Return to the archive index

Re: Fuel Cell resources

On Sun, 6 Jun 1999  wrote:

> In a message dated 6/5/99 5:06:11 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
>  writes:
> 
> > 
> 
> I thought there was a pretty strong research effort to utilize the hydrogen 
> found in conventional fossil fuels.  
> Has anyone ehard of this?
> 
> Not that it's completely safe to carry a gasoline tank on your belt, either, 
> but it's not as sinister as pressurized, gaseous hydrogen.
> 
> mason hu

Fuel cells that can burn fossil fuels are called Molten-Carbonate Fuel
Cells (MCFCs), or at least that's what the call the ones that burn methane
(natural gas is 90%+ methane). The fuel must be pre-processed by running
it through a steam reformer running at a very high temperature. MCFC's can
be very efficient overall because the waste heat from the cells can drive
the steam reformer, and the electrical output vs. the chemical potential
of the fuel is 40-60% (depending on a lot of factors).

My understanding of the use of fuel cells with fossil fuels is that they
are cleaner, quieter, and more efficient than a conventional generator,
but it is an economy of scale. Huge power plants might still outperform
fuel cells just because a generator is a simpler device.

Overall, the fuel for an MCFC is more compact than a hydrogen cell. The
real problem with using an MCFC for a personal device is that the
temperature of the cell and steam reformer is very high... it might be
safer just to use a small gas turbine (alcohol burns cooler than gas), and
certainly safer to use a plain ol' battery.

--
Subcription/unsubscription/info requests: send e-mail with subject of
"subscribe", "unsubscribe", or "info" to 
Wear-Hard Mailing List Archive (searchable): http://wearables.blu.org

From Wear-Hard Mailing list Archive (WH)
Maintained by R. Paul McCarty

Archive created with babymail