Fuel Cells Poised to Replace India’s Diesel Generators

Ashish Lele, National Chemical Laboratory, India

Inefficient and potentially harmful diesel generators are still the prevailing method of decentralized power generation for telecommunications in urban and rural India. Researchers at the National Chemical Laboratory are investigating proton exchange membrane (PEM) fuel cells, which are strong candidates for this industry because of their cleanliness, compatibility, and efficiency exceeding 30% (with work underway to further increase this value). Using multiphysics modeling and simulation, the researchers are working to determine an optimal configuration of fuel cell properties that yields maximum efficiency and performance.

Plots of the current density produced by the fuel cell for different air stoichiometries. An air-to-fuel ratio of 5 resulted in greater and more consistent current output.

Download