A fuel cell is a cell that converts the chemical energy in fuel into electrical energy by performing a redox reaction primarily through oxygen or other oxidants. Toyota's fuel cell vehicles are getting closer to the market and bring the application of fuel cell technology back to people's horizons. There are many types of fuel cells, but they all have the same mode of operation. They consist mainly of three adjacent sections: anode, electrolyte, and cathode. Two chemical reactions occur between the interfaces of three different sections. The net result of both reactions is the consumption of fuel, the production of water or carbon dioxide, and the generation of electrical current that can be used directly in electrical equipment. Fuel cells can be divided into direct type, indirect type, and regenerative type depending on the type of fuel, and can be classified into alkaline fuel cells (AFC), phosphate fuel cells (PAFC), and molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFC) according to electrolyte types. ) Solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) and proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC). For more than 20 years, fuel cells have undergone several types of development stages, including alkaline, phosphoric acid, molten carbonates, and solid oxides. The research and application of fuel cells are progressing at an extremely fast pace. Among all fuel cells, alkaline fuel cells (AFCs) have developed the fastest, mainly for space missions, including space shuttles to provide power and drinking water; proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) have been widely used as transportation power and compact power devices. Applications: Phosphoric acid fuel cells (PAFCs) have entered the commercial phase as a medium-sized power source and are the first choice for civilian fuel cells; the molten carbonate fuel cells (MCFCs) have also completed industrial testing stages; solid oxide fuels that started later As the most promising fuel cell in the power generation field, SOFC is the preferred target for large-scale clean power stations in the future. The 100 kW tubular SOFC power station has been operating in the Netherlands. Both Siemens and Mitsubishi Heavy Industries have conducted experiments on SOFC power generation systems. In contrast, SOFC, MCFC, and PEMFC are the most promising technology routes. Hydrogen Fuel Cell Advantages and Industry Chain Analysis Hydrogen fuel cells, that is, fuel cells that use hydrogen as a fuel and produce electricity using the reverse reaction of electrolyzed water, are the best fuel cells currently developed. Its working principle is that hydrogen is sent to the anode plate of the battery. Through the action of the catalyst, the hydrogen atom becomes a positively charged hydrogen ion and a negatively charged electron, in which the hydrogen ion reaches the cathode plate through the electrolyte, and the electrons cannot pass through the electrolyte. Only through the external circuit to form the current. After reaching the cathode plate, the electrons recombine with oxygen atoms and hydrogen ions into water. The oxygen supplied by the cathode plate of the hydrogen fuel cell can be directly obtained from the air. Therefore, it is only necessary to continuously supply the hydrogen to the anode plate and carry the water away in time, so that the hydrogen fuel cell can continuously provide the electric energy. Compared with other energy sources, hydrogen fuel cells have no pollution during power generation and have higher energy conversion efficiency, and their fuel hydrogen source is extensive and renewable. 1, zero pollution Fuel cell is a part of clean energy, because the reaction process is the pollution-free water reaction, the reaction process will not produce pollutants, its main pollutants come from the fuel, there may be nitrogen oxides and other pollution. Compared with the air pollution of ordinary thermal power generation and the heavy metal pollution of traditional batteries, the environmental pollution of fuel cells is far lower. In hydrogen fuel cells, the fuel is pure, non-polluting hydrogen. Compared with other fuels, there are no pollutants in the exhaust gas. It can be said that hydrogen fuel cells are an environmentally friendly energy source that can truly achieve zero pollution. 2, efficient energy conversion efficiency The fuel cell power generation efficiency is also at a high level. Among various power generation methods, the conventional thermal power generation efficiency is about 30%, which is far lower than the average fuel cell efficiency of 40%-60%. In the automotive application, the fuel cell efficiency is up to 60%, which is also higher than the current efficiency of the internal combustion engine. Overall, the energy conversion efficiency of fuel cells is at a relatively high level in similar alternative energy sources. 