 |
| Lafayette College Chapter
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
Simulating Electrocatalysis or Why No Fuel Cells Yet?
(03/08/2006)
Dr. Timo Jacob
Fritz Haber Institute
Max Planck Society
Berlin, Germany
Currently most of the daily energy comes from burning fossil energy resources such as oil, natural gas, or coal. In addition to the problems arising from an enormous amount of CO2 emitted during this process, estimates for the exhaustion of these non-renewable power resources range from one to only a couple of hundred years.
In this context fuel cells should be seen as a possibility to directly convert chemical in electrical energy without being limited by the Carnot effect. Besides the high efficiency, which is not only relevant for fuel cells operating with hydrocarbons, Polymer-Electrolyte Membrane (PEM) fuel cells only use hydrogen and oxygen as fuel to produce the final product water.
Although the idea of fuel cells has existed for almost 200 years and different industrial prototypes are already operating, the final break-through of these devices and their practical application has not yet happened. There are a variety of problems regarding a better mechanical stability, improved water management, and most importantly enhanced efficiency. The last aspect requires a deep knowledge about the processes occurring in a fuel cell under operating conditions.
Room 200, Acopian Engineering Center, 4 p.m.
Back to top | Privacy Policy | Copyright ©2013. All Rights Reserved. |
|
|
