Abstract
The performance of a direct hydrocarbon phosphoric acid fuel cell, PAFC, was investigated using petroleum diesel, biodiesel, and n-hexadecane as the fuels. We believe this is the first study of a fuel cell being operated with petroleum diesel as the fuel at the anode. Degradation in fuel cell performance was observed prior to reaching steady state. The degradation was attributed to a carbonaceous material forming on the surface of the anode. Regardless of the initial degradation, a steady-state operation was achieved with each of the diesel fuels. After treating the anode with water the fuel cell performance recovered. However, the fuel cell performance degraded again prior to obtaining another steady-state operation. There were several observations that were consistent with the suggestion that the carbonaceous material formed from the diesel fuels might be a reaction intermediate necessary for steady-state operation. Finally, the experiments indicated that water in the phosphoric acid electrolyte could be used as the water required for the anodic reaction. The water formed at the cathode could provide the replacement water for the electrolyte, thereby eliminating the need to provide a water feed system for the fuel cell.
Highlights
The long-term objective of this research is to replace the diesel fuel combustion engines currently used in rail locomotives with fuel cell stacks operating on low sulphur (15 ppm) diesel fuel
The larger decrease in potential difference observed with the used membrane electrode assembly (MEA) might have been caused by a greater quantity of carbonaceous material on the anode surface and by the availability of a smaller number of catalyst sites
It should be noted that the potential difference at open circuit potential is somewhat greater for the used MEA than for the cleaned MEA
Summary
The long-term objective of this research is to replace the diesel fuel combustion engines currently used in rail locomotives with fuel cell stacks operating on low sulphur (15 ppm) diesel fuel. Fuel cells have at least three advantages. The maximum operating temperature of the steel in combustion engines limits the engine’s theoretical Carnot energy efficiency to about 67%. Many types of fuel cells operate at much lower temperatures and are not limited by the temperature characteristics of materials. Some fuel cells can have much greater energy efficiencies than combustion engines
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