Fuel Cell Advantages

A fuel cell is a device that directly converts the chemical energy of fuel into electrical energy. Theoretically speaking, as long as the fuel cell is continuously supplied with fuel, the fuel cell can generate electricity continuously. It has been hailed as the fourth generation of power generation technology after water power, thermal power, and nuclear power.

High power generation efficiency. Fuel cell power generation is not restricted by the Carnot cycle. In theory, its power generation efficiency can reach 85% to 90%, but due to the limitations of various polarizations during operation, the current energy conversion efficiency of fuel cells is about 40% to 60%. If combined heat and power are realized, the total fuel utilization rate can be as high as 80%.

Environmental pollution is small. When the fuel cell uses hydrogen-rich gas such as natural gas as fuel, the carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by more than 40% compared with the heat engine process, which is very important to alleviate the global greenhouse effect. In addition, because the fuel gas of the fuel cell must be desulfurized before the reaction, and it generates electricity according to the electrochemical principle, there is no high-temperature combustion process, so almost no nitrogen and sulfur oxides are emitted, which reduces the pollution to the atmosphere.

Higher than energy. The specific energy of liquid hydrogen fuel cells is 800 times that of nickel-cadmium batteries, and the specific energy of direct methanol fuel cells is more than 10 times higher than that of lithium-ion batteries (rechargeable batteries with the highest energy density). At present, although the actual specific energy of fuel cells is only 10% of the theoretical value, it is still much higher than the actual specific energy of general batteries.

Low noise. The fuel cell has a simple structure, few moving parts, and low noise during operation. Even in the vicinity of an 11MW fuel cell power plant, the measured noise is less than 55dB.

Wide fuel range. For fuel cells, as long as substances containing hydrogen atoms can be used as fuels, such as natural gas, petroleum, coal and other fossil products, or biogas, alcohol, methanol, etc., fuel cells are very in line with the demand for energy diversification and can slow the mainstream Depletion of energy.

High reliability. When the load of the fuel cell changes, it will respond quickly. Regardless of the overload operation above the rated power or the operation below the rated power, it can withstand and the efficiency does not change much. Because the fuel cell is highly reliable in operation, it can be used as a variety of emergency power sources and uninterrupted power sources.

Easy to build. The fuel cell has an assembled structure, which is convenient for installation and maintenance and does not require many auxiliary facilities. The design and manufacture of fuel cell power plants are quite convenient.

The numerous advantages of fuel cells also make it an extremely important position in the field of new energy, and its future development has unlimited possibilities.