Alkaline fuel cell, often known as the Bacon fuel cell following the British inventor’ name. It has become the most created fuel cell systems and is the cell which traveled Man to the Moon. NASA has utilized alkaline fuel cells since beginning of-1960s, in Apollo-series tasks and on the Space Shuttle. The alkaline fuel cell has a long history in the space program. It is still used in the space shuttle in an expensive guise, producing power for the onboard systems by combining the pure hydrogen and oxygen stored in the rocket-fuelling system. (more…)

It is progress in the development of hydrogen-air PEM stacks that has made fuel cells a contender for powering automobiles of the future. For many years, the energy and power densities of PEM cells were so low and the amount of platinum catalyst required was so high that most commercial applications seemed out of the question. For example, the platinum requirements for the PEM cells used on Gemini space missions of the 1960s were on the order of 100 g/ kW, for a cost factor of $1500/kW (assuming a platinum cost of $15/g). A typical automotive fuel cell stack would be 80 kW, implying a cost of $120,000 for the catalyst material alone. By comparison, current automotive catalytic converters require roughly 0.05 g/ kW of platinum-group metals, costing on the order of $100 for an average car. More stringent emissions standards are pushing precious metal requirements higher, so that future gasoline vehicles may need 0.1 to 0.2 g/kW of platinum group metals. (more…)

Any conversation about the search for alternatives energy in future to fossil fuels research, improve energy efficiency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions over time has the potential of fuel cells to meet these challenges. As a result of greater attention to the fuel cell industry in general there is an upward trend on several fronts, as shown in several recent reports. Lux Research Advisory firm predicts worldwide sales of commercial fuel cell will be reaching $2 billion after year 2012. It is mainly driven by applications in residential combined with commercial heating and power systems and distributed generation applications. (more…)

The commercialization prospects for fuel cell vehicles depend not only on their performance and cost, but also on how well they can compete with other technology options that address similar market and policy needs. While market forces have not traditionally motivated design change for reasons of environmental performance, customer values and expectations can evolve and such characteristics could grow in importance. However, inherent market conservatism will favor less disruptive ways to address evolving needs, which might be met by improved gasoline and diesel vehicles, including hybrid-electric versions. Yet looking over the long run, particularly the need to substantially reducing greenhouse gas emissions, hydrogen fuel cells may well provide a solution that is superior to other alternatives. (more…)