Direct-fuelled fuel cells

Fuel supply is one important problem to be solved for commercial application of fuel cell technology. Conventional fuel-cell types require hydrogen as the fuel, which has to be free from impurities when operated at temperatures below 100 °C. The storage and distribution of this explosive and extremely fugitive gas is one of the open questions in the context of a customer-oriented broad commercial market. The direct-fuelled fuel cells (DMFCs) overcome the hydrogen specific restrictions. They are capable of directly using natural gas or fuels which are liquid under ambient conditions. In this paper the different options from direct-fuelled systems are described and their general aspects discussed. The state-of-the-art at Siemens in this field, and also the remaining technical questions are outlined as a basis for assessing future applications.