3, easy access to fuel Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe. Hydrogen and its isotopes account for 84% of the total mass of the sun, and 75% of the mass of the universe is hydrogen. Hydrogen molecules do not exist as natural gases on the earth. Most of the hydrogen-bonded oxygen exists in water. It can be said that water resources represent a certain degree of hydrogen energy storage. The energy and fuel for hydrogen production can come from a variety of sources such as natural gas, nuclear energy, solar energy, wind power, biofuels, coal mines, other fossil fuels, and geothermal heat. At present, hydrogen is mainly produced as an intermediate product. Mainly by the fossil energy and natural gas (CH4), crude oil (hydrocarbon) or coal and other raw materials, and steam generated by the steam conversion method, partial oxidation method, coal gasification method and other processes. Hydrogen fuel cells mainly include two components: a battery module and a fuel. Therefore, its upstream is mainly hydrogen supply and battery components. The hydrogen supply section is mainly prepared for fuel hydrogen. The main processes include hydrogen production, transportation and inflators. The battery component part mainly produces fuel cell stacks, hydrogen storage devices and accessories. The midstream is to assemble the above to form a complete and ready-to-use fuel cell system, and each system configuration is different depending on its different application fields. The downstream application segment mainly includes the three major areas of fixed, transportation and portable. The core of the industrial chain is the mid-stream fuel cell system. The composition of the system must correspond to downstream applications. In the fuel cell system, the fuel cell module is the most important. The general fuel cell consists of an electrolyte, a catalyst, and a bipolar plate. Among these three, the presence or absence of a catalyst has the greatest impact on the cost of the fuel cell. For PEMFC, due to its use of expensive platinum group metals as catalysts, its price has remained high, and it can be said that the catalyst is one of the decisive factors in the price of fuel cells. Another important deciding factor is the electrolyte. Different types of fuel cell stack electrolytes have different requirements. The price of different electrolytes will also be different, and ultimately affect the fuel cell price. Fixed field leads the hydrogen fuel cell market Hydrogen fuel cells were successfully applied to the aerospace field as early as the 1960s due to their small size and large capacity. After entering the 1970s, with the continuous advancement of technology, hydrogen fuel cells are gradually being used for power generation and automobiles. Nowadays, with the rise of various types of electronic smart devices and the popularity of new energy vehicles, hydrogen fuel cells are mainly used in three major areas: fixed, transport, and portable. In 2012, the global shipment of fuel cell systems was nearly 30,000, an increase of approximately 34% year-on-year, and an increase of over 321% from 2008. Among them, the growth of fixed fuel cells is the most significant, rising rapidly from 2,000 in 2008 to 25,000 in 2012. The development of cross-border use of fuel cells is relatively stable. In the future, the main focus of its development will be on the increase in the number of light-duty fuel cell electric vehicles and the significant growth in the market for material handling equipment. In the three major areas, the development of the portable sector is almost in a state of stagnation. Even though many companies have already launched hydrogen fuel cells for mobile phones, as a whole, the commercialization of such products has not yet been realized, and future development needs to be achieved. a long time. Japan Fuji Economy Co., Ltd. has conducted surveys on industrial, commercial, domestic, fuel cell, and forklift drives, portable and emergency and portable terminals. It is predicted that by 2025, the global market will total 5,184.3 billion yen, equivalent to 74.2 times in 2011. In terms of the hydrogen fuel cell industry alone, according to the statistics of the IEK of the ITRI, the global market size of hydrogen and fuel cells in 2011 was US$1.03 billion, an increase of 54% from US$6.7 billion in 2010. Japan’s Nikkei bp Cleantech Research Institute recently released the “Worldwide Hydrogen Energy Infrastructure Project Overview†showing that by 2015 global hydrogen energy infrastructure markets including liquid hydrogen bases, pipelines, stationary fuel cells, and fuel cell vehicles are expected The scale is only about 7 trillion yen, but after 2015, the hydrogen energy infrastructure market starts to grow slowly; after 2020, the market will show an accelerated growth trend. By 2025, the scale of the hydrogen energy infrastructure household market will be More than commercial. It is precisely because of this that in the five years to 2025, the market size will be doubled and