Hydrogen Fuel Cell Experiment Objectives

Applications for fuel cells range from space applications down to micro-fuel cells for cell phones. Fuel cells will become even more important in the future low-carbon economy. In this experiment, we seek to: earn the fundamentals of polymer electrolyte membrane !"#$% hydrogen fuel cell

#valuate the performance of a fuel cell using the characteri&ation curve and efficiency measurements

References
'he literature on fuel cell technology is enormous !see the additional page with links to fuel cell (ournals%, but all you need for a lab pro(ect is (ust a handful of key references, especially the fact that there are books and handbooks on this topic. armine, )., and *icks, A. !+,,-%. Fuel Cell Systems Explained, +nd ed., )ohn .iley, .est /ussex. --/0# ibarary has the electronic version 1oogers, 2. !+,,+%. Fuel Cell Technology Handbook, 343 "ress, 5oca 4aton, Fla. --/0# ibarary has the electronic version. F6I, this is a baby readable version. 'here are other much more comprehensive, technical, and thicker handbooks. #202 /ervices, Inc. !+,,7%. Fuel Cell Handbook, 8th ed., 9./. *ept. of #nergy, 3ontract *#-A$+:-;;F'7,<8<. --.here can I find it= 'he *># .eb site is too big. /ee the fuelcells.org link below. >n their site, go inside Information 4esources, after which the Fuel 3ell ibrary, and on this long page, find ?fuel cell handbook.? 'here is a lot of material already covered by armine and 1oogers, but near the end of this handbook, there are some simple sample calculations that serve nicely as examples. 3halk, /.2., and $iller, ).F. !+,,:%. @ey challenges and recent progress in batteries, fuel cells, and hydrogen storage for clean energy systems, J. Power Sources, A<;, 8--B,. 'he Fuel 3ell /tore !fuelcellstore.com% where we have bought all our supplies. It can be useful if you need to look up model numbers for your #xperimental section. >therwise, there is no reason to cite this source in the report. fuelcells.org C A .ashington *.3.-based non-profit trade group. It is not professional to cite them or use their 1'$ explanations, but it is acceptable to use their reports or reports from other agencies, as the #202 handbook listed above. From research reports to general newspaper-like tutorials, to industrial news, to career opportunities,

there is a wealth of information in this site.

Preparation
6ou donDt want to !or need to% read the entire fuel cell bookE !At least not for this lab even though if you have time, it wonDt hurt to read and learn more about this very interesting technology.% 'he key sections are the ones on the fundamentals, from electrode kinetics and thermodynamics, to efficiency definitions, and to the different regimes in the characteri&ation !polari&ation% curve. And for the background section in your lab report, you (ust need to explain well the basics of a hydrogen fuel cell.

General Guideline
'he basic instructions are in the binder next to the experimental station. 5y and large this is a relatively straightforward experiment because the Fuel 3ell /tore packages everything that we need nicely. /ort of repeating the ob(ectives, the main tasks are: 2enerate the characteristic curve of the hydrogen fuel cell !and from the data, you can calculate the power density too% #valuate the efficiency of the fuel cell #valuate the fuel utili&ation of the fuel cell