A combustible battery is a Pile where the manufacture of the electricity is done thanks to the Oxydation on a electrode of a Combustible Réducteur (for example the Hydrogène) coupled with the Réduction on the other electrode of a Oxydant, such as the Oxygène of the air.

History

• 1839 : Discovered Effect combustible battery by Switzerland Christian Schönbein

• 1839 - 1842 : Realization of the first model of Laboratory of combustible battery by William R. Grove

• 1932 : Begun again studies about the combustible battery by Francis T. Bacon , which produces a first prototype of 1 KW in 1953 , then 5 KW in 1959 . This prototype will be used as model for the future combustible batteries used at the time of the space missions Apollo.

• the very long amount of time (more than one century) which ran out between the realization of the first model of combustible battery and the first uses is explained by the very strong development why knew the other generating types of of electrical energy and by the fact that the cost of materials used in the combustible battery remains still currently high.

In 2007: It seems that the CAP running on methanol intended to feed portable electronics will be marketed before those intended for auto industry.
Ce is only semi-2007 that under the aegis of Japan a beginning of reflection on standards, rules and standards of manufacture and safety started, so as to facilitate the generalized use of these CAP. Japan thus hopes to reduce by 50% its CO2 emissions related to the small electronics, by in addition proposing batteries whose autonomy will be multiplied by three.

General information

A combustible battery is a Pile where the manufacture of the electricity is done thanks to the Oxydation on a electrode of a Combustible Réducteur (for example the Hydrogène) coupled with the Réduction on the other electrode of a Oxydant, such as the Oxygène of the air. The reaction of oxidation of hydrogen is accelerated by a Catalyseur which is generally Platine. So of other combinations are possible, the pile most usually studied and used is the pile hydrogen-oxygen or hydrogen-air. The combustible battery is not an energy source but a Vecteur of energy.

Combustible battery with hydrogen

The operation of a pile dihydrogène-oxygen is particularly clean since it produces only Eau and consumes only Gaz. But until in 2006, the manufacture of these piles is very expensive, in particular because of the considerable quantity of Platine necessary.

One of the major difficulties resides in the synthesis and the provisioning of Dihydrogène. On Earth, the dihydrogene exists in great quantity only combined with the Oxygène (), the Soufre () and the Carbone (fossile fuel of the gas types or Pétrole S). The production of dihydrogene thus requires either to consume fuels Fossile S, or to have enormous quantities of energy with low costs, to obtain it starting from the decomposition of water, by thermal or electrochemical way.

Then, the dihydrogene can be compressed in bottles of gas (pressure in general of 350 or 700 bars), or liquefied or combined chemically in the form of Méthanol or of Méthane which will be then transformed to release from dihydrogene. The cumulated energetic efficiencies of the syntheses of dihydrogene, of compression or liquefaction, are generally rather weak. The dihydrogene is thus not a primary energy source, it is simple a vector of energy difficult to produce and store.

The principle of operation

The combustible battery functions contrary to the electrolysis of the Eau. It directly transforms energy Chimique into electrical energy. It is a generator.

• It is similar to an ordinary pile. It has a Cathode and a Anode separated by a electrolyte which ensures inter alia the passage of the current by ionic transfer of the loads.

• Like a traditional pile, it consumes its oxidant (here oxygen O₂ ) and its reducer (here the dihydrogene H₂ ). It continues to function as long as it is supplied in dihydrogene and oxygen. The reducer can be also Méthanol or natural gas.

1. With the anode, takes place the following reaction: H₂  →  2H⁺  +  2e^-

2. There is thus production of 2 electrons by Molécule of Dihydrogène.
3. the ion H⁺ passes from the anode to cathode and causes an electric current by transfer of the electrons in the electrical circuit.
4. With cathode, the H⁺ ions are consumed according to the reaction: O₂  +  4H⁺  +  4e^-  →  2H₂O

The produced theoretical tension is of 1.23 functioning Volt for a pile with 25°C with pure oxygen and hydrogen with 1 bar. In practice, the power provided by a pile outputting an electric current generally evolves/moves between 0.5 and 0.8 Volt: this loss of potential finds its origin in various physical phenomena which occur on the level of the electrodes, the electrolyte and the devices of distribution of the reagents and evacuation of the products (more).

• a combustible battery supplied with hydrogen and air produces only water which one can sometimes observe condensation directly when it functions at low temperature.

• the reactions are made possible by the presence of a catalyst of dissociation of the hydrogen molecule which can be a fine layer of Platine divided on a porous support which constitutes the electrode with dihydrogene.

Combustible battery with methanol

There exist two types of combustible batteries to methanol:

• piles RMFC (Reformed Methanol Fuel Concealment): in these piles, methanol is reformed to produce the hydrogen which will supply the pile.

• piles DMFC (Direct Methanol Fuel Concealment): in these piles, methanol is directly oxidized in the heart of the pile and does not require to be reformed.