is expected to reach about 20 trillion yen; by 2050 it will reach about 160 trillion yen (about 1.56 trillion US dollars). The stationary fuel cell market includes a variety of sizes and types, mainly for a variety of fixed-site power supplies, including large-scale primary power supplies, standby power or combined heat and power (CHP), which are mainly used in power stations, buildings, and engineering. Miniature combined heat and power (CHP) for home and business use, and primary or backup power for remote or basic applications such as telecommunications towers. Fixed fuel cells mainly include MCPC, SOFC, PAFC, and PEMFC. In the US market, US-based Bloom Energy, Fuel Cell Energy, UTC Power and Canada’s Ballard Power Systems are the main production companies in the field. With the attention of governments to clean energy, shipments of fixed fuel cells have been increasing in recent years. According to Pike Research's forecast, fixed fuel cell shipments will reach 350,000 units by 2022, compared to current The 21,000 units have a huge increase. At present, more industries are considering the use of fuel cells, hoping that in the event of a natural disaster, fuel cells can be generated independently of the grid. With the increasing demand for electricity resilience, and the increasing global adoption of distributed generation technologies, and the gradual popularization of home-type cogeneration, the fixed fuel cell industry will be in a favorable leading position for the next 10 years. In stationary fuel cell applications, there is a slight difference in each region. For the Asia-Pacific region, Aux Power is currently the largest application, while the other main applications are Backup Power and Combined Heat and Power (CHP). In North America, Backup, Cogeneration (CHP) and Distributed Generation (DG) are the three main application areas. Whether in the Asia-Pacific region or North America, with the gradual popularization of home-based cogeneration, the proportion of CHP applications will gradually increase, and become the main application in the fixed field. Distributed generation and backup power supply are used as auxiliary applications to jointly support the development of fixed sectors. Seek breakthrough in the field of transportation Subdivision of fuel cells in the transportation sector has a wide range of applications, mainly including vehicles, buses, small aircrafts, ships, and material handling equipment. The type of fuel cell used is only the proton exchange membrane (PEMFC). At present, the commercialization of the shipping sector is mainly in the field of material handling equipment, and several large automobile manufacturers around the world are still pursuing the application of fuel cell light vehicles and are planning to commercialize them by 2015-2017. North America's Plugpower and Canada's Ballard Power Systems are major players in this area. High-efficiency, environmentally-friendly and low-cost hydrogen fuel cell forklifts are the core applications in the transportation field. Forklifts are industrial transport vehicles. They are all kinds of wheeled transport vehicles for loading, unloading, stacking, and short-distance transport of palletized goods, and are a type of material handling equipment. At present, forklifts are the main varieties for commercialization in the field of transportation. Its main producer is Plug power company. The source of power on the forklift is mainly the battery. Lead-acid batteries are more commonly used, and current fuel cells are replacing lead-acid batteries to become the main energy of electric forklifts. In high-throughput distribution centers and warehouse environments, zero-emission fuel cell forklifts are economical, practical, and environmentally friendly compared to traditional rechargeable battery systems. The advantage of fuel cell forklifts is that the productivity of the forklift is significantly increased through a constant power output and a short hydrogen filling time. Lead-acid batteries have limited performance, and long charging times lead to inefficiencies. In contrast, fuel cells are drawing attention due to their rapid fuel replenishment and their longer service life. While increasing production efficiency, fuel cell forklifts can also reduce operating costs. For example, Wal-Mart Stores deployed 95 fuel cell forklift trucks in its cold storage distribution center in Alberta, Canada. Compared with traditional rechargeable battery powered forklifts, the project will reduce operating costs by $1.1 million over seven years. Walmart now has more than 500 fuel cell forklifts operating in three warehouses, including freezing facilities. Other customers who used Plug power's Gen Drive system included Procter & Gamble's 340 fuel cell forklift systems deployed at four sites; Cisco deployed over 600 systems at 7 sites; and Coca-Cola deployed 96 at 2 sites. system. In 2008, the total number of fuel cell forklifts in the United States