biology

Reformed methanol fuel cell

Reformed methanol fuel cell is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Reformed methanol fuel cell rather than just read about it. In short: Reformed methanol fuel cell (RMFC) or indirect methanol fuel cell (IMFC) systems are a subcategory of proton-exchange fuel cells where, the fuel, methanol (CH3OH), is reformed, before being fed into the fuel cell. RMFC systems offer advantages over direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) systems including higher efficiency, smaller cell stacks, less requirement on methanol purity, no water management, better operation at l…

Key takeaways

Reformed methanol fuel cell belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Reformed methanol fuel cell to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Reformed methanol fuel cell from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Reformed methanol fuel cell (RMFC) or indirect methanol fuel cell (IMFC) systems are a subcategory of proton-exchange fuel cells where, the fuel, methanol (CH3OH), is reformed, before being fed into the fuel cell. RMFC systems offer advantages over direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC) systems including higher efficiency, smaller cell stacks, less requirement on methanol purity, no water management, better operation at low temperatures, and storage at sub-zero temperatures because methanol is a liquid from −97.0 to 64.7 °C (−142.6 to 148.5 °F) and as there is no liquid methanol-water mixture in the cells which can destroy the membrane of DMFC in case of frost. The reason for the high efficiency of RMFC in contrast to DMFC is that hydrogen containing gas is fed to the fuel cell stack instead of methanol and overpotential (power loss for catalytic conversion) on anode is much lower for hydrogen than for methanol. The tradeoff is that RMFC systems operate at hotter temperatures and therefore need more advanced heat management and insulation. The waste products with these types of fuel cells are carbon dioxide and water. Methanol is used as a fuel because it is naturally hydrogen dense (a hydrogen carrier) and can be steam reformed into hydrogen at low temperatures compared to other hydrocarbon fuels. Additionally, methanol is naturally occurring, biodegradable, and energy dense. RMFC systems consist of a fuel processing system (FPS), a fuel cell, a fuel cartridge, and the BOP (the balance of plant).

Storage and Fuel Costs The fuel cartridge stores the methanol fuel. Depending on the system design either 100% methanol (IMPCA industrial standard) or a mixture of methanol with up to 40 vol% water is usually used as fuel for the RMFC system. 100% methanol results in lower fuel consumption than water-methanol mixture (Premix) but goes along with higher fuel cell system complexity for condensing of cathode moisture. Fuel Costs for RMFC typically are about 0.4-1.1 USD/kWh (conventional methanol) resp. 0.45-1.3 USD/kWh (renewable methanol produced from municipal waste or renewable electricity). By comparison, for a hydrogen fueled Low Temperature-PEM fuel cell costs for conventional hydrogen (in bundle of bottles) are about 4.5-10 USD/kWh.

Fuel processing system (FPS) in Methanol→Partial oxidation(POX)/Autothermal reforming (ATR)→Water gas shift reaction (WGS)→preferential oxidation (PROX) The methanol reformer converts methanol to H2 and CO2, a reaction that occurs at temperatures of 250 °C to 300 °C.

Fuel cell →The membrane electrode assembly (MEA) fuel cell stack produces electricity in a reaction that combines H2 (reformed from methanol in the fuel processor) and O2 and produces water (H2O) as a byproduct. Usually Low Temperature Proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (LT-PEMFC) or High Temperature Proton-exchange membrane fuel cell (HT-PEMFC) is used for RMFC.

Fuel processing system (FPS) out Tail gas combustor (TGC) catalytic combustion afterburner or (catalytic combustion) with a platinum-alumina (Pt–Al2O3) catalyst→condenser

Balance of plant The balance of plant (BOP) consists of any fuel pumps, air compressors, and fans required to circulate the gas and liquid in the system. A control system is also often needed to operate and monitor the RMFC.

State of development and commercial products RMFC systems have reached an advanced stage of development. For instance, a small system developed by Ultracell for the United States military, [1], has met environmental tolerance Archived 2006-10-23 at the Wayback Machine, safety, and performance goals set by the United States Army Communications-Electronics Research, Development and Engineering Center, and is commercially available. Larger systems 350W to 8 MW are also available for multiple applications, such as power plant generation, backup power generation, emergency power supply, auxiliary power unit (APU) and battery range extension (electric vehicles, ships). In contrast to diesel or gasoline generators maintenance interval of RMFC systems is usually significantly longer as no exchange of oil-filters and other engine service parts is needed. So the use of RMFC in off-grid applications (e.g. highway maintenance) and remote areas (e.g. telecom, mountains) is often preferred over diesel gensets. Also other features as biodegradability of methanol, the possibility to use renewable methanol, low fuel costs, no emission of particlulate matter/NOx, low noise and a low fuel consumption (long fuel supply interval) are seen advantageous. The electric vehicle sports car Gumpert Nathalie contains RMFC technology. Danish company called Blue World Technologies is building the biggest plant in the world to produce indirect methanol fuel cell stacks for automotive applications. [2]

See also Methanol reformer Methanol (data page) Methanol economy Micropump Fuel cell Glossary of fuel cell terms Hydrogen technologies Portable fuel cell applications

References

External links Fuel Cells for Portable Computing and Communications: Extended Power Away from the Grid

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Reformed methanol fuel cell

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Reformed methanol fuel cell claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Reformed methanol fuel cell before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Reformed methanol fuel cell ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Reformed methanol fuel cell

In research: Reformed methanol fuel cell appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Reformed methanol fuel cell in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Reformed methanol fuel cell is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Fuel cells, Methanol, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Reformed methanol fuel cell outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Reformed methanol fuel cell in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Reformed methanol fuel cell means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Reformed methanol fuel cell out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Reformed methanol fuel cell in simple terms?

Why does Reformed methanol fuel cell matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Reformed methanol fuel cell?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Reformed methanol fuel cell.