Fuel cell power plants for automotive applications

The SPE
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fuel cell has been under continuous development since the mid-fifties. For the most part the applications have been of a specialty type such as for space vehicle electrical power, remote or mobile ground power, and undersea systems. The common denominator of these specialty power plant applications is that each is obliged to pay a premium for electric power generation. As a result the SPE fuel cell has been economically competitive in the specialty powerplant market. Until recently the SPE fuel cell has not been considered economically viable in the industrial/commercial markets in competition with gas turbine generators or internal combustion engines. However, in the last few years the electrical current density capability of the SPE fuel cell has markedly increased which has the impact of reducing capital costs on the basis of the kW output rating. During 1981, a study was conducted for the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to determine the feasibility of using this SPE fuel cell technology for vehicular propulsion. The results show that with adequate development, a power plant is possible which will meet the performance, size, and weight objectives, and that the costs for such a system could be competitive with other potential advanced power systems.