was only a few hundred. By 2012, there were more than 4,000 vehicles in nearly 40 cities in 19 states. Fuel cell forklifts began to develop rapidly in the United States. The fuel cell forklift market includes H2Logic, Hydrogenics, Nuvera FuelCells, OorjaProtonics and Plug power. Among them, Plug power is the largest supplier and its market share is about 80%. Companies using fuel cell forklifts currently look at large companies, partly because the price of fuel cell forklifts is higher than that of ordinary forklifts. From the perspective of the main orderers in 2012, they are mainly concentrated in the world’s top 500 companies, among which the retailer is the main one. Plug power company, a large manufacturer of fuel cell forklift trucks, received orders from companies such as Wal-Mart, Procter & Gamble, and BMW in the fourth quarter of 2013, and the order volume has increased significantly compared with the past. Up till now, Plug power company has provided more than 4,500 sets in total. Forklift system, and with the outbreak of orders in the fourth quarter of 2013, the application of fuel cells in the forklift sector will be further expanded. Fuel cell vehicles still have a small distance from industrialization Cost: The primary obstacle to development The current popularity of fuel cell vehicles is very low, foreign fuel cell buses are currently priced at around US$1 million, and Tesla’s “Aristocrat†electric vehicle ModelS is priced at RMB730,000, compared with hatchback fuel cell vehicles. The price is much higher. However, Toyota, SAIC and other groups have announced the production of fuel cell vehicles, which are expected to be listed in 2015. Toyota’s target price is set at US$50,000 and SAIC’s cost is expected to be RMB 500,000. If it can reach its target price by then, Fuel cell vehicles can be developed. Two-thirds of the cost of a fuel cell vehicle is the cost of a fuel cell system. At present, the cost of the fuel cell system declines rapidly, and there is still room for decline. The world's leading fuel cell technology company, Ballard Power Systems, has also developed the 7th-generation fuel cell stack HD7, which costs 75% less than the previous generation HD6. Fuel cell vehicles use proton exchange membrane cells. In the PEMFC, the use of platinum as a precious metal catalyst is gradually reduced, coupled with the reduction of the cost of the electrolytic cell and the like, so that the cost of the PEMFC is continuously reduced. According to the US Department of Energy, the cost of fuel cells for transportation in 2012 was US$47/kW, a 82.9% reduction from the estimated cost in 2002, and in the year-by-year decline, the cost price is close to that set by the US Department of Energy. The target price for 2017 is 30 U.S. dollars per kilowatt. According to the report of the British Carbon Trust Consulting Company, if a fuel cell vehicle requires large-scale production, its cost must reach 36 US dollars / kilowatt to compete with the internal combustion engine vehicle. According to the decreasing trend of the current PEMFC cost and the current technological progress, the target price may be reached before 2017, when the fuel cell vehicle can be mass-produced. Hydrogen refueling stations: necessary supporting tasks that require time to accumulate The difficulty in the construction of hydrogen refueling stations is another major factor constraining the development of fuel cell vehicles. Unlike the charging piles required for the construction of lithium battery electric vehicles, it is very difficult to build a hydrogen refueling station. In addition to requiring a large space, it is also necessary to do a series of work such as environmental assessment and safety assessment. The development of global hydrogenation facilities is mainly concentrated in three major regions: North America, Europe, and Japan. The density of the entire hydrogen refueling station construction will match that of fuel cell vehicles. At present, there is only one hydrogen refueling station in China. The hydrogen refueling station is not only far below the U.S. volume, but also far below the neighboring South Korea and Japan. It can be said that there is still a long way to go in the construction of hydrogen refueling stations in China. go. It is estimated that by the year 2014, the number of hydrogen refueling stations on the West Coast and East Coast of the United States will reach 37 respectively, and by the end of 2015, 68 new projects will be planned for the West Coast, and by the year 2020, 100 will be built on the East Coast. The European region is centered on Germany and France, and Germany’s goal is to achieve full coverage of hydrogen refueling stations by 2020. Japan will increase the number of hydrogen refueling stations to 100 in 2015, and the hydrogen refueling stations in cities with four relatively dense populations such as Tokyo and Osaka will have full coverage. The construction of hydrogen refueling