Experimental analysis and CFD modeling is used in this work to analyze system efficiency related to hydrogen purge based water management in an open-cathode PEM fuel cell system. Excess water in a deadended anode decreases hydrogen concentration at the active catalyst surface and thus causes fuel cell performance losses. Purging the anode with hydrogen removes water and nitrogen that diffused t...

This study provides a mathematical model that delivers fundamental data for developing a pricing strategy for fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). A mathematical model that transforms the life-cycle cost of a hydrogen vehicle into the corresponding gasoline vehicle is designed using cost-benefit analysis and life-cycle analysis. The FCEV obtains economic advantages when its life-cycle cost is l...

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in water has been proposed as a promising solar fuel instead of gaseous hydrogen because of advantages on easy storage and high energy density, being used as a fuel of a one-compartment H2O2 fuel cell for producing electricity on demand with emitting only dioxygen (O2) and water. It is highly desired to utilize the most earth-abundant seawater instead of precious pure w...

The potential for efficient production of hydrogen-rich gas from hydrocarbon fuels using thermal plasmas has been investigated both analytically and experimentally. Thermodynamic analysis shows that the most efficient production of hydrogen from hydrocarbons can be achieved by partial oxidation (lambda = 0.25); at optimal conditions, the availability of the output fuel mixture is 83 percent of ...

High-purity hydrogen continues to receive attention as a promising energy source for fuel cells in portable power applications. On-demand hydrogen generation via fuel reforming offers a convenient alternative to hydrogen storage, but the concomitant CO generation is deleterious to the fuel cell catalyst. Of the possible hydrogen purification options, palladium membranes allow a compact design s...

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are one promising vehicle technology for reducing the long-term environmental and energy-use impacts of personal vehicle use. Depending on how the hydrogen is produced, these vehicles can have very low emissions of air pollutants and greenhouse gases while also avoiding the use of petroleum. This paper reports the findings of real-world research conducted by the Univ...

This is the final report of a three-year, Laboratory Directed Research and Development (LDRD) project at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The project objective was to evaluate hydrogen uptake by fullerene substrates and to probe the potential of the hydrogedfullerene system for hydrogen fuel storage. As part of this project, we have completed and tested a fully automated, computer control...

BACKGROUND Energy efficiency analysis for different biomass-utilization scenarios would help make more informed decisions for developing future biomass-based transportation systems. Diverse biofuels produced from biomass include cellulosic ethanol, butanol, fatty acid ethyl esters, methane, hydrogen, methanol, dimethyether, Fischer-Tropsch diesel, and bioelectricity; the respective powertrain s...

The work presented in this paper is an attempt to evaluate the exhaust emission characteristics of a hydrogen-ethanol dual fuel combination with different percents of hydrogen substitutions (i.e. 0-80 % by volume and of 20 % increment ) at three different compression ratios of 7:1, 9:1 and 11:1. Experimental investigations have been carried out on a computer interfaced with; four-stroke cycle, ...

Passenger vehicles fueled by hydrocarbons or alcohols and powered by proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells address world air quality and fuel supply concerns while avoiding hydrogen infrastructure and on-board storage problems. Reduction of the carbon monoxide concentration in the on-board fuel processor’s hydrogen-rich gas by the preferential oxidizer (PrOx) under dynamic conditions is cru...