FUEL CELL®

FCS&E 2008 Short Courses

Short Courses will once again be offered as part of the FCS&E Technical Program on Monday, October 27, 2008. Below are brief descriptions of the courses that will be offered at the 2008 FCS&E^*.

^*Please check back often as more short courses may be added.

Fundamentals & Manufacturing Technology (2 part course)

Fuel Cell Fundamentals and Technology ( 8:30 a.m. – 12Noon):
This ½-day short course is designed to prepare attendees for the 2007 Fuel Cell Seminar and Exposition. The course will address the fundamentals of fuel cell operation and design, fuel cell stack technology, fuel cell types, analysis techniques and fuel cell systems technology.  In addition, the course will introduce the major markets for fuel cell technology with special attention to stationary power and transportation applications.   Information will be presented by objective experts (University instructors) providing an unbiased, balanced introduction to technical and market opportunities and challenges of fuel cells.  Additional insights into fuel cell transportation technology and markets are provided by a major automobile company expert.  This course is ideal for those who desire to brush up on technical understanding of fuel cells and the major markets for fuel cells, those just entering the fuel cell business, sales professionals, managers and executives, students and engineers.

Fuel Cell Manufacturing and Degradation ( 1:30PM – 5:30PM ):
This ½-day short course is designed to provide attendees an overview of the latest fuel cell manufacturing techniques and technologies in advance of the 2007 Fuel Cell Seminar and Exposition. The course will address both manufacturing of fuel cells and the major degradation mechanisms that affect fuel cell performance.  Instructors will introduce cell-level as well as stack- and systems-level manufacturing techniques for all major fuel cell types.  Both hydrogen-fueled and hydrocarbon-fueled systems manufacturing techniques will be addressed.  Special presentations from leading manufacturers will address proton exchange membrane fuel cells (Plug Power) and molten carbonate and solid oxide fuel cells (FuelCell Energy).  This course is ideal for those who desire to understand what it takes to manufacture fuel cells, make fuel cell systems that work well, and address major degradation mechanisms.

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Fuel Cell Cogeneration Applications

This course will present various fuel cell cogeneration applications from both real world case studies as well as research and demonstration activities, including details such as thermal utilization and economic calculations, design and interface considerations, and life cycle cost considerations.

Stationary fuel cells have been commercially available for many years and have been installed in a variety of applications where environmentally clean, reliable, and efficient electric power generation is desired. The general configuration for stationary fuel cell applications consists of three processes:

• A hydrocarbon fuel is converted in a Fuel Processor into hydrogen and carbon dioxide streams.
• The hydrogen is delivered to the Fuel Cell Stack where it is electrochemically reacted with oxygen from air to produce water, heat, and DC electricity.
• The DC electricity is converted to AC electricity in a Power Conditioner.

In the most general sense, Cogeneration may be broadly defined as any combination of this basic electrical output with one or more additional useful end-user products.

The primary source of cogeneration applications is the by-product heat produced in the fuel cell. The quantity and quality of this heat is dependent on the type of fuel cell being used. The most basic application for this by-product heat is for external heating purposes. Specific applications include domestic hot water heating, residential space heating (in which case the fuel cell may be designed to be thermal load following rather than electric load following), indoor or outdoor swimming pool heating, boiler plant makeup water and condensate return heating, humidity control with desiccant systems, and air cooling in connection with absorption cooling systems.

By-product heat can also be used for the generation of additional electricity through a fuel cell hybrid configuration. Examples of this include combination of the fuel cell with a Gas Turbine (GT) in either a topping or bottoming configuration, an Organic Rankine Cycle (ORC), or an Energy Recovery Generator (ERG) for natural gas line pressure reduction stations.

Non-traditional by-products of fuel cell applications can include hydrogen for use in other fuel cell applications including vehicles, potable water for arid regions, and carbon dioxide capture for use in greenhouses and enhanced oil recovery.

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Basic Electrochemical Measurements
Course Time: 1:00 p.m. - 5:30 p.m.
Instructors:  Bill Eggers, The Electrochemical Society

The course is targeted to scientists and engineers who are tasked with using electrochemical techniques in the investigation of fuel cell technology and performance. The course will take a look at the basics of electrochemistry, the instruments and cells used in performing the experiments, the techniques available, and the interpretation of results. The techniques discussed will include: voltammetry, controlled potential and current cycling, impedance spectroscopy, and more. Tentative topics to be covered include:

• an introduction to the basics of electrochemistry and the types of reactions under consideration
• a preliminary discussion of the fuel cell market and the need for  electrochemical-based instrumentation for research and evaluation
• a look at electrode kinetics with a focus on the types of measurements necessary to determine reaction rates, understand diffusion processes, and the overall performance of fuel cells and fuel cell stacks
• a consideration of cell design and connection schemes to existing and developmental cells.
• fundamentals of operation of instrumentation such as potentiostats/galvanostats and a discussion of the techniques for performing impedance analysis
• a review of the techniques used including basic interpretation of the results.

About the Instructor
Bill Eggers is the President of Bio-logic USA, a major supplier of scientific instruments for electrochemistry, rapid kinetics measurement, photosynthesis electron transfer reactions, and electrophysiology. In his 32 years in the field of electrochemical instruments, he has been responsible for the marketing of electrochemical instrumentation and the evaluation of electrochemical measurement technology into new application areas, like fuel cells and capacitors.

Over the last 21 years, Bill Eggers has instructed in over 90 training
sessions sponsored by Princeton Applied Research and Bio-logic USA. He has trained over 1,000 attendees in the art of performing electrochemical measurements for use in research, corrosion, and impedance application areas.

Additionally he has provided tutorial workshops at the National Association of Corrosion Engineers Conference (2005-2008), at the Advanced Capacitors Annual Forum (2005-2007), at the International  Seminar on Double Layer Capacitors (2005-2007) and at the Fall ECS meetings in Washington and Cancun, Mexico. He was also an instructor for 17 years with the University of Virginia's long standing short courses on Electrochemical Techniques for Corrosion Engineering and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy.