Abstract
Acidic or alkaline direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) can be a sustainable alternative for power generation if they are fuelled with bio-ethanol. However, in order to keep the fuel cheap, ethanol has to be exempted from tax on spirits by denaturing. In this investigation the potential denaturing agents fusel oil, tert-butyl ethyl ether, and Bitrex were tested with regard to their compatibility with fuel cells. Experiments were carried out both in sulphuric acid and potassium hydroxide solution. Beside, basic electrochemical tests, differential electrochemical mass spectrometry (DEMS) and fuel cell tests were conducted. It was found that fusel oil is not suitable as denaturing agent for DEFC. However, tert-butyl ethyl ether does not seem to hinder the ethanol conversion as much. Finally, a mixture of tert-butyl ethyl ether and Bitrex can be proposed as promising candidate as denaturing agent for use in acidic and alkaline DEFC.
Highlights
As fossil fuels run short and the problem of environmental pollution is getting serious, fuel cells offer an alternative of clean and sustainable power generation
Acidic or alkaline direct ethanol fuel cells (DEFCs) can be a sustainable alternative for power generation if they are fuelled with bioethanol
As fusel oil is only poorly soluble in aqueous media, it turned out to be incompatible with the use as denaturing agent in DEFC
Summary
As fossil fuels run short and the problem of environmental pollution is getting serious, fuel cells offer an alternative of clean and sustainable power generation. Denatured ethanol is available to the public in retail stores; but is exempted from tax on spirits and a rather cheap fuel. Another advantage of ethanol is that it can be produced in large quantities from renewable raw materials by fermentation. Apart from all the advantages of ethanol as fuel, its electro-catalysis in fuel cells is still subject to research This is especially true for the alkaline medium [3]. In order to denature ethanol, adding an inappropriate chemical as denaturing agent can either cause serious catalyst poisoning or membrane damage in the fuel cell [4]. The most promising candidate is investigated in an actual fuel cell with regard to compatibility with the whole system
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