燃料电池（英文版）.ppt

How Fuel Cells Work Fuel Cells (燃料電池): Making power more efficiently and with less pollution. Fuel Cell- an electrochemical energy conversion device To convert the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water, and in the process it produces electricity. Battery (電池): the other electrochemical device that we are all familiar. A battery has all of its chemicals stored inside, and it converts those chemicals into electricity too. This means that a battery eventually goes dead and you either throw it away or recharge it. For a fuel cell Chemicals constantly flow into the cell so it never goes dead. As long as there is a flow of chemicals into the cell, the electricity flows out of the cell. Most fuel cells in use today use hydrogen and oxygen as the chemicals. Fuel Cell Descriptions Fuel Cells generate electricity through an electrochemical process In which the energy stored in a fuel is converted directly into DC electricity. Because electrical energy is generated without combusting fuel, Fuel cells are extremely attractive from an environmental stand point. Attractive characteristics of Fuel Cell High energy conversion efficiency Modular design Very low chemical and acoustical pollution Fuel flexibility Cogeneration capability Rapid load response A functioning cell in a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell stack It consists of three components - a cathode, an anode, and an electrolyte sandwiched between the two. Oxygen from the air flows through the cathode A fuel gas containing hydrogen, such as methane, flows past the anode. Negatively charged oxygen ions migrate through the electrolyte membrane react with the hydrogen to form water, The reacts with the methane fuel to form hydrogen (H2) carbon dioxide (CO2). Cool Fuel Cells Fuel cells promise to be the environmentally-friendly power source of the future, but some types run too hot to be practical. NASA-funded research may have a solution. All fuel cells have the same basic operating p