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Fuel Cell: Indian Institute Of Technology, Kanpur’s Reply To Power Crisis

In what appears to be a giant leap in the field of power production, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (IIT-K) is engaged in production of hydrogen powered cell. Termed as ‘fuel cell’, the device can be used to produce energy to the level of 100 MW.

Dean of research and development and professor of electrical engineering at the IIT-K Prof SC Srivastava said that this was the first-of-its-kind cell where there was direct conversion of chemical energy into electrical energy.

More over the technology was environment-friendly. Prof Srivastava was here to attend an international conference on “Challenges and strategies for sustainable energy, efficiency and environment” organised by UP technical university (UPTU) on Saturday.

The technique is simple. Hydrogen is passed into the cell which then gets ionised releasing an electron. While this electron becomes a source of electricity on one end, water is released at the another end.

This is also followed by release of heat, which Srivastava claimed can be extracted very efficiently. The heat can also be utilised for other purposes, said Srivastava. He claimed that in some cases, around 80% of heat has been extracted.

Though, at a nascent stage, the project is seen with all promises. The only thing, however, that is puzzling the experts is the cost of the cell which at present seems to be “very high".

“This will have be reduced to make it affordable by using some other gas instead of Hydrogen,” he said. Besides this, efforts are under way to reduce the cost by replacing the catalysts which enhances the reaction. At present, the prototype of the cell is using platinum which is very expensive.

As for the size of the cell, it will depend on the type of technology used, he said. There are five types of cell technologies which are being used world wide. The more efficient it is, the better and hence smaller the size said Srivastava.

In case of solid hydrogen powered cells, there are chances of installed capacity going up to 100 MW. The cell can be used for powering laptop computer to even being used in space programmes.

Srivastava, who was invited as a key note speaker at the conference, however, said that technology alone cannot solve power crisis. “There is an urgent need for maintaining discipline while using power,” he maintained.

In an interview with TOI, he cited the example of discipline in the power grid. While, he said, “we have regulations when we draw power from the central grid, there is no such arrangement in intra-state grid.”

“It is because of this that we are facing the huge power crisis and problems of low frequency,” he pointed out.

Source : http://www.fuelcellsworks.com/

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