The fuel cell - An ideal chemical engineering, undergraduate experiment

Abstract

Fuel cell based experiments embody principles in electrochemistry, thermodynamics, kinetics and transport and are ideally suited for the chemical engineering curricula. Experiments using a hydrogen proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cell have been developed for the chemical engineering undergraduate laboratory. The experiments allow students to study the principles of fuel cell operation and familiarize themselves with fuel cell performance as a function of oxidant composition and operating temperature. Experimental data can be fit to a simple model from which ohmic losses, kinetic parameters and limiting current density (mass transfer limitations) can be estimated and compared to measured or theoretical values.