Development of Fuel Cell Technology for Electric Power Generation

This tutorial presents an overview of the fundamentals of fuel cell engineering and of the history of fuel cell development for electric power applications. The fuel cell uses a catalyzed reaction between a fuel and an oxidizer to directly produce electricity. Its high theoretical efficiency and low temperature operation made it a subject of much study upon its invention ca. 1900, but its relatively high life cycle costs kept it as solution in search of a problem for its first half century. After completing this course you should have an understanding of: The place of fuel cells among energy conversion technologies; The basic principles of fuel cell electrochemistry; The engineering fundamentals of fuel cell power plants for both transportation and stationary applications; The differing power system engineering tradeoffs that drive the development of fuel cell technology for NASA's manned space program in a direction different than that for applications for The Hydrogen Economy.