What are some disadvantages of fuel cells?

Disadvantages of using fuel cells in cars These include: hydrogen is in the gas state at room temperature and pressure, so it is difficult to store in the car. fuel cells and electric motors are less durable than petrol engines and diesel engines, so they are not so long-lasting. fuel cells are very expensive.

What is one major disadvantage of fuel cell?

Expensive to manufacture due the high cost of catalysts (platinum) Lack of infrastructure to support the distribution of hydrogen. A lot of the currently available fuel cell technology is in the prototype stage and not yet validated.

What are the chemical reactions occur in the alkaline fuel cell?

Chemical Reactions in an Alkaline Fuel Cell. In AFCs, the oxygen reacts at the cathode to produce either hydroxide (OH-) or a carbonate ion (CO32-), depending upon the electrolyte composition. The ion travels through the electrolyte to react with hydrogen at the cathode.

What are three disadvantages of hydrogen fuel cells?

List of Disadvantages of Hydrogen Fuel Cells

• It is expensive. While widely available, hydrogen is expensive.
• It is difficult to store. Hydrogen is very hard to move around.
• It is not easy to replace the existing infrastructure.
• It is highly flammable.
• Fossil fuels are often used to produce it.

What are the disadvantages of using an alkaline fuel cell?

Alkaline fuel cells have the disadvantage that they need to be installed in a carbon dioxide free environment. This is to avoid poisoning of the electrolyte. If carbon dioxide comes into contact with the alkaline environment, carbonates are formed.

What is the temperature of an alkaline fuel cell?

Operation temperature is between 65°C and 220°C. The charge carrier in AFC is OH – and like other low-temperature FCs, AFC works with hydrogen and oxygen. CO and CO 2 poison AFCs and reduce considerably the efficiency of an AFC, so it needs external reformer to provide pure hydrogen. U. Benz,

What causes carbonate poisoning in an alkaline fuel cell?

The carbonate poisoning at ambient temperature is thought to be a result of the low solubility of K 2 CO 3 around room temperature, which leads to precipitation of K 2 CO 3 that blocks the electrode pores.

Why are non noble metals used in alkaline fuel cells?

Because of the alkaline chemistry, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) kinetics at the cathode are much more facile than in acidic cells, allowing use of non-noble metals, such as iron, cobalt, or nickel, at the anode (where fuel is oxidized); and cheaper catalysts such as silver or iron phthalocyanines at the cathode, due to the low overpotentials