capacity were determined. The
energy aspects of energy accumulation in lithium-ion cells were briefly characterized and described.
The efficiency of the charge/discharge cycle of lithium-ion batteries has been determined. The
graph of discharge of the lithium-ion battery depending on the current value was presented. The key
parameters of battery operation, i.e. the Depth of Discharge (DoD) and the State of Charge (SoC),
were determined. Based on the average market prices of the available lithium-ion batteries for the
storage of energy from photovoltaic cells, unit costs of electrochemical energy storage as a function
of the DoD parameter were determined.
The aim of the presented research was to test different carbon supports, such as graphene oxide (GO), graphene oxide modified with ammonia (N-GO), and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) for catalysts used in a low-temperature fuel cell, specifically a proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). Modification of the carbon supports should lead to different catalytic activity in the fuel cell. Reduction of GO leads to partial removal of oxygen groups from GO, forming rGO. Modification of GO with ammonia results in an enrichment of GO structure with nitrogen. A thorough analysis of the used supports was carried out, using various analytical techniques, such as FTIR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric (TGA) analysis. Palladium and platinum catalysts deposited on these supports were produced and used for the oxygen reduction reaction (ORR). Catalytic activity tests of the prepared catalysts were carried out in a home-made direct formic acid fuel cell (DFAFC). The tests showed that the enrichment of the GO structure with nitrogen caused an increase in the catalytic activity, especially for the palladium catalyst. However, reduction of GO resulted in catalysts with higher activity and the highest catalytic activity was demonstrated by Pt/rGO, because platinum is the most catalytically active metal for ORR. The obtained results may be significant for low-temperature fuel cell technology, because they show that a simple modification of a carbon support may lead to a significant increase of the catalyst activity. This could be useful especially in lowering the cost of fuel cells, which is an important factor, because thousands of fuel cells running on hydrogen are already in use in commercial vehicles, forklifts, and backup power units worldwide. Another method used for lowering the price of current fuel cells can involve developing new clean and cheap production methods of the fuel, i.e. hydrogen. One of them employs catalytic processes, where carbon materials can be also used as a support and it is necessary to know how they can influence catalytic activity.
The present study deals with modelling and validation of a planar Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) design fuelled by gas mixture of partially pre-reformed methane. A 3D model was developed using the ANSYS Fluent Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) tool that was supported by an additional Fuel Cell Tools module. The governing equations for momentum, heat, gas species, ion and electron transport were implemented and coupled to kinetics describing the electrochemical and reforming reactions. In the model, the Water Gas Shift reaction in a porous anode layer was included. Electrochemical oxidation of hydrogen and carbon monoxide fuels were both considered. The developed model enabled to predict the distributions of temperature, current density and gas flow in the fuel cell.
In this work, a mid infrared thermography was used to study thermal behavior of solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) with a circular shape and a diameter of 90 mm. The emissivity of the anodic surface of the fuel cell was determined to be from 0.95 to 0.46 in the temperature range 550-1200 K and the profile and temperature distribution of the anodic surface of the unloaded cell was given. The surface temperature of the cell was determined during operation and the polarity changes from open circuit voltage (OCV) to 0.0 V. It was found that the cell self-heating effect decreases with increasing temperature of the cell.
In the 21st century the way to increase the efficiency of new sources of energy is directly related with extended exploration of renewable energy. This modern tendency ensures the fuel economy needs to be realized with nature protection. The increasing of new power sources efficiency (cogeneration, trigeneration systems, fuel cells, photovoltaic systems) can be performed by application of solid sorption heat pumps, regrigerators, heat and cold accumulators, heat transformers, natural gas and hydrogen storage systems and efficient heat exchangers.
Among the numerous modern, high-efficiency energy technologies allowing for the conversion of chemical energy of coal into electricity and heat, the Direct Carbon Fuel Cells (DCFC) deserve special attention. These are devices that allow, as the only one among all types of fuel cells, to directly convert the chemical energy contained in solid fuel (coal) into electricity. In addition, they are characterized by high efficiency and low emission of pollutants. The paper reviews and discusses previous research and development works, both around the world and in Poland, into the technology of direct carbon fuel cells with an alkaline (hydroxide) electrolyte.
On May 17, 2018, the National Center for Research and Development announced the initiation of a new procedure within the Hydrogen Storage Program. The objective was to develop a Hydrogen Storage System for use with fuel cells and its demonstration in a Mobile Facility. This is to create an alternative to the use of fossil fuels and create a field for competition in creating solutions in the field of access to “clean” energy. The National Center for Research and Development is responsible for the development of assumptions, regulations and implementation.
The analysis presents the main assumptions of the program is correlated to the current legal situation related to the financing of Research and Development. An in-depth study concerns the ways of using innovative partnership and its placement in the system of European Union legal acts. The idea of the pre-commercial procurement procedure (Pre-Commercial Procurement), which was developed to support the implementation of prototypes of solutions – resulting from research and development – with a high potential for possible commercialization, was described in details. This procedure is characterized by ensuring the financing of a product or service at an early stage of development. Although this creates the risk of failure of the project, it stimulates technological development.
In this work, we developed the lanthanum strontium cobalt ferrite and it’s composite with yttrium iron cobaltite (mass ratio of 1:1) cathodes as a thin layer on Ce0.8Sm0.2O1.9 electrolyte. Two kinds of electrode pastes were prepared, with and without 6 mm polystyrene beads as an additional pore former. The performance of cathode materials was investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as a function of electrode morphology, oxygen partial pressure, potential, and temperature. The polarization resistance of the more porous electrodes was lower than those electrodes prepared without additional pore former in the whole potential range at 800°C, slightly lower at 700°C and 600°C. The addition of yttrium iron cobaltite decreased the performance of both types of cathodes. The lower polarization resistance of porous cathodes is due to the facilitated gas diffusion through their structure.
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