Summary table of the various techniques of combustible batteries

Applications and prospects

Thanks to ceaseless progress of these techniques, whose first developments in the space field go back to the Années 1960, and with the fall of the prices, its use grows in new fields. In particular to feed from the prototype S of laptops, cellphones or Cameras or of clean vehicles.

However, the industrial Viabilité with large scales such systems runs up against energy poor yield total of the whole of the operations. Indeed, each stage (synthesis of the Hydrogen, Drying of the gas, storage, Vaporization, output of the electrochemical Reactions of the pile, circulation of the fluids, thermal regulation, maintenance, recovery of the Platinum, etc ) still chips a Rendement total very disappointing. It thus supposes the availability of a primary Energy source economic and inexhaustible on a human scale.

Other transport and storage lanes of the Hydrogène can also be planned to reduce the losses, such as for example, the solid and stable conditioning of the Hydrogène in the form of amino Pastilles.

The use of the combustible battery in Cogénération, making it possible to develop the Thermal production of the Pile, is considered from an environmental and technical point of view as advantageous but remains still too expensive for a current use.

Research programs or of development

By geographical areas

the USA develop many projects supported by the government, sometimes presented like one of the major solutions against the Climate warming.

With the Canada, the Institute of Innovation out of Combustible batteries of the National council of Research of Canada (IIPC-CNRC), in September 2006 on 6500 m ² was created, in British Columbia (UBC), in the technological bunch of the area of Vancouver, pilot in this field.
Il aims at developing the industry of hydrogen and the combustible batteries in Canada. It is a platform of demonstration as much as research, which shelters also the Program of Vancouver on the combustible battery vehicles, as well as the project of highway of the hydrogen of British Columbia, shouldered by laboratories devoted to the hydrogen supply and the techniques of integrated combustible batteries. The site has of geothermic pumps and photovoltaic means of production of hydrogen.

In France, ADEME, EDF and ECA installed a NETWORK " Combustible battery on June 25th, 1999 controlled by Catherine Ronge, direct R & D of Liquid air and Roger Ballay, assistant editor of research at EDF, Co-animated by the ADEME and the Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (ECA) with for mission of accelerating research on the combustible battery by identifying the technological bolts, of animating of it the scientific community around a pole of expertise likely to develop and diffuse the projections of research, to develop the partnerships public-private a prospective reflection on the development of these techniques.

Car

• Daimler :

* NECAR

* A whole family of vehicles with various types of fuel (hydrogen gas, methanol,…). To date (2007) Daimler built the greatest number of vehicles using a combustible battery (more than 60).

• Ford:

* X-ray FCV

• General Motors:

* Hydrogen 3 presented in May 2004.

* Sequel car. The pile with hydrogen of 73 kw is supplied by three wound bottles of gas composite of Dihydrogène of 700 bars (2005).

* Chevy Volt : concept presented in January 2007 to the auto show of Strait (the USA).

• Michelin:

* prototype of car Hy-light functioning with a pile with hydrogen (in March 2005 presentation). The pile is supplied by Dihydrogène coming from three wound bottles composite high pressure.

• PSA :

* Project GENEPAC (2002-2006) carried out in collaboration with the ECA. Hydrogen pile of type PEMFC of 80 kw.

• Toyota:

* Car five places FCHV-4 and drunk FCHV-US1 . These programs were presented for the first time in 2001. They comprise a pile with hydrogen of 90 kw.

• Suzuki (in collaboration with General Motors):

* Prototype of car Mr. Wagon FCW' . The pile with hydrogen is supplied by dihydrogene contained in tanks with 700 bars.

• Hyundai :

* Tucson FCEV : hybrid car. The pile with hydrogen of 80 kw is supplied by a composite wound bottle of gas.

• Honda:

* Honda FCX

• Hummer :

* Hummer O2

• Peugeot

*Le experimental model 207 DC

• BMW:

* BMW Hydrogen 7

*N' does not use a combustible battery. It is about a traditional combustion engine using of hydrogen like fuel.

Other fields

• Axane (Liquid air):

* Evopac, autonomous feeding system supplied with dihydrogene.

• Cooling system by evaporation inspired of the house plants for the combustible batteries of the laptops of tomorrow.

* Cambridge Consultants

External bonds

• Site with didactic pages of a research team of CNRS and Nancy-University

• Site of the HFC consulting group
• File > the combustible battery, why and how?
• File > Combustible battery - the hydrogen fairy: the energy of tomorrow?
• File illustrated on the combustible battery
• Site devoted to the combustible battery
• very complete Site on the combustible battery
• File of Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique (ECA) on the novel methods of energy
• Application of a combustible battery in a car for the '' Shell Eco Marathon '' by pupils of the ESSTIN
• File presenting the prototype '' Hy-Light '' of Michelin, conveys functioning with an CAP fed with hydrogen

Reference books

Benjamin Blunier and Abdellatif Miraoui, Combustible batteries, Principles, modeling, applications with exercises and problems corrected , Ellipses, Technosup, 2007,192 p.

Méziane Boudellal, " the combustible battery " , Dunod, Technique and engineering, 2007,304p. (ISBN 978-2-1005-0112-0)

Simple: Fuel concealment

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