Thermally Regenerative Fuel Cells
Abstract
The three phase project was undertaken to investigate solventless ionic liquids as possible working fluids for a new type of thermally regenerative fuel cell (TRFC). The heart of the new device, invented at Hughes Aircraft Company in 1983, is an electrochemical concentration cell where acid and base streams react to produce electrical energy. Thermal energy is then used to decompose the resulting salts and regenerate the cell reactants. In principle, a TRFC can be matched to any source of thermal energy simply by selecting working fluids with the appropriate regeneration temperature. However, aqueous working fluids (the focus of previous studies) impose limitations on both the operating temperatures and the achievable energy densities. It was the need to overcome these limitations that prompted the present investigation. Specific aims were to identify possible working fluids for TRFC systems with both low and high regeneration temperatures. A major advantage of our aqueous- fluid TRFC systems has been the ability to use hydrogen electrodes. The low activation and mass transfer losses of these electrodes contribute substantially to overall system efficiency.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1991
- Accession Number
- ADA242900
Entities
People
- A. Kindler
- F. A. Ludwig
- J. Mchardy
Organizations
- Hughes Aircraft Company