Fuel Cell Advantages And Disadvantages | Application of Fuel Cell, Benefits, Limitations, Pros and Cons of Fuel Cells

Fuel Cell Advantages And Disadvantages: Fuel cells are electrochemical cells that change the compound energy of a fuel (typically hydrogen) and an oxidising specialist (generally oxygen) into power utilising a couple of redox responses. Fuel cells are particular to most batteries, requiring a consistent fuel and oxygen source to keep up with the substance response.

Conversely, in a battery, the synthetic energy comes normally from metals, and their particles or oxides are generally currently present in the battery, besides in stream batteries. Energy components can create power consistently. However, long fuel and oxygen are given. Like any wellsprings of energy, hydrogen power devices enjoy their benefits and limitations.

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What is a Fuel Cell? Advantages and Disadvantages of Fuel Cell

A fuel cell is a gadget that creates power by a synthetic response. Each power module has two terminals, one certain and one negative, called, individually, the anode and cathode. The responses that produce power happens at the cathodes.

Each fuel cell likewise has an electrolyte, which conveys electrically charged particles from one terminal to the next, and an impetus speeds the responses at the cathodes. Hydrogen is the fundamental fuel, yet power devices additionally require oxygen. One extraordinary allure of fuel cells is that they create power with next to no contamination — a significant part of the hydrogen and oxygen utilised in creating power eventually consolidate to shape an innocuous result, specifically water.

Hydrogen doesn’t happen free in nature; it tends to be made by “re-framing” flammable gas or another non-renewable energy source or by utilising power to part (“electrolyse”) water into its parts of oxygen and hydrogen. In this sense, hydrogen is like power: the energy to create it very well may be acquired from sources from high-sulfur coal consumption to contamination-free photovoltaic cells.

Advantages of Fuel Cell

Sustainable and Promptly Available: Hydrogen is the most bountiful fixing in the Universe and, regardless of the difficulties connected with its expulsion from water, is a particularly sustainable and copious wellspring of energy, ideal for our future zero-carbon prerequisites for joined power and intensity supplies.

More Robust and Energy Efficient Compared to Fossil Fuels: Hydrogen power module innovation gives a high-thickness energy source with phenomenal energy proficiency. Hydrogen has the most driving energy content of any standard fuel by weight. High-pressure fluid and vaporous hydrogen are near twice the gravimetric energy thickness of LNG and diesel and a tantamount volumetric energy thickness to petroleum gas.

Hydrogen is a Reliable and Adjustable Energy Source: Hydrogen power devices produce a naturally spotless energy source, with no negative ecological impact during running as the results are exclusively water and intensity. Unlike hydropower or biofuel, hydrogen doesn’t require huge fields to produce power. NASA has been dealing with applying hydrogen as an asset with the water made as a side-effect of drinking water for space travellers.

This demonstrates that hydrogen energy components are a non-harmful fuel source and thus like gaseous petrol, coal, and atomic power, possibly unsafe or difficult to get. Creation, stockpiling, and hydrogen use will assume a fundamental part in invigorating further progression of sustainable power by changing their other stockpile modalities with the difficult end-client prerequisites, keeping away from the interest for eminent early venture to upgrade lattice foundation.

Exceptionally Efficient: Hydrogen power devices are an extremely successful method of energy creation contrasted with different wellsprings of energy, like many environmentally friendly power energy arrangements. This eco-friendliness gives a higher creation rate for each kg of fuel. For example, a conventional burning-based power plant produces power at 33-35% productivity, while a hydrogen energy component can create power with an effectiveness of up to 65%.

Decreases Carbon Traces: With almost no emanations, hydrogen power devices don’t release ozone-harming substances, which proposes they don’t have a carbon track while in activity.

Essentially Zero Emissions: Hydrogen energy components don’t deliver ozone harming substance discharges as petroleum derivative sources, reducing contamination and advancing air quality.

Noise Pollution is negligible: Hydrogen power modules don’t contaminate clamour like other environmentally friendly power sources, for example, wind power. This additionally shows that similar to electric vehicles, hydrogen-fueled vehicles are a lot calmer than those that utilise customary gas-powered motors.

Speedy Charging Times: The charge time for power units of a hydrogen energy component is outstandingly expedient, equivalent to that for customary gas-powered motor (ICE) vehicles, and prominently quicker than battery-fueled electric vehicles. Electric vehicles need between 30 minutes and a few hours to charge; hydrogen fuel cells can be re-energized under five minutes. This quick charging time proposes that hydrogen-fueled vehicles manage the cost of similar adaptability as standard vehicles.

Ideal for Application in Remote Areas: Nearby restrictions permit hydrogen accessibility through neighbourhood creation and capacity to be an option in contrast to diesel-based power and warming in far-off regions. This will decrease the need to move energises and further develop the everyday routine nature of those experiencing in distant regions by offering non-dirtying energy from a promptly accessible regular asset.

Expanded Usage Times: Hydrogen power modules permit higher efficiencies regarding utilisation times. A hydrogen vehicle has an indistinguishable reach from those that utilise petroleum derivatives (around 500 Kilometers). This is like that proposed by electric vehicles (EVs), which are habitually being improved with energy component power units as reach extenders. In contrast to EVs, hydrogen power modules are not essentially impacted by the external temperature and don’t decrease in chilly climates. This advantage is broadened further when combined with the fast charging times.

Low Visual Pollution: Some low-carbon energy sources, including biofuel power plants and wind energy, can give a few poor visual scenes; in any case, hydrogen power devices don’t have the same space prerequisites, meaning less visual contamination.

Versatility of Adoption: As the innovation progresses, hydrogen power modules will actually want to bear the energy cost for a scope of writing material and convenient applications. Hydrogen-controlled vehicles are just one model. However, they could likewise be utilised in additional little applications, for example, homegrown and bigger scope warming frameworks. Like ICE powerplants, the jobs of energy stockpiling limit and motor size are decoupled. Interestingly, battery-based power offers phenomenal plan adaptability.

Democratisation of Power Supply: Hydrogen energy components can reduce a country’s reliance on petroleum derivatives, which will assist with democratising energy and power supplies worldwide. This expanded freedom will lay out an interest for different nations presently dependent on non-renewable energy source stocks. Obviously, this will likewise pull out the issue of rising petroleum product costs as provisions decline.

Disadvantages of Fuel Cell

Extraction of Hydrogen: Regardless of being the most abundant fixing in the Universe, hydrogen doesn’t exist alone, so it should be removed from the water using electrolysis or protected from carbon petroleum products. Both of these techniques need an eminent measure of energy to achieve. This energy can be more than that acquired from the actual hydrogen, as well as being expensive. Additionally, this extraction normally requires the utilisation of non-renewable energy sources, which subverts hydrogen’s green accreditations without CCS.

Impressive Investment for Development: Hydrogen fuel cells expect money to be created to become an efficient influence source. This will likewise require the political tendency to invest the cash and energy in creating, upgrading and fostering innovation. The worldwide protest for creating supportable and broad hydrogen energy is how best to construct the organic market chain most expense.

Administrative Problems: There are likewise limitations around administrative issues concerning the design that addresses business sending models. Without unequivocal administrative structures to allow business tasks to understand their expense and income premise, business ventures can battle to achieve a monetary speculation choice (FID).

Unrefined components Cost: Valuable metals, for example, iridium and platinum, are ordinarily required as impetuses in fuel cells and some water electrolyser types, recommending that the underlying expense of power devices can be costly. This significant expense has kept some from putting resources into hydrogen power module innovation. Such expenses expect to be diminished to make hydrogen energy components a feasible fuel hotspot for all.

Expenses are high: The cost for a unit of force from hydrogen power modules is presently higher than other energy sources, like sunlight-based chargers. This might switch as innovation progresses, yet these days, this cost is a hindrance to hydrogen’s general utilisation even though it is more compelling once made. This cost likewise influences costs sometime later, for example, with the cost of hydrogen-worked vehicles, causing boundless reception problematic right now.

Hydrogen Accommodation: Transportation and capacity and of hydrogen are more convoluted than those expected for petroleum products. This implies additional expenses for hydrogen power modules as an energy source.

Highly Flammable: Hydrogen is a profoundly burnable fuel source, which causes clear wellbeing concerns. Hydrogen gas consumes in the air at fixations shifting from 4 to 75%.

Establishment: Since petroleum derivatives have been utilised for quite a long time, the framework for this power supply beforehand exists. The enormous reception of hydrogen power module innovation for car applications will require another refuelling establishment to help it. Notwithstanding, for long-range applications, for example, those for conveyance trucks and HGVs, begin-to-end refuelling will conceivably be used.

Comparison Table for Advantages and Disadvantages of Fuel Cell

Advantages of Fuel CellDisadvantages of Fuel Cell
High-efficiencyIt is quite expensive
Pollution freeGaseous fuel is tough to handle
Continuous supply of energyElectrolytes in fuel cells are extremely caustic
The refueling process is easySafety is a concern since hydrogen is a highly flammable gas
Hydrogen is a renewable fuel sourceGas storage and transportation might be complex

FAQs on Pros and Cons of Fuel Cell

Question 1.
What are the advantages of a fuel cell?

Answer:
The advantages of fuel cells are:

  • High efficiency
  • Less noise
  • Good reliability
  • Environment-friendly
  • Lighter and more compact

Question 2.
What are the disadvantages of fuel cells?

Answer:
The disadvantages of fuel cells are:

  • High cost
  • Lack of infrastructure
  • Tough to handle
  • Hydrogen is highly inflammable

Question 3.
What are the types of fuel cells?

Answer:
Few types of fuel cells are Hydrogen-Oxygen fuel cells, Microbial fuel cells (MFCs), Solid Oxide Fuel Cells (SOFCs), and Zinc-Air Fuel cells (ZAFC), Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFC), etc.

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