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Effect of nitrogen and carbon dioxide as fuel impurities on PEM fuel cell performances

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Abstract

Polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells are considered to have the highest power density of all the fuel cells. They operate on hydrogen fuel, which is generally produced by reforming of hydrocarbons, and may contain large amounts of impurities such as carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and trace amounts of carbon monoxide. We studied the effect of dilution of hydrogen gas with carbon dioxide on PEM fuel cells by polarization studies. The polarization curves were different when hydrogen gas was diluted with same quantities of carbon dioxide and with nitrogen. It may be due to carbon monoxide formation by reverse shift reaction and poisoning of anode platinum catalyst. Use of Pt–Ru alloy catalyst was found to suppress the poisoning. The effects of hydrogen gas composition, temperature, current density, and anode catalyst on fuel cell performances were examined in this study.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge the management, Sri Venkateswara College Of Engineering, Pennalur, Sriperumbudur—602105, for the constant encouragement and generous financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Applied Chemistry, Sri Venkateswara College Of Engineering, Pennalur, Sriperumbudur, 602105, Tamil Nadu, India

    N. Nachiappan

  2. Department of Industrial Chemistry, Alagappa University, Karaikudi, 630 003, Tamil Nadu, India

    N. Nachiappan & G. Paruthimal Kalaignan

  3. Department of Chemical Engineering, Sri Venkateswara College Of Engineering, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India

    G. Sasikumar

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  1. N. Nachiappan
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  2. G. Paruthimal Kalaignan
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  3. G. Sasikumar
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Correspondence to N. Nachiappan.

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Nachiappan, N., Kalaignan, G.P. & Sasikumar, G. Effect of nitrogen and carbon dioxide as fuel impurities on PEM fuel cell performances. Ionics 19, 351–354 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-012-0730-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11581-012-0730-z

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