stations in developed regions matches the development of its fuel cell vehicles. In these regions, the realization of fuel cell vehicles around 2015 will no longer be an illusion. Hydrogen Fuel Cell VS Lithium Battery: Who is the Winner? A lithium battery is a type of battery that uses a lithium metal or a lithium alloy as a negative electrode material and uses a non-aqueous electrolyte solution. The following reaction is used: Li+MnO2=LiMnO2, which is a redox reaction and discharges. Because the chemical properties of lithium metal are very lively, the processing, preservation, and use of lithium metal require very high environmental requirements. The history of lithium batteries can be traced back to the 1970s. It is currently the most widely used battery. Tesla electric vehicles use lithium batteries. Compared with lithium batteries and fuel cells, lithium batteries have the advantages of safer and lower cost, while fuel cells have the advantages of shorter charging time and higher energy density. Judging from the current technology, hydrogen fuel cells need to be built with a new industrial chain, which takes a long time and a lot of investment. Since the invention of lithium batteries, with the advancement of technology and the expansion of industrialization, there has been a small price reduction and capacity increase every year. In 2005, Japan developed the superior Eliica with the performance of the Bitsil Model S, but the high price of lithium batteries at that time was destined to be a test product. At present, Tesla electric vehicles are hot all over the world. BYD is developing the E9 which is not inferior to the Tesla Model S. BMW's hybrid i3 and i8 are all on the market, and the Porsche 918 has already been booked. All this shows that the price of lithium batteries in 2013 has been reduced to an acceptable range. In the coming years, with the further decline in the price of lithium batteries and further improvement in capacity, the popularity of electric vehicles is expected to increase further. All in all, lithium batteries dominated electric vehicles will be the main direction in the short term, and hydrogen fuel cells will need long-term development, but they are expected to come from behind. Summary: Breakthrough in fuel cell vehicles is only a matter of time At present, a number of automotive suppliers have included hydrogen fuel cells in the plan, and it is expected that hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will be put on the market as early as 2015. Many auto giants, such as General Motors and Toyota, have signed cooperation agreements with their partners to develop fuel cell agreements. They plan to introduce fuel cell vehicles for practical use in the coming years. Toyota showed off the FCV-R hydrogen fuel cell concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show in 2011, this year's Tokyo Motor Show will exhibit production models, and Toyota and BMW signed an agreement to cooperate in four areas, including 2020. We will strive to promote and popularize fuel cell vehicles. In addition to Toyota, General Motors and Honda Motor Co. announced that they will jointly develop next-generation fuel cell technology for launch in 2020. Hyundai Motor Co., Ltd. has taken the lead in the production of fuel cell vehicles; in January 2013, Dalam, Ford and Renault signed an agreement to jointly develop a fuel cell system, and it is expected to launch the first new fuel cell vehicle in 2017; in March, Volkswagen and Ballard also signed a cooperation agreement. , And in August this year began to test the Audi A7 fuel cell car. In addition to the announcement of the launch of new cars, major auto companies are also rushing to develop fuel cell vehicles. According to the U.S. fuel cell patents held in recent years, major auto companies have increased their R&D investment in fuel cells in recent years, and the number of patents has steadily increased. In 2012 Toyota Motor Co., Ltd. was ranked by 144 patents. Top spot. The fierce competition in patents has also laid the technical foundation for the smooth launch of fuel cell vehicles. Now it only takes time for the technology to be introduced to the market. At present, fuel cell vehicles are still under development and testing. There are still two or three years away from mass production. The initial selling price of fuel cell vehicles may be high, but as the technology matures, plus government subsidies or tax exemptions, prices will gradually enter the public acceptable range. Taking into account the many advantages of fuel cells such as high efficiency, environmental protection and safety, hydrogen fuel cell vehicles are still worth our expectation. The reagent is used for the treatment of gold mine cyanide process wastewater Cyanide-Containing Wastewater Agent, Gold Mine Sewage Agent, Cyanide Process Wastewater Agent,Cyanide-Busting Agent Changchun Gold Research Institute Co.LTD , https://www.changchunmachine.com
