Bang for Your Buck: Designing and Building Hydrogen Fuel Cells

Overview

Objectives/Goals This project investigates the properties and feasibility of hydrogen fuel cells made from common materials as an alternative energy solution. Methods/Materials Built a hydrogen fuel cell with a PEM (proton exchange membrane) and hydrogen generator. Tested power efficiency and performance with various voltages. Results The hydrogen fuel cell performance is determined by flow rate of hydrogen. As power into the generator increases the hydrogen flow rate increases, but reaches a limit and then performance declines. At its peak performance, fuel cell output was a constant 0.75 volts. The fuel cell is most efficient operating levels of power 14-21W. Conclusions/Discussion Performance of this fuel cell changes depending the rate of hydrogen produced. When rate of hydrogen is too fast, the efficiency drops. To get the best efficiency from the cell, more testing is required to determine the optimal rate of hydrogen. Possible variables include temperature, Nafion ratings, and pressure in the cell playing a part in changing the efficiency.

Competition history

• CSEF 2016 Chemistry · Entry S0609

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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