Fuel Cell Technology for Disaster Management "EMPOWER IAS"

In news:

• The International Advanced Research for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad has developed Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFC). ARCI is an autonomous Research and Development (R&D) Centre of the Department of Science and Technology (DST).

 

More from the news:

• The ARCI has developed in-house PEMFC systems in the power range of 1 to 20 kiloWatt (kW) at its Centre for Fuel Cell Technology, Chennai.
• ARCI is planning to set up a PEMFC system at Tamil Nadu State Emergency Operation Centre (TN SEOC) as a disaster management measure.
• Tamil Nadu is generally affected by five to six cyclones every year, of which two to three are severe.
• In general, Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) backed with a 10 kW system along with fuel cell stack, air moving subsystems, power control devices and control and monitoring system is being planned as a natural disaster management measure.
• EOCs have been set up in the states as per the National disaster Management Guidelines.
• An EOC is the hub to coordinate various activities during emergencies. The basic functions of the EOC includes collection and dissemination of early warnings on disaster, ensuring administrative and community preparedness and coordinating with all emergency support functions.
• Fuel cell systems in EOCs offer a potential benefit in terms of providing sustainable electricity.

 

Disaster in India:

• India is vulnerable to a large number of disasters..
• Disaster risks in India are further compounded by increasing vulnerabilities related to changing demographics and socio-economic conditions, unplanned urbanization, development within high-risk zones, environmental degradation, climate change, geological hazards, epidemics and pandemics.
• There has been a paradigm shift in the focus of Disaster Management, from response-centric (rescue, relief, rehabilitation, and reconstruction) to laying greater emphasis on the other elements of disaster management cycle (prevention, mitigation, and preparedness) as a means to avert the impact of future emergencies.

 

 

Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells

 

 

• Proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, also known as polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells (PEMFC) are a type of fuel cell being developed mainly for transport applications, as well as for stationary fuel-cell applications and portable fuel-cell applications.
• Their distinguishing features include lower temperature/pressure ranges (50 to 100 °C) and a special proton-conducting polymer electrolyte membrane.
• PEMFCs generate electricity and operate on the opposite principle to PEM electrolysis, which consumes electricity.
• They are a leading candidate to replace the aging alkaline fuel-cell technology, which was used in the Space Shuttle.

 

Applications in disaster management

• Emergency Operation Centres (EOC) backed with 10 kW systems is being planned as a natural disaster management measure.
• Tamil Nadu is generally affected by five to six cyclones every year, of which two to three are severe and is followed by frequent power cuts.
• ARCI is now planning to set up a PEMFC system for Tamil Nadu to operate the systems like early warning systems, VHF set, IP phone, BSNL Ethernet and office equipment like scanner, computers, printers, phone, FAX and normal requirements like lighting and fan.

 

Working

 

 

• The PEMFC uses a water-based, acidic polymer membrane as its electrolyte, with platinum-based electrodes.
• The protons pass through the membrane to the cathode side of the cell while the electrons travel in an external circuit, generating the electrical output of the cell.

 

 

Key data’s:

• Scientists at International Advanced Research for Powder Metallurgy & New Materials (ARCI), Hyderabad, an autonomous R&D Centre of Department of Science and Technology (DST), have developed Polymer Electrolyte Membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) systems in the power range of 1 to 20 kW and demonstrated the same in stationary (1-20 kW) and transport applications (1, 3, 5 kW).
• PEMFCs, also known as proton-exchange membrane fuel cells, have the advantage of operating at low temperatures and find applications in decentralised power generation systems.
• Fuel cell systems provide sustainable electricity using hydrogen gas without the need of grid power as required by conventional battery backup systems, making them highly useful for applications like Emergency Operation Centres (EOCs) which need to respond immediately during an emergency situation with state-of-the-art communication systems.
• ARCI has already demonstrated feasibility of powering EOC systems with 5 kW PEMFC stack installed on mobile truck. It is now planning to set up a PEMFC system up to 10 kW capacity at Tamil Nadu State Emergency Operation Centre to operate systems like early warning systems (Tamil Nadu is generally affected by five to six cyclones every year, of which two to three are severe), VHF set, IP phone, BSNL Ethernet and office equipment like scanner, computers, printers, phone, FAX and normal requirements like lighting and fan.

 

Background:

• Last year, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), in partnership with Pune-based Thermax Limited and Mumbai-based Reliance Industries Limited, developed India’s first indigenous high-temperature fuel cell system that has the potential to replace polluting diesel generating (DG) sets and reduce the country’s dependence on crude oil.
• The 5.0 KW fuel cell system—based on high-temperature proton-exchange membrane technology—generates power using methanol/bio-methane, with heat and water as by products for further use. This amounts to greater than 70% efficiency, which otherwise may not be possible with other energy sources.