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Thermodynamic Potential Of Very High Performance Fuel Cells, Kimberly Liang

Honors Scholar Theses

Fuel Cells are devices that use the chemical energy of a fuel (e.g. hydrogen) to electrochemically produce electricity. Similar to a conventual combustion engine, a fuel cell will continue to run and generate electricity as long as fuel is supplied. However, unlike a conventional combustion engine, fuel cells have a much higher theoretical efficiency and do not directly emit harmful air pollutants. This project will focus on a fuel cell that uses hydrogen as fuel and oxygen as an oxidizing agent.

As fuel cell technology evolved, high pressure fuel cell systems became of interest in portable applications, such as